Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Citabria on April 23, 2011, 03:58:49 PM

Title: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Citabria on April 23, 2011, 03:58:49 PM
thought I would share my observations for anyone interested in this type of stuff.

was throwing the plane around like I was in an imaginary dogfight. truth be told its not far off from AH with combat trim on. controls were very light and responsive with no noticable trim needed in the dive and climbing aspects of basic fighter maneuvers. though my adrenalin was probably going so high I wouldnt have noticed if there were.

did some stall climbs and dives simulating BnZ and rope a dopes. you can really hear the wind past 160 or so the green arc ends around 200 if I remember correctly but I stayed below it to be nice to the classic warbird.

even at these lower speeds you can really feel the G's in  steep turn. I didnt look at the G meter till after we were returning to the airport but it was maxed at 4gs probably on the loops as most of the other stuff was lower G maneuvers of posibly 3g or whatever it is the average steep sustained turn pulls.

the instructor basically gave me free reign of the airplane and I was off to basic fighter maneuvers land. did a few show stunts like 4 point roll and stuff though but I was kind of wishing there was another t6 in the air to play fighter pilot with.

I was very interested in how it handled the common fighter maneuvers I use most often in Aces High.

one maneuver the instructor did that I didnt try was a spin which the t6 seemed to enter and exit without any fuss at all.

all in all I think Aces High does a satisfactory job and compares well to an actual warbird be it the t6 was a big heavy advanced trainer.

AH being by its nature a flight simulator you are sitting still in front of your pc and the seat of the pants visceral nature of the actual beast is quite overpowering in reality and can not yet be duplicated in the virtual arena.

the vibration and noise is deafening and being in the back seat without the map or GPS I pretty quickly got the I do not know where I am feeling from the clouds and the terrain below as we were playing at 5000 feet.

after about 30 minutes of heavy maneuvering I was quite tired and drenched with sweat from the exertion of the G's and the sun beating through the greenhouse canopy.

we turned back to the airport and the decent down to 1500 feet from 5000 with the speed at the top of the green arc the sense of speed from the sound and vibration of the wind was very noticible.

I didn't try the takeoff or landing portions of the flight though so I can't comment on its handling though from the back seat following on the controls the control inputs felt similar to what I experience in a J-3 cub. though the j-3 cub I've been flying is 85HP and 800 lbs and this t-6 is 600hp and about 5000 lbs.

not me in the video though it is the same airplane I flew in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zn0HxCbng

the veiw from the rear seat in the video is the same one I was experiencing.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Slash27 on April 23, 2011, 04:00:03 PM
Show off!!  Good stuff :aok
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Scotch on April 23, 2011, 04:44:29 PM
pictures
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: SmokinLoon on April 23, 2011, 05:23:07 PM
Nice!  Great post.

I'll see what I can do in a 38 year old Cessna 150.  If I dont post my results then you know I ripped the wings off.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Citabria on April 23, 2011, 05:31:19 PM
funny you should say that one of the switches on the back left side of the rear cockpit has two positions...

"Wings stay on" <- "Wings fall off"

naturally its left in the wings stay on position for good luck though it can be set to wings fall off without any actual disaster happening  ;)

but it did get a laugh out of me when I saw it.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Puma44 on April 23, 2011, 06:53:43 PM
Very nice!   Pictures?   :aok
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Citabria on April 23, 2011, 07:39:08 PM
didnt bring a camera will try to next time I go
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: MachFly on April 23, 2011, 07:40:36 PM
Nice  :aok
You planing planing on doing it again any time soon?

I know a guy nearby who has a T-6, been planing to do a flight with him for about a month now, hoping to get a chance in the next two weeks.

after about 30 minutes of heavy maneuvering I was quite tired and drenched with sweat from the exertion of the G's and the sun beating through the greenhouse canopy.

 :lol I know what you mean
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: colmbo on April 23, 2011, 10:08:54 PM
The T-6/SNJ is a blast to fly.  Back in '95 I flew Crazy Horse.  A couple days later I flew a T-6 with a WWII vet in the back seat.  We did the basic loop, roll, barrel roll stuff that I had done in the Mustang....I found the T-6 a bit more challenging to fly....the Mustang retains E better, has more power.  I really enjoy the T-6...would own one in a heartbeat...the wife loves the sound of the inertia starter engaging.  :D

Here's some vids from me flying a T-6 a few years ago. (http://www.dalefalk.com/Movies/T-6-Flight/7443717_QsSXY#480035091_rDqTV)  We were doing acro in the moutains east of Anchorage...nice view of the glaciers during the loops and rolls.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: hitech on April 24, 2011, 05:55:32 PM
t6s are fun.

HiTech
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Dichotomy on April 24, 2011, 06:32:58 PM
The T-6/SNJ is a blast to fly.  Back in '95 I flew Crazy Horse.  A couple days later I flew a T-6 with a WWII vet in the back seat.  We did the basic loop, roll, barrel roll stuff that I had done in the Mustang....I found the T-6 a bit more challenging to fly....the Mustang retains E better, has more power.  I really enjoy the T-6...would own one in a heartbeat...the wife loves the sound of the inertia starter engaging.  :D

Here's some vids from me flying a T-6 a few years ago. (http://www.dalefalk.com/Movies/T-6-Flight/7443717_QsSXY#480035091_rDqTV)  We were doing acro in the moutains east of Anchorage...nice view of the glaciers during the loops and rolls.

Jealousy, while a very ugly emotion, is all I'm feeling right now.  So HT when do I get that ride in your RV?
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Silent6 on April 24, 2011, 07:18:20 PM
Hey Im curious how much did that run cost?
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: W7LPNRICK on April 24, 2011, 07:22:10 PM
(http://www.vintageflights.com/images/portfolio/texan_enlarge2.jpg)    :salute
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: MachFly on April 24, 2011, 07:22:45 PM
Hey Im curious how much did that run cost?

Usually the cost is a bit more than the horsepower. The AT-6 that I'm planing on flying is $700/hour (instructor, parachute, and fuel is included).
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Shuffler on April 25, 2011, 11:14:32 AM
Very cool.... thanks for posting.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Pigslilspaz on April 25, 2011, 03:27:04 PM
Usually the cost is a bit more than the horsepower. The AT-6 that I'm planing on flying is $700/hour (instructor, parachute, and fuel is included).

Parachute = do what you want, cause we're ready for it.
Title: Re: flew a t-6 texan this morning.
Post by: Delirium on April 25, 2011, 03:33:00 PM
I paid $300 for close to a 2 hour ride but that was years ago.

The thing is incredibly forgiving, not at all what I expected.