HF Flight Model Arena

[colmbo]

When your nose points at the empty sky what good will watching it do for you? I'm curious.

That's when you use the wingtips.

[colmbo]

Keeping track on your position relating to the ground is whole different from trying to figure out your planes angle of attack from visual ques.

AOA cues come  thru the stick (buffet, control feel, etc).  Yaw cues come from watching nose or wingtips (along with feeling it in your butt).

[MrRiplEy[H]]

AOA cues come  thru the stick (buffet, control feel, etc).  Yaw cues come from watching nose or wingtips (along with feeling it in your butt).

LOL I don't have any clue about what you're talking about. So you're spending your time watching at your wingtips while you fight someone? I pay no attention to _any_ part of my cartoon plane when I'm fighting. I just go along the learned performance envelope and stall effects. Maybe that's why I suck at AH.. who knows!

[FLS]

LOL I don't have any clue about what you're talking about.

Maybe you should ask more questions instead of just disagreeing when you don't know what's being discussed. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Maybe you should ask more questions instead of just disagreeing when you don't know what's being discussed. 

Maybe you should drop down from your pedestal and focus on gameplay instead of looking at your wingtips. 

[FLS]

Maybe you should drop down from your pedestal and focus on gameplay instead of looking at your wingtips. 

I'm not on a pedestal, I'm just taller than you. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I'm not on a pedestal, I'm just taller than you.  

There's a difference between looking down (or imagining about doing so) and being taller. Maybe you just wear high heels or something?

It is entirely possible to be ranked 1 on fighter/attack without spending time looking at your wingtips.

[colmbo]

So you're spending your time watching at your wingtips while you fight someone? I pay no attention to _any_ part of my cartoon plane when I'm fighting. I just go along the learned performance envelope and stall effects. Maybe that's why I suck at AH.. who knows!

Of course I'm not looking at the wingtip in a fight.  Was just an example of parts of the airplane used for visual cue when nose high.  A huge part of coordinated flight comes from experience.  That reflexive rudder pressure when using aileron.  The visual cues are many times very subtle and used more as a cross-check that you have correct rudder pressure than an indicator rudder pressure is needed.

Real life firing while yawed means you will most likely miss your shot.  Along those lines when firing rockets or dropping bombs you want the ball centered to increase accuracy.  It's an advantage to fly coordinated in most situations.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Of course I'm not looking at the wingtip in a fight.  Was just an example of parts of the airplane used for visual cue when nose high.  A huge part of coordinated flight comes from experience.  That reflexive rudder pressure when using aileron.  The visual cues are many times very subtle and used more as a cross-check that you have correct rudder pressure than an indicator rudder pressure is needed.

Real life firing while yawed means you will most likely miss your shot.  Along those lines when firing rockets or dropping bombs you want the ball centered to increase accuracy.  It's an advantage to fly coordinated in most situations.

Dear friend, you're talking about actual flight and we're talking about the simulated cues we can see on screen while playing. There's no "butt feeling" in AH as sad as it is.

[colmbo]

I pay no attention to _any_ part of my cartoon plane when I'm fighting.

I'd wager you're using references you may not realize --- or your really do suck.  

[colmbo]

Dear friend, you're talking about actual flight

Both actually.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I'd wager you're using references you may not realize --- or your really do suck.  

I just wonder how do you look at your wingtips for example when you're doing rolling scissors or other manouvers which include looking mostly upwards from your simulated cockpit.. At least my screen is too small to include anything but the sliver of blue sky and the flyspeck of an enemy. The only time when I'm really looking at my wingtip is when I'm trying to hammerhead / rope someone.

[muzik]

Real life firing while yawed means you will most likely miss your shot.  Along those lines when firing rockets or dropping bombs you want the ball centered to increase accuracy.  It's an advantage to fly coordinated in most situations.

This is a good point and may explain my previous undesirable hit percentages. I wonder how much my shooting might improve if I checked the ball first.

I wouldn't agree it's an advantage in most situations because the set up and firing of rockets and bombs constitute less than 3 percent of your flying time per sortie. I just don't think it's realistic without more cues besides visual. UNLESS, and this just occurred to me, a ball was always visible on our screens.

[colmbo]

I just wonder how do you look at your wingtips for example when you're doing rolling scissors or other manouvers which include looking mostly upwards from your simulated cockpit.

I don't...I'm watching my opponent and checking 6.  I know from experience that if the stick goes left I need to press left rudder.  How much rudder depends on how much aileron, IAS, etc.  With experience and practice you reflexively fly the airplane doing your best to keep the ball in the middle.  Does it stay centered? Oh heck no, at least not for me.  I did tonight tend to watch it more as I was flying just too see how well I do....I do a pretty good job of keeping thing coordinated but still room for improvement.

Keeping the airplane coordinated/trimmed reduces drag.  Flying coordinated will only make a small difference in performance but if fighting an evenly matched opponent it could possible make the difference that allows you to win the fight.  The way I fly I can use all the help I can get.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I don't...I'm watching my opponent and checking 6.  I know from experience that if the stick goes left I need to press left rudder.  How much rudder depends on how much aileron, IAS, etc.  With experience and practice you reflexively fly the airplane doing your best to keep the ball in the middle.  Does it stay centered? Oh heck no, at least not for me.  I did tonight tend to watch it more as I was flying just too see how well I do....I do a pretty good job of keeping thing coordinated but still room for improvement.

Keeping the airplane coordinated/trimmed reduces drag.  Flying coordinated will only make a small difference in performance but if fighting an evenly matched opponent it could possible make the difference that allows you to win the fight.  The way I fly I can use all the help I can get.

So in reality you're also flying 'by the seat of your pants' when fighting and not checking the wingtips. I haven't paid much attention to the coordination before (on the other hand it didn't stop me from ranking high fighter/attack rankings starting from 1 either). I think I'll practise it now, that would explain my bad E retention in knife fights. Twisty stick however is not the best tool for this. It's great for tail-snap shots etc. violent manouvers but not much more.