Just want to learn | Forums

[K_Freddie]

When you choose your fav aircraft, 'practise' flying it on the edge... high speeds and more importantly very consistent tight turns.

Any 'idiot' can fly fast, handling your aircraft 'on the edge' seperates the men from the boys.

Learn CEM (Complex Engine Managment).. it makes a big difference. You must be able to Think/Visualise in 3D = Situational Awareness (SA) === Imagination

[K_Freddie]

To be good, is not to be shot down - Keep a good lookout.

[PhantomKira]

"Fancy flying never killed anyone. Good gunnery kills people."

All the fancy flying in the world won't do you a bit of good if you can't hit what you're shooting at. You'll end up defensive in every encounter. As a fighter pilot, that's not where you want to be.

In the simulated world, there are vast differences between how people can fly their aircraft. The reason is simply because not all are equipped with the correct controls to precisely control their aircraft. Some that are, are not equipped with quality equipment. If your input control of choice has sloppy springs or whatever, you won't be able to fly well, regardless of how well you're actually handling the controls. A keyboard and mouse won't cut it for flight sims. A joystick is essential if you want any hope of even having an idea what it's like to fly an aircraft, never mind surviving in a hostile virtual sky. "Force Feedback" is a very nice feature to have, as it attempts to depict the forces on the aircraft through forces on the stick. Rudder pedals are almost as essential, for precision flying. There are "twist sticks", where the joystick itself turns to give rudder inputs, but this is far from ideal. Finally, some sort of head tracking device like TrackIR or FreeTrack gives you a free hand when you don't have to look around using the fixed views of the numpad numberpad, or the mouse.

Check out the Nuggets Guide To Getting Off The Ground and Sturmovik Essentials at the top of the General Discussion page. Also, ZeusCat's Straight From The Farm campaign to learn how to do safe landings from land and aircraft carrier. You can find it here from another great resource, Mission4Today.com.

The best way to learn combat tactics, once you have a handle on basic flying, and your aircraft in particular, is to get online and follow someone who knows what they're doing. Stick to them like glue and watch. Observe what they do, when they do it, and why. Take notes. If you're not sure why they did something, ask them in the debrief. For a great guide on these tactics and online flying in general, check the In Pursuit.pdf link below.

[skyhigh2011]

hey, thanks you guys I want to join up the join op but i don't know how to I got an email from them now what? I don't know where to download IL21946SEPS Package.

[DD_crash]

You get the seps package from the Joint-Ops download page. All the info you need is on their forum/website. Good luck its quite intensive

[M_Gunz]

Here's a move for you, vertical turns. Do a half loop except on the way up, roll the plane so you come out on a new course. Do a half roll at the top and dive to regain speed. With a FW or P-47 this can be done insanely fast like while running a barrel roll, suddenly off 60 degrees in another direction. But don't try that when slow!

Learn to fly yoyo's. You can stay behind another even though you have higher airspeed if your path is longer. That's what yoyo's and _big_ barrel rolls do, they lengthen your path. And if every so often your path happens to point across the nose of the other might be other than coincidental.

Your path can be shorter than your target's like say you cross the circle the other is turning. You can be the slow one and still get the shot.

[skyhigh2011]

can you guys just explain it in a simple term please? sorry it's a bit difficult for me to understand. I can fly in airline sims so take off and landing isn't a worry. Would complete aerobatics help?

[skyhigh2011]

where can i play online nowadays?

[skyhigh2011]

I fly jetliners take off and landing aren't big deal but i just wanted to get into combat as well trying everything and anything. I just want to learn dog fights to become like bud anderson or something hahahah would complete aerobatics do it?

[M_Gunz]

You need to learn the Basic Combat Maneuvers and the Advanced Combat Maneuvers. They are all aerobatics. They used to be part of training materials in older sims with less time spent on FM/DM/graphics. Now you can take an online course.

If you can find a copy of the EAW CD there is an 8 meg html Flight Training School fully illustrated that goes into what you need to get started. If you want the full taco, a book to keep for occasional perusal and reflection, there is Fighter Combat by Robert Shaw published by the Naval Institute Press. About half of it applies to WWI & WWI prop planes and the rest is jet and/or missile-specific. It's written for modern combat pilots but he makes complete examinations of combat tactics and classifies them in terms of energy and angles that apply to all combat flying. That's if you want a serious book on the subject.

31 used hard cover copies starting at $12.75, new is $27.64. -- retail price is probably still $35.