Originally Posted by Chill31


It is not like in the sim. When I fly sims, I feel like an owl that can see directly behind itself. In the plane, especially the Dr1, you have to keep one hand on the stick, and that makes it a little more challenging to turn right versus left. I also know that pilots in WWI kept their shoulder straps quite loose in order to allow them to look around easily. I probably keep mine more restrictive than if I was fighting for my life.

Based on my experience (I wondered the same question) I think a good approximation is about 150-160 degrees of rotation. You should be able to just see the whole rudder when looking over your shoulder. If you can comfortably see everything behind you, it is not restricted enough.

I'll see if I can get a picture of my field of view for you.


My own experiences reflect the exact same thing! I often wondered if it was possible to limit the extent to which my TrackIR is able to rotate. It would be also be a while before anyone in the cockpit felt confident enough to loosen their shoulder straps! Back in the days of lap belts this wouldn't have been such an issue I suppose, but there are other encumberances like the heavy flying gear required to operate at over 10,000 feet in an open cockpit that conspire against a fellow being able to do basic things that we take for granted at the joystick. I can't beleive that we're lucky enough to have someone available to tweak the Dr.1 FM from first hand experience! Looking forward to flying Herr Fokker's venetian blind when it comes out!


Let's pretend I got the BWOC badge to embed here.

Wenn ihr sieg im deine Kampf selbst gegen, wirst stark wie Stahl sein.
"The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." - Gaiden Shinji