Gunloon, I'm so very happy that ROF has allowed you to enjoy some of the sensation and joy of flight again.

My dad flew CG-4A Waco troop gliders into combat during WW2, and mom was a pilot and Navy Wave who taught instrument flying to cadets. I took up flying in the seventies, first in open air, cable-braced, ultralight aircraft. Like you Gunloon, there is a joy in flying, which is something a person never will forget.

Flying in ROF is unlike any WWI sim before it, or any other hobby flight simulator made yet, because many of those who contributed to it recognized what open-cockpit flying was actually like.

Salute Gunloon. I'm glad ROF has given a part of your life back.

Cheers Mate!

Thanks for the great replies!
My real experience is small but it showed me that flight sims are really lacking in the "real flight" area.

I was lucky enough to fly my buddies 150 several times and after my first time up in the small plane I went straight home and tried to tweak fx to feel similar. I jacked up the turblance and wind to simulate the rough, bouncing and pitching of the small plane but could not come close. Flying the 150 showed me that a real light plane is alot of work on a hot, windy July day. Also the sound is tough to duplcate, we wore headphones and I still had a hard time hearing my friend so when I got home I jacked up the volume and even that could not be set high enough with the small speakers I had then (now I have Klipsh 7.1 system and a Velodyne sub and can almost duplicate the wind and engine noise of the 150).

I started this post to find out if this sim could get me closer and thanks to you people I know it will get me as close a possible.

13,200 hours but who's counting. Even though I still fly professionaly it's been years since my days in the Maule, Pawnee, Cessna 120, Christen Eagle, and clipped-wing Cub. The itch is as scratched as it will likely ever be given a limited bank account and life. This sim will be a great one. IL2 shouldn't be discounted outright as you see much of it's DNA in RoF. But man this sim is something else! Truely the essence of fight is mostly there. And looking down on a furball of dozens of biplanes turning with the sun glinting off their wings and chasing low and watching airplane parts fall to the ground like autumn leaves. Sliding my head far to the left on landing to catch the slightest yaw before it progresses into an uncorrectable groundloop. Pulling straight up with insufficient energy and the machine stops; silence, hold the controls because I haven't a clue what the plane will do as gravity wins-- how often did I make that mistake in gliders? Flying along twisty rivers below treetops just as I did when I was a kid. The ugly reality of formation flying--that wind and wake and pilot imperfection make it look nothing like the pretty 2-D view seen from the ground at airshows. How real are the flight models? I don't know...I really expected less stability and inadequate rudder authority, particularly on rotary designs. I thought these planes would be harder. After reading some of the above, pehaps that was exagerated. Makes since in hindsight because many historical descriptions were written by highly inexperienced and poorly trained pilots whose element was horseback.

I fly this sim in awe of the work behind it.

This is how I look at RoF too. In spite of its gameplay short comings what it does deliver is deep and meaningful. I don't see how anyone who truly has a love and interest in these WW1 aircraft can be bored with this game. Like Gunloon said it has only been out here in the west for a little over a month!




I am in training mode too. I still fly with the mixture and radiator options off, but the other flight realism options I leave on. I thought I don't want the hassle of hitting buttons for keeping the radiator and fuel mixture set, but it is another part of the gameplay open to me that I haven't explored yet.



I am not a pilot but my dad was. I grew up around airplanes and pilots. I was born shortly after WW2 and I turned 61 this week. My dad flew in the Army air force during the war. He flew the B17 out of North Africa against the Italians and Germans. Also he said he flew the P 38 Lightning, although he said it was a great fighter he didn't say he ever took it into combat, but the B17 he did.

He wasn't big on war stories and I didn't pressed him for them very often, but I asked a couple of times. He told me when they were flying the B17 it was common to chew gum. He said being in the air things were so intense and his mouth would get so dry that the gum would stick to his teeth so that he couldn't chew it. He told me about the times he had to take off the communication headphones because he didn't want to hear the cries of the guys in the other bombers going down in flames.

He said the Italians really were not into fighting and he would see them bail out before the first shot was fired. The Germans were a different story. When you saw those iron crosses coming at you, said my dad, you knew you were in for a fight! They fought hard right down to the bitter end and never gave up. He had a lot of regard for the Germans. The whole world was against them and they still almost won, he told me. Then he added, they probably could have if someone besides that nut Hitler was running the show. I remember years ago when I was a kid watching a TV show, old news reels they use to air about WW2. I made the comment, I think the Germans had the best looking uniforms. Oh, he chimed in, no question about it! LoL

Growing up in CA my dad kept up his flying. We couldn't afford our own plane but he belonged to a flying club out of San Carlos that had an air strip and a selection of planes you could rent and take out. It was common for him to take me along to practice his take offs and landings. I don't remember the exact model of the plane, but it was always some kind of single prop Cessna. Sitting in the co pilot seat I would read off the preflight check list for him; mixture full rich, master switch on, etc. on down the list until he would lean out the window and holler, Clear! and the prop would turn over.

I remember one time were were up in the sky and there were beautiful cumulus clouds here and there. Can we go over and get close to one? We headed over for one and were going to fly right into it. Then all of a sudden coming right for us, an airplane pops out of the damn cloud! It was close enough to see the prop stirring up the cloud as he busted through. The closest thing we ever did to stunt flying was the maneuver my dad pulled to get out of his way! We banked hard to the left with the nose down! It happened so fast I don't think the other pilot even made an attempt to change course. We stayed away from clouds after that!

I haven't had a chance to fly WWI airplanes, but comparing my little experience in Citabria, Decathlon and SNJ-4 it feels right at home. However, I do miss elevator trim and Garmin in RoF cockpit

I have 12k+ flight-time, ranging from 0 to 4 engines.

I tend to compare rof flight behavior with the older wooden german gliders I have flown. I too, as W2F mentions, find the pitch quite a bit overdone. But on the whole Rof gives me a very lifelike experience. Wings dropping, spins, sideslipping. Very believable.

I wish I had more taildraggertime on old stuff then I do (about 10 hours), but even then it feels close to the real thing. That's why I like it !!

I wrote a reply to the pitch sensitivity issue. As it was off-topic and grew significantly, I started a separate topic on the issue instead and suggest interested parties provide their input there.

Some great replies in here, I'm not a pilot in real life, so I won't talk about my impressions, but keep them coming please!

Having been a 'copter passenger' in the 60's (ancient history) for a couple of years is as close as I can come to any daily real-life flying experience. I had some exciting and some scary times bouncing around at low altitudes.

In one sense I have to really envy those of you who have managed the flight controls as pilots since you have that 'real life' experience. But, on the other hand, I guess I don't have the disadvantage of comparing sim flight with actual flight so I can be happily immersed (and happily ignorant), believing that the sim is a reasonably good flight experience given the lack of g-forces and other effects. FFB stick and my "Battlechair" give me some feeling of the flight sensations like wheels rolling and lifting off, flack bursts, and engine vibrations. That's as good as it gets for me.

However, the comments from real-life pilots are most interesting and it's encouraging to hear confirmation of how favourably ROF compares to real-life flight characteristics. I'm enjoying these posts immensely.