#3899873 - 01/22/14 07:38 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: Lanzfeld113]
|
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 864
Hauksbee
Member
|
Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 864
DeForest, Wisconsin
|
Scan. You don't want to die holding perfect formation.
Tho' there's probably a Col. Blimp back at Divisional HQ who feels it's worth losing a pilot, or two, now and then, as long as the formations look smart.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.
|
|
|
#3899882 - 01/22/14 07:55 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: JamesL]
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 147
Falcon988
Member
|
Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 147
|
It's a skill, but I highly recommend it. Makes the time flying to and from target go by fast, because your mind and your hands are always, always busy.
It's like driving a car. You're constantly making small corrections on the wheel, even long after you stop noticing. To be honest, formation flying becomes second nature on most engines. The real fun is doing it in a rotary that doesn't have a throttle.
As mentioned though, perfect formation flying is for friendly lines. Once you hit the front or enter Hun territory, give yourself enough room that you can scan the skies constantly without worrying about colliding with your wingman. I've been bounced and killed because I was too busy trying to hold formation and trusting that my flight leader would see the enemy first. If your flight leader is James McCudden that's usually a safe bet, but they are not all equal and, in the end, it's your own arse up there.
One second I was holding formation quite peacefully, the next I was on fire. That was no fun. Also saw at least one of other of my squadron's planes taking hits, but I didn't have much time to look before my wing fell off. You can die fast, so really, REALLY, it's more important to scan the skies.
Last edited by Falcon988; 01/22/14 07:58 PM.
JAVITO1986 on the CombatAce forums!
|
|
|
#3899922 - 01/22/14 08:47 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: JamesL]
|
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 33
Blazing88s
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 33
Canada
|
TAC with the instructor help on works wonders for flying in formation. Otherwise I would not bother and autopilot it until not needed. I understand others would frown on this... Just my two cents.
System specs: Cyberpower Asus M5A97, AMD FX 8150 eight core, 3.6 GHz (stock) 16GB DDR3 RAM ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 Ti, 1024 MB, GDDR5 Asus 24.1" ProArt PA248Q, optimal A+ IPS panel 1920x1200 LED-backlit Monitor 16:10 aspect ratio, 6ms P-IPS Window 7 Home Premium 64x, Service Pack 1
|
|
|
#3899960 - 01/22/14 09:59 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: JamesL]
|
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 38
JamesL
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 38
|
Guys, thanks for your tips. I'll try not to sweat it, forget about perfect air show formations and scan more. I'll try the TAC as well. Flying like this is actually a lot like learning to drive, I remember how awkward I was in my lessons & now it's just instinctive. It's practice that counts.
Another thing (which may be like a bad workman blaming his tools!) is my joystick. I'm using an old SideWinder Force Feedback 2 which works fine in windows 7 but hasn't got any calibration software. It's got no dead zone and is so sensitive that even moving my thumb to a button can alter the bank/pitch of my plane a few degrees. I'm not sure how to overcome this apart from buying a new device which is a shame as its otherwise a damm fine joystick.
((update: found out how to calibrate the joystick in win 7 and its made formation flying a lot easier! Also quite glad to see the AI pilots of mediocre skill in my flight also not keeping station. Nice touch of realism!))
Last edited by JamesL; 01/22/14 11:39 PM.
|
|
|
#3900318 - 01/23/14 03:28 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: JamesL]
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 676
nibbio
Member
|
Member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 676
Italy
|
((update: found out how to calibrate the joystick in win 7 and its made formation flying a lot easier! Also quite glad to see the AI pilots of mediocre skill in my flight also not keeping station. Nice touch of realism!)) You can set deadzone and linearity of each axis in WOFF itself in the Workshop. I found that formation flying gets much easier if the elevator is trimmed for horizontal flight. Auto-trim is also useful to trim the elevator quickly on some aircraft that require extreme elevator trim.
|
|
|
#3900384 - 01/23/14 05:20 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: nibbio]
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
HumanDrone
Just shoot me...
|
Just shoot me...
Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
Near Pittsburgh, PA USA
|
You can set deadzone and linearity of each axis in WOFF itself in the Workshop.
I found that formation flying gets much easier if the elevator is trimmed for horizontal flight. Auto-trim is also useful to trim the elevator quickly on some aircraft that require extreme elevator trim.
Now this axis settings in WOFF is new to me, I'll have a look - Thanks! I'm wondering about your second statement - these beauties didn't have trim in real life did they? Or, I believe, the mechanic could apply a fixed level of trim on the ground, then you are stuck with it. So if you need "extreme" trim, is something wrong?
Box: Win7 Pro 64 bit / I72600K @4.1 GHz / EVGA GTX1080Ti/ 16GB RAM / Corsair 240 GB SSD / WD 600 GB Velociraptor / 1050W Power FS Stuff: Saitek X52 Pro Stick/Throttle & Combat Rudder Pedals, TrackIR 5 Sims: FSX Gold, REX 2.0 OD, UTX-NA, FSGenesis 10m mesh/ CFS3 ETO 1.40/Wings Over Flanders Fields BH&H2 (more gorgeous than ever!) Proud BOC inductee 4/30/12!
|
|
|
#3900451 - 01/23/14 06:49 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: HumanDrone]
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 676
nibbio
Member
|
Member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 676
Italy
|
[quote=nibbio] I'm wondering about your second statement - these beauties didn't have trim in real life did they? Or, I believe, the mechanic could apply a fixed level of trim on the ground, then you are stuck with it. So if you need "extreme" trim, is something wrong? With my setup, without trim, some planes require constant stick pressure to fly straight and level. Your mileage may vary. I'm however quite sure that there's nothing wrong with the planes. By "extreme trim" I meant above 10%-15%, as per the degree of trim that is reported on the screen as a percentage. I suppose that 100% would be half the total excursion of the control surface (total excursion would from -100% to +100%). Since each key press modifies trim by something like .5%, it's a lot of key presses. OTOH when you engage auto-trim, trim is set automatically, adjusting to the current position of the stick, so it's much quicker. Then you can disengage auto-trim and fly keeping the resulting trim setting. At least that's how I use it. AFAIK you are correct in saying that WWI aircraft generally had no trim available, however the presence of trim in WOFF is very welcome. I don't believe in pursuing realism to the point of getting carpal tunnel syndrome In ROF you have to adjust the response curve of the joystick to compensate. Some may argue that it's more realistic, however, since of course you have to be able to do it in flight, I find it equivalent (just a little more of a hassle since you have to call up a menu, etc.)
|
|
|
#3900520 - 01/23/14 08:56 PM
Re: Formation Flying advice needed
[Re: Polovski]
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 394
yaan98
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 394
|
Many craft were configured in such a way that they would want to climb initially, like the Camel at full load of fuel its nose would pull up then eventually as the fuel was exhausted after a long mission the nose would want to drop. You have to remember many of these craft were intentionally configured for valid reasons. But yeah you can trim them out. Some craft like the SE5a had elevator trim the pilot could set, others had some that could only be used on the ground, some none except a bungee strapped to the stick.
Many pilots commented that some craft were tiring to fly due to requiring fairly hefty long term pressure or hand on the stick for the whole mission. Some didn't need much like the BE2 very stable but not good for fighting in of course. A bit OT, but an interesting discussion. So, what you're basically saying is that the planes fly like they should and adjusting trim on them is counterproductive (i.e. not historical) and I should just fly them the way they are in the game to maintain their historical behavior.
Last edited by yaan98; 01/23/14 09:00 PM.
|
|
|
|
CD WOFF
by Britisheh. 03/28/24 08:05 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|