Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: grmrpr on June 20, 2005, 12:11:58 PM
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In reading http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1716523#post1716523 it made me think about how Aces High effects my real flying and was wondering what other pilots thoughts are.
For me personally I think it definatly helps my scan for other traffic or maybe being a Pilot helps my AH scan..
I think my rudder work on slips and coordinated turns has improved since I've started playing AH.
My landings have gotten a little sloppy in the sense that I do not worry like I used to about hitting the exact alt points, speed and time intervals. I find myself adding in the notches of flaps more on feel now instead of the set procedure I used in training. With my improved rudder/slip skills I tell myself I ll just work it out on final and seem to always grease it on the blocks regardless of how far off I was on the base turn.
Maybe my perception is coming more from just gaining additional hours than from the game. I know when I strap in now I am much more relaxed than I used to be.
What are your perceptions/experiences out there?
GrmRpr
PPL SEL, 110 Hours
172's & 152's
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Not sure how to reply to this one.
My landings have gotten a little sloppy in the sense that I do not worry like I used to about hitting the exact alt points, speed and time intervals
Does this mean that you don't actively manage this and you are still hitting the #'s?
Or does this mean that you are no longer hitting the #'s and not concerned about it?
My advice to you if it is the second case, is go back to actively trying to hit ALL the numbers, where and when you are supposed to.
With my improved rudder/slip skills I tell myself I ll just work it out on final and seem to always grease it on the blocks regardless of how far off I was on the base turn.
Here's my $.02 on this:
Why create all that work to do on final. If you have taken the time to set yourself up properly by "hitting ALL the #'s" earlier you should be prettty well set up for an easy final approach and landing.
Short final is most definetly the poorest choice in time to have to instigate corrections for problems that should not have existed in the first place. See the first two paragraphs.
I hope I'm not coming across as anoscar hole here grmrpr, but at 110 hours, you need to hear this. I have been involved with aviation for over 30 years, and have been flying for over 10 years, and I endeavor each and every time to "hit the numbers". It's alot easier (read SAFER here) to make the correct attitudes, altitudes and airspeeds early and have less of a workload when you are landing. You have enough to do on final, touchdown and roll out. Don't add to it. Things tend to get balled up at the least opportune times. Put some money in the bank.
Okay, lecture mode off.
Does it affect my flying? Sort of I guess. I for sure get the urge to saddle up on someones six and scream RATATATATAT! over the radio:D (occasionally hehe).
Please don't take this reply the wrong way. Just want to make sure you are gonna have many fun filled years of flying.
Cheers,
RTR
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Not at all...
I should have been clearer in what I wrote. I reread it and it does seem a tad cavalear. And I probably would have responded the same way you did.
I am still very much focused on being at the right speed/alt. I guess what I am trying to say is I am not getting as flustered and tensing up if I have deviations off where I should be. ie tail winds or cross winds throwing me off. A big part of that is I am realizing a lot sooner where I should be and if I am a little off I know what I have to do to correct it before I get behind the plane. By the time I am on "Short" final I am pretty much centered on the centerline and have a nice glide scope picture.
Every week or 2 I get up and and fly the Private PTS. A month ago the x wind component was 18 knots which was a good 10 knots above anything I had seen while getting my ticket. So I picked up the local CFII and had him do 4 or 5 touch and go's all with out flaps and 1 simulated engine out in those conditions just to be safe.
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I find myself wanting merge with all the other 172s and run from the 152s. :) But I do think all of my flight sim time helps with my overall visualization of maneuvers in real life.
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When you see a Mooney dropping in behind you with radio PTT button and landing lights blazing...pay no attenion :)
i'm also known to fly close air support in a 172...here's me just coming off target following a successful strafing run at last years squadron reunion!
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/621_1111822002_lowbank172.jpg)
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I really dont think AH has shown me any positives in RL flying....if anything... all it has done is screwed up rudder coordination and over controlling the airplane....and also will most likely lead to a gear up landing one day!....(up to 350 knots and i wont have a scratch).....At any rate dont use AH as a training device for RL flying....its not FAA approved...The one video game which HAS helped my RL flying was MSFS2000 or whatever it is...when I was working on my instrument rating i'd work on holds with the game and it helped....
at any rate fly safe man...EXPECT THE WORST...maybe youll get the best....
by the way....you fly your PP PTS weekly? i dunno, whatever floats your boat, but I cant imagine doing steep turns and power off stalls weekly being anything fun...overkill in my opinion...
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let me rephrase...i cant imagine it being anything fun....or necessary....
110 hours u are a baby....get out there and do some cross countries...gain confidence in yourself....mastering the steep turn is trivial
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Well it took me 8 weeks to get my lic. I got my ticket in August of last year. I am keeping my flying to a minimum right now for 2 reasons. 1. Starting to work on my Instrument and 2. I am working on buying my own plane. I want to get my house paid down a little more and a car paid off by the end of the year. I am torn between an aerobat just for me or getting a 172 for the whole family. Once a month I pick a differant airport locally and Fly into it. I've done RDU a few times and a few very short fields around here. My FBO won't let me do soft fields. This month I am planning on going into newport news.
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8 weeks for your PPL? were you at an FBO? or a pilot factory?
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Cool grmrpr:)
Sounds like you have a level head there. Also sounds like you are getting more comfortable and relaxed flying.
Don't get to relaxed;)
Have fun and fly safe sir!
RTR
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I was actually ready in 3 weeks. My Step Dad.. Sheesh it is hard to call him that. No offense to him but it is the guy my mother married when I was 30 is an instructor of instructors for Lufthansa. I took the month of July off last year and flew/studied for 12 hours a day. 6 years before I had put in about 8 hours of time but I really don't count it. Any way I did most of my flight instruction with him and did part time with West Wind (http://www.flywsa.com/) . He is a guest multi and aerobatic instructor for West Wind on the side so they let us use their planes as long as I passed all their check rides along the way. They are a part 141 school and pretty well rated to (I trained under their part 61 side). Heck their check rides were harder than what the DE put me through.
I was all set to take the check ride with the DE in Phoenix at about day 19 or 20 but it was on the day after my son’s birthday. To do it then would have meant pretty much missing my kids birthday since I had to take the written on his birthday so I decided to wait until I left Phoenix and went home back to Raleigh. Once back in Raleigh I took 2 weeks off. It then took just under a week to find a flight school and take the written (95%). Take their pre-solo checks and meet all their criteria for renting to students so I could get them to rent me a plane. Of course they were very skeptical of renting a plane to some student dweeb from another flight school they knew nothing about that had just under 30 hours in the past 45 days and was endorsed by his "Step Dad". After 3 flights with 3 of their CFI's (1 Insurance check, 1 Solo/Field endorsement, and1 Flight being getting signed off in a SP the day I went to take my check ride since the N was out for service and the SP was my only option) Yes I took my check in an AC I had never flown. Worse than that the N was down because the vacuum system went shortly after take off and I had to return to the field and get a new plane. And it took a week to get the next available slot with the local DE so I spent that week just solo working on PTS stuff. I passed both the oral and the check ride first time out.
I was out in Fresno and wanted to rent a plane 3 weeks after I got my license and had to take their insurance check ride. Their chief pilot out there took a look at my log book and really grilled me hard on the "insurance check" I have to admit he had me pretty flustered. Once we got into the air he was making me work harder than I had on any previous check. He finally let up after he had me under the hood and made me close my eyes and worked the plane for a good 2 or 3 min to disorientate me then had me open my eyes and told me to "fix it". The plane was in the yellow in a very steep turning dive with full power. The second he said go even before I opened my eyes my hand was already on the throttle pulling it since I could hear the rpm pitch was way too high. From there I just pulled it out. After hitting everything under the hood and that lightning recovery he backed off. After landing he told me after he looked at my log book he was pretty sure I wasn't going to get past the insurance check but after flying with me he said I was good to go. He did chastise me to continue to brush up on airspace and weather.
I have a total of 9 or 10 different CFI's/CFII's in my log book that I have time with.
It was a tough period getting through it. I think flying with so many instructors is positive. I think the drawback is it was a lot to cram in a short period. To compensate I take parts of the ASE private exam every 6 weeks or so and use the Comm 1 software from time to time just to keep my knowledge going. I also still read my subscription to flight training and I take all the online AOPA safety foundation courses...
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Originally posted by cav58d
by the way....you fly your PP PTS weekly? i dunno, whatever floats your boat, but I cant imagine doing steep turns and power off stalls weekly being anything fun...overkill in my opinion...
Maybe not the whole thing. When coming home I ll go over the lake and do some figure 8's, turns around a point, Power on's, Power off's... Sides It gives me an excuse to look at all the bikinis on the beach. Of course you can't see perfectly from that distance but around here in North Carolina that probably isnt a bad thing ;)
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Originally posted by RTR
My advice to you if it is the second case, is go back to actively trying to hit ALL the numbers, where and when you are supposed to.
Here's my $.02 on this:
Why create all that work to do on final. If you have taken the time to set yourself up properly by "hitting ALL the #'s" earlier you should be prettty well set up for an easy final approach and landing.
Short final is most definetly the poorest choice in time to have to instigate corrections for problems that should not have existed in the first place. See the first two paragraphs.
I hope I'm not coming across as anoscar hole here grmrpr, but at 110 hours, you need to hear this. I have been involved with aviation for over 30 years, and have been flying for over 10 years, and I endeavor each and every time to "hit the numbers". It's alot easier (read SAFER here) to make the correct attitudes, altitudes and airspeeds early and have less of a workload when you are landing. You have enough to do on final, touchdown and roll out. Don't add to it. Things tend to get balled up at the least opportune times. Put some money in the bank.
Cheers,
RTR
I agree. Especially if someone is going for their intrument rating. The old saying there is no substitute for stick time really holds true and scan is very important. Your scan gets faster on every approach. But as the plane gets faster (read jet) the scan needs to speed up, also. And it does. After a while what appeared to be "way" to short a time on the slope to get everything stable now becomes a "geez, we still have 2 miles to go" thought process and thats a good thing because it means you're ahead of the plane iso behind it.
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Originally posted by Golfer
When you see a Mooney dropping in behind you with radio PTT button and landing lights blazing...pay no attenion :)
i'm also known to fly close air support in a 172...here's me just coming off target following a successful strafing run at last years squadron reunion!
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/621_1111822002_lowbank172.jpg)
were you flying into LGB a couple years ago, by chance? a Cessna, like yours, dropped down onto our six as my brother and I were heading in from the practice area (above Long Beach harbor). Tower had a couple things to say to that pilot. :lol
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Heya GrmRpr!
You're a PPL dude as well as killer extraordinaire in AH? Cool Beans! I often wonder how many real flyers live herein. I've been flying for quite a while (no numbers listed, ha! I'm OLD!). Without getting "wordy",, I find AH flying to be more fun (by far) than RL. Also, find that 3D sa aloft, slipping in a one-wheel at time crosswind touchdown, stall avoidance, and general precision flying, is always fresh in mind after a few zillion hrs at the AH stick. No "rust" at all after a long New England winter (I hate sub-zero pre-flights, ha!).
ps.. That guy "Golfer"? (see his ground strafing 172 above) Is one of the bestest RL pie-lets I've even flown with (against?). We did a to-the-death grudge match in SIA-Marchetti SF260's via Air Combat USA one day.
Good Post Grm!
RV6..
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ah-ha! That explains why no rematch. You fear me :)
I did something that will rock the aerobatic world last week. I beat a Pitts S2C (big ol honkin motor with 300hp at least...it hasn't been dyno'd) with a Christen Eagle (tiny engine) handily in a series of mock dogfights.
I was only there for a ride too :)
The story goes like so...
I was just locking up the little Apache I give multiengine training in after fetching my GPS and flight bag and I saw the owner's vette motor through the parking lot. I wandered on over to his hangar for some small talk. When he offered the ride...my hidden agenda was complete ;) and off we went. Taxiing out a Pitts called up on the main ramp ready to taxi...we both know the guy and he's clearly one of the best aerobatic pilots in ohio...goes to Nationals every year after finishing tops in state.
Quick call for him to go air-to-air while still on ground freq when airborne and we're off. We get out to the practice area and he's easily run us down with his beast of a motor. We give a call and wish him a good flight and make a pretty good left turn (read pretty hard...3G's) and on rollout 90º later he's still back there. I'm still drivin and hear over the intercom 'looks like he's feeling frisky' or something of that nature so I call em up and make some cocky smartazz comment daring him to stay with me. He did a DAMN good job at staying in formation through everything I did and I was greatly impressed. I then challenged him to a dogfight...best of three.
Fight 1.)
Just like Air Combat USA I called a left to left at 5500' running north and south with the midpoint being a certain railroad track.
5500' and I've got the motor leaned out a bit and the power to the firewall (I'm gonna need it!) and we pass only a few wingspans away from one another and the fights on. I first went with a high yo-yo and he did a basically level left turn...just through the angles I got around on him faster and it was just a matter of sustaining the G's to call him dead for a few seconds.
That cost us very little altitude and we're still at 5000.
Fight 2.)
5000' left to left and fights on, I'm running south this time and we pass with both airplanes going full bore. I went straight up into an immelman to get a clear height advantage and the dirty rotten twittler was doing the same thing. I had no chance of staying with him in a vertical fight with my wimply little 200hp IO360 versus his extra almost 100 horses. I rolled 1/4 roll left and started back down as soon as I saw him going up. We wound up in a vertical scissors transitioning into a rolling scissors and I was able to get slowed down first. Now...his pitts is modified with different wings and he's got 4 ailerons with more deflection than our 4 ailerons thus he's beating the pants off of me in roll rate and all I'm able to do is break even with the best flying I can hope for. Instead of staying with the roll I stop the roll and just fly with my wings in a nearly 30º bank as he's still rolling away and I just hope he's going to stop...we're through 3000' (2000 agl) now and he finally cuts out the rolls. He's pulling away going well over 200kts and I'm only showing 180...he goes into the vertical and my only shot at catching him is to pull up and try to make up some altitude on his way up. I pull the nose up, adjust 10º or so nose right and roll the airplane back to the left a bit so I can keep him in sight...sure enough he's just trying to overpower our little airplane and I wind up beating him to 4000' with just enough time to get a 'gun' solution.
Golfer - 2
Champ - 0
:)
We head back in formation and since I'm not checked out in the airplane I relinquish command for the landing to the owner and we head back as a two-ship flight and land together.
I've got some pictures of us after the fact but don't have my photo software on this new cpu yet...now I've got a reason to install it!
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Aces High is a point and click version of real life flying, with tiny hint of system management.
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I was taking lessons and my instructor was furious about me flying AH - wanted me to learn the "feel" of the aircraft as opposed to flying by the instruments, which is what one does in AH (more or less, anyway). When I showed up for my last lesson, he had cut a piece of cardboard out that covered the dash so I couldn't see the instruments, save for a couple...... I didn't like it, either.
Clip
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I don't like the idea of an instructor being furious at a student for anything. It's very important to have a feel for the aircraft, and indeed you should be able to fly any training aircraft with fixed gear and a fixed pitch prop without the benefits of any flight instruments. You shouldn't need an altimeter, you really don't need an airspeed indicator, toss out the DG and the attitude indicator (Horizon). To hell with the Tach, be gone nav radios. Heck even smash (or just cover up :p) the compass.
A Skyhawk, Cherokee, Warrior, Tomahawk, 150/152 all these airplanes you don't need anything to fly.
There is also nothing wrong with flying an aircraft with precision...the argument between how flight sim pilots behave versus non flight sim pilots has long lines but I haven't seen any honest to goodness studies done detailing the tendencies of either group.
I take a stupid approach to instructing...I see what the student does or doesn't do that I do or don't like. Then I praise him and explain why what he is doing is good (and give an example of how things have gone wrong for someone else not doing the same thing) or if they're weak on something I'll explain an accident or incident or even 'time this happened to me' so they know not only to look...but why they're looking.
Your instructor shouldn't be furious at you for flight simming. You as a student don't have to put up with that (a pansy thing to say but damnit man it's your money! If I got furious at a student for anything I wouldn't expect them to stay my student)
It's your money...It's your life. Don't compromise on either of them. Don't spend money on someone who is going to make things unpleasant because flying is not that. Also don't spend money on someone that might get you killed.
Happy landings :)
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Originally posted by Clip121
I was taking lessons and my instructor was furious about me flying AH - wanted me to learn the "feel" of the aircraft as opposed to flying by the instruments, which is what one does in AH (more or less, anyway). When I showed up for my last lesson, he had cut a piece of carboard out that covered the dash so I couldn't see the instruments, save for a couple...... I didn't like it, either.
Clip
Your instructor sounds like a cocky old ahole, and will probably end up killing you or someone else. (god forbid)
Btw, I've never used the instruments to fly AH... None other than my fuel gage. When its low it means Im at the end of my fight and when its empty that means its time to auger and get a new plane.
Golfer... Good stories man! I'd love to see the pics. Sounds like you guys had alot of fun.
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Originally posted by Clip121
I was taking lessons and my instructor was furious about me flying AH - wanted me to learn the "feel" of the aircraft as opposed to flying by the instruments, which is what one does in AH (more or less, anyway). When I showed up for my last lesson, he had cut a piece of carboard out that covered the dash so I couldn't see the instruments, save for a couple...... I didn't like it, either.
Clip
I have flown with several CFI(I)'s. Thier job is to be cool calm and collective with thier students. They are not gods. If they act like one can em and get another. Thier job is to figure out the best way you learn and teach the material in a manner that impacts you in the most positive way. Your putting your personal safety in their hands. If you are not clicking with them for whatever reason do not be afraid to find a new instructor.
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One bad thing AH did for me was glidepath related...
In AH, I tend to have "drug in" approaches/landings. They are much more shallow than the 2.5 to 3 degrees I should be using...
I have to watch it in the real thing and make sure I'm actually where I want to be...
Edmo
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Perhaps the word "furious" is a bit hard for what my instructor was feeling.... Let's just say he didn't like the fact that I flew it so much and talked about it so often. I can say for sure that it does affect me - I do find myself constantly looking at the instruments and wanting to fly with them all the time. At any rate, the instructor is a good guy and I'll continue to take lessons from him.
Clip
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My glider instructor always could tell when I was chasing the needles. He told me to get a mental picture of the horizon when I was at certain speeds.
He also told me that there was more to flying than looking at the gauges. At some point during instruction I became mor ein tune with what the plane was doing and my overall flight time was more productive.
I find when flying AH I very rarely look at my gauges or artificial horizon cause the glider I flew in didnt have one so I had to use visual inputs for my plane attitude.
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Originally posted by Clip121
I was taking lessons and my instructor was furious about me flying AH - wanted me to learn the "feel" of the aircraft as opposed to flying by the instruments, which is what one does in AH (more or less, anyway).
Just out of curiosity.... are you by any chance using what you do when you "fly" AH when you're flying real aircraft? AH's flight model is absolutely first rate for a game but it is nowhere near accurate enough to act as a flight training simulator. Bringing what you learn flying a real airplane into AH will likely help your game but trying to bring your game into real life flying won't cut it. Airplanes are great fun but they can kill you if you get stupid.
When I showed up for my last lesson, he had cut a piece of cardboard out that covered the dash so I couldn't see the instruments, save for a couple...... I didn't like it, either.
This is similar to a standard practice I used when I was teaching. I'd have the student cover the ASI, vario and/or altimeter (depending on the exercise). It may be unpleasant at first (like stalls and spins for most people) but what the student learns from it is invaluable. In VFR flight, your primary method of speed control should be a recognizable point in the aircraft structure you can see all the time when you're looking forward measured against the horizon. You should also be able to tell more or less how far you are from the ground and whether or not your getting closer to, or farther away from it by looking at it. You may not always have instruments (even if you leave the ground with them) so you need to always be able to make those judgements accurately enough to survive on with the equipment you were issued with at birth - the MkI Eyeball.
Sounds to me like you've got a decent instructor - stick with him. He's right.
Cheers and GL with your PPL.
asw
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hummm...
Helps with the autoscanning I think, but I feel I was always aware of my surroundings (my instructor beat the SA into me).
As far as everything else, i think it hurts a little. There is no error allowed in the air, and I think it has made my approaches a bit sloppy, at least at first.
Other than that... I find myself taking my Mooney and Ho'ing traffic copters and 152's with student pilots! :D
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Hmm, diffucult to say.
I was interested in planes and playing simulators a long time before taking my first lessons. I learned to fly (means: the practical stuff, flying by your...backside) fiarly quick. I think sims helped me in a way that I understood beforehand most of the concepts involved. Sims dont "replicate" what flying is like perfectly, but you have done everything beforehand quite often, so the "nuances" are only a small step towards learning to fly.
At first I was very focused on the instruments. My instructor showed me very early to look outside. Now in RL I dont look at the instruments all too often. Engine, then maybe altitude I look at every now and then. Something like speed is (enroute) not changing all that fast.
In AH I look mainly at speed. You know, speed is important for Air Combat. In RL it is more important to have enough fuel onboard so you get where you want to go with whatever speed you set, and have a margin.
I wouldnt try to take the AH-habit of wathing speed so closely over to RL. But mostly because the tasks are different in both environments. I could imagine that RL pilots had to be very well aware of their speed when in an engagement.
I also dont think that AH's gameply speeds up your scanning abilities. You know, IRL planes dont have neon-signs above. It is much easier to see a plane by just glancing in AH compared to RL.
But I agree that sims like MSFS are great for learning the navigation-instrument-stuff. This side is fairly well represented.
IMHO, off course :)
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AH impresses and dissapoints me every time i play it. P-factor, or at least torque modeling, is awesome. But no mixture? No EGT? and wheres N1, N2 and ITT at least in the 262?
I enjoy flying it, but i wish it had a lot more realism. That would reward flying like its a real airplane, and punish people who do stupid things. And the best aspect would be NO half assed flying because they would crash. And i would so do away with the moving map. How about a little radio navigation? They had very primitive stuff but stuff none the less. And the HI is a little messed up.
I also want the wind turned on, i want stalls to be more realistic. No matter how hard i try i cant get them to depart from flight.
It is a nice break from INS, GPS, TACAN, radar, IFR, and radios lol, but thats why i still fly the off 182 or bonanza.
Another thing. Wheres the turbulance and wind and blah blah, i could go on forever.
Oh and it doesn't affect my flying whatsoever.
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I would like to see wind play a bigger factor in this game. But for mixture all that stuff. Its nice, but then this game would have to be called. Hitech Creations World War 2 plane simulator. This is a realstic ww2 simulation. If it took so long and so many things to do just to start up. I couldnt think of getting up on a capped base, and start fighting lol. But small things are nice. IMO the flight model right now is really great.
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There's a lot of hope for realism in TOD, falcon. I know you're still new here, and I'm not sure if you've read much into it yet. I also recommend you try to get on for some of the snapshot events. The limited planesets in a lot of those really set you into more realistic tactics. No fancy stall BS when you're flying a dora against a squad of 51s :) .
-p.
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One time, at band camp......................... ............jk. Geesh! I have 0 hours in RL flying. :D
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Originally posted by CoFalcon
No matter how hard i try i cant get them to depart from flight.
COFalcon, check your flight preferences in the game to make sure the stall limiter isn't on. I've had no trouble spinning most of the fighters. Offline in F5 view spins look pretty close to bang-on.
Cheers,
asw
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I agree, the flight models are spot on, but unless the airplane is bouncing around like your car does when you are driving on the road (closest thing i can equate it to for the jetb's out there) it just isn't real to me. Things that impress me is the torque, the reverse torque on the typhoon series, the fuel related CG problems on the 51 and a ton of other things. But it seems to me why add those without wind, turbulance, etc. I love the game but i guess i just want more lol. Im a greedy bastid.
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Originally posted by CoFalcon
I agree, the flight models are spot on, but unless the airplane is bouncing around like your car does when you are driving on the road (closest thing i can equate it to for the jetb's out there) it just isn't real to me. Things that impress me is the torque, the reverse torque on the typhoon series, the fuel related CG problems on the 51 and a ton of other things. But it seems to me why add those without wind, turbulance, etc. I love the game but i guess i just want more lol. Im a greedy bastid.
Here ya go matey :}Solutiontoyourproblems.. (http://www.targetware.net/)
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Hi there grm,
Here's my story:
Back in '94 I was in a USUA (United States Ultra-light Association) program, learning to fly stick-and-rudder ultra-lights.
I was doing high speed taxi practice in preparation for my first solo.
I gunned the engine and went roaring down the runway in that near-twilight zone between flight and not-flight. (Base altitude 8,200 in the Rockies.) A surprise gust of wind from the left side blew my plane into the air, off the runway, and stalling me over the swamp. And, I had already signed a contract making me financially responsible for this $5,000 Quicksilver Sprint I, plus the humiliation factor.
What happened was instinctive. I full-throttled the engine and flew that stalling thing out over the swamp and into my unintentional first solo flight.
Instinctive? The gust of wind was entirely unanticipated and the plane stalling over the swamp was going to be a complete disaster; I was ALMOST totally unprepared for the event. BUT, I had been flying an early flight simulator from back then: Fighter Duel, on a Commodore Amiga, and that simulator practice of doing carrier landings had prepped me for the go-around. Was I in danger of my life? No, but the financial and humiliation disaster was very real. When the plane blew over the swamp and was near stalling in, it was my Fighter Duel carrier landing practice that made it INSTICTIVE to gun the engine and make the go-around. (It's amazing how many things can go through your mind in a second at the brink of disaster.)
Since then, I have 500 hours in ultralights, 400 as a USUA Basic Flight Instructor (I've since quit.) And, I've soloed in sailplanes at the Schweitzer Academy in NY.
To this day, I swear, it was my experience in a computer flight sim that saved me on that one special day of my first solo. (The real life-threatening events would come much later, which, obviously, I survived as well. First cross-country, Powder River Gorge, I saw all the famous rock formations from co-altitude while the wind gusts were throwing the ultra-light up and down at 1,200 fet per minute.)
regards, Airman T. E. Shaw
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I once got the chance to take over the steer column in a piper bonzana.
As my father had some contacts as he is a ground mechanic on the small airplanes.
I only flew MS flightsimulators at that time i even kicked at catching some vor beams and ride on it sigh.
The pilot was very confident i wouldnt take to many lessons to go solo.
I kept alt while doing turns etc even catched 1 beam.
My wallet isnt so confident however.
Still it hurts i never had the disipline to go really for my dreams.
:( i failed