yeah LOL i know im not that good, but i think i understand how the game works pretty well, i just cant excute what i preach LOL
what i have so far is the intro page to BFM's and related plane control. this is just a precursory explanation, and i dont intend to go much deeper than what i have. if the reader wants more, go buy a real book LOL.
what you think so far:
Learning to fly:
Some people do not realize there is a difference between Basic Flight Maneuvers (BFM), and Air Combat Maneuvers (ACM). When learning to fly some of the very first things you should learn are BFM’s. These include simple turns, loops, rolls, and things along that line. Other things needed are how to set the auto pilots, how to read both compasses, how to adjust throttle (manifold or MAN) and RPM, and how to trim the airplane manually. These are basics needed to understand what you can and can not do in an airplane.
Let’s start by flying level, and adjusting the MAN and the RPM’s. The MAN is your throttle on the joystick. Think of it like a gas pedal in a car, the harder you push the faster you go. It is measured and pounds of pressure (lbs). The RPM’s are the speed of the propeller, and are controlled by the + and – keys on your keypad by default. Think of the RPM’s like the transmission. They decide how fast your propeller turns. They are measured in revolutions per minute times 100 (30 on the RPM gauge is actually 3000 RPM’s). Reducing either gives less forward thrust. Reducing both can help save fuel. In the game there is an option called E6B. Clicking on this will show many different settings for your airplane. It will show your current MAN and RPM settings, along with some various examples of both. One of these examples is MAX Cruise. This is the most fuel efficient setting you can use, while still keeping up a decent speed while level.
Next we’ll talk about auto pilots. There are 3 different types of auto pilot in AH. They are represented by 3 different colors in the plane; red, green, and yellow. Red auto pilot is probably the most confusing to many. It is auto “speed”. This is the one that will first be on when taking off under “auto takeoff”. It is initially set to the optimal climb speed for that particular aircraft you are in. once you take off your plane will trim up, and go into an automatic climb if there is no input on the joystick. The preset speed for each aircraft is different, and is set by HTC. Some people mistakenly call this auto pilot “auto climb”, while there is some truth to that it is actually auto speed. There is a way to manually change the speed setting by using a “DOT” command. Bring up your radio and type in: .speed 250 (or any number between 80 and 400). If you are on auto speed from takeoff your plane will nose down to gain the desired speed. With this setting on, your plane will keep a straight line in heading, while trimming the nose up or down to attain the set speed.
The next auto pilot is auto level. This is one of the easiest to explain. It is represented by a yellowish orange light on your display. This setting will keep your plane at a stable altitude to the best of its abilities. If you reduce throttle enough (down to nothing for example) your plane will attempt to keep the nose level with the horizon. Once it is unable to, you will lose altitude, and eventually stall the plane. The faster you go the more difficult it is to keep a certain altitude also. The higher the speed, the more lift is created by the wings. Turning on auto level while at a very high speed will keep the nose level with the horizon, but you may gain a slight amount of altitude over time until the plane slows down to it’s max cruise speed.
The last auto pilot is auto angle. It is represented by a green light on your display. This auto pilot keeps a nose up or nose down attitude that you set. If for example you have a 10 degree nose up attitude and turn on auto angle your plane will keep a 10 degree nose up angle as long as it can. This can obviously lead to problems. If you pick too high of an angle your plane will eventually lose too much speed, and stall over. You can also set this to a nose down angle, but that too can cause problems. Besides hitting the ground eventually, if you are high enough you may put the plane into compression, and not be able to pull out at all.
There is a time and a place for all three of these auto pilots in the game. Some quick examples would be: auto speed to reach altitude the fastest possible way; auto angle to stay in a gradual climb when at a high speed; and auto level to fly in a formation once at cruise altitude or when level bombing.
The compasses are sometimes daunting to understand, but if mastered you can really understand the game. The tape compass is just that, a tape with tic marks like a ruler formed into a circle. You can only see a part of it as it rotates around, and your current heading is where the cross hair passes it. The individual tic marks are for individual degrees. There are 360 degrees in a circle, hence 360 degrees on a compass. They are 0 for north, 90 for east, 180 for south, and 270 for west.
The other compass is the dial compass. It looks like a clock face, with north at the top. There is a single needle with a darkened end on one end of it. That darkened end is your current heading. Looking at that compass you can immediately see it is not possible to be as accurate with it as the tape compass. There are times though when you can not see the nearest heading on the tape compass (N, S, E or W), and have to reference the dial compass. It is also useful for a quick tool to help change direction. You can bank to a heading quickly with it, then switch to the tape to finalize the precise heading.
