Bowie

May be mad... But got the TG 58.3 USS Bunker Hill and USS Essex flight decks pretty well trimmed out. VMF-221/VF-84/VMF-124/VBF-83. Bowie

Hey Hawkeye, Just installed these Fletchers for escort duty on the new USS Essex. Beautiful mdl.'s. Punchlist: USS Cassin Young - shows up in the load screen, but is a no-show on the map in mission. USS Johnson - has an issue w/ the radar antenna. Thanks for the option of Big/small/none flag. Deleted the OEM DCS steam ship exhaust - looks much better. (The darker exhaust of the past looked pretty good.) Will trying out the USS Iowa Class, in lieu of a light cruiser. Thanks for the work. Just outstanding. Bowie

P-51D: Rudder Curve A straight line curve - is generally too steep for precision rudder input. And a twisted curve - plus 'Deadzone', flat enough to provide precision, quickly runs into the steep part of the curve and becomes useless, and even detrimental. This is a 'uge problem for a prop fighter. Solution: Custom Curve This curve automatically adjusts to the 'Deadzone', which should be set first. Instead of the useful 10-20% of a regular twisted curve, anchored at 100%, this curve goes to 55%, and then jumps to 100% at the wall. It provides over 50% of useful precision rudder input, which is generally most of the requirement. A +/- 300% improvement, and still retains the capacity for full rudder deflection when needed, such as ground handling, or low speed maneuvering, like hammerheads in combat. Give it a try. Bowie

F4U-1D: Rudder Curve A straight line curve - is generally too steep for precision rudder input. And a twisted curve - plus 'Deadzone', flat enough to provide precision, quickly runs into the steep part of the curve and becomes useless, and even detrimental. This is a 'uge problem for a prop fighter. Solution: Custom Curve This curve automatically adjusts to the 'Deadzone', which should be set first. Instead of the useful 10-20% of a regular twisted curve, anchored at 100%, this curve goes to 55%, and then jumps to 100% at the wall. It provides over 50% of useful precision rudder input, which is generally most of the requirement. A +/- 300% improvement, and still retains the capacity for full rudder deflection when needed, such as ground handling, or low speed maneuvering, like hammerheads in combat. Give it a try. Bowie

20/20 human vision - has some interesting features. Acuity - the eye's ability to discern details, degrades ~ 50%, for every Two(2) degrees° of vision away from center. A very small cone of view, and why we move our eyes when we read, and not just soak up the page. EOR - or 'Eyes Only Rotation', is how far away from center the eyes roam, before the head turns (pans) to shift the view to a new center. This is ~ 18°, well before the eye socket encroaches, or the nose interferes with stereoscopic vision and depth perception. Why we turn our heads to the next page, and not read them together as two columns. So, for a std. monitor and viewing distance (28" @ 30")... that's a ~ 44.5° FoV side to side. A 36° (2x18° - left/right or up/down), EOR is about the screen, top to bottom, but only about 80% of the width. Which means that head panning for the extremities of the horizontal view will likely occur. So, a flat 20/20 view, that appears to be with 'blinders' in a box, is actually of a somewhat panoramic nature, sans extreme peripheral vision, which would require a dome simulator. So a flat, 20/20 human vision view works on a std. monitor. It provides relative scale for all objects, near and far, from gauges two feet away, to that carrier 1.25 nm to port. As long as one is willing to pan their view, as they would naturally pan their head IRL. My system, and 28"/4K monitor, set to 56° FoV as described, Looks and Feels... Right. YMMV. Give it a try. Bowie

Thanks, TeTeT, Am using those three ships as Fletchers, Sumners, and light cruisers, respectively, on the WWII maps, escorting the new DCS USS Essex carrier. (as well as all my Korea and Vietnam maps) As the formations are small, maybe 1 or 2 carriers, the screen is generally 2 CL's and 4 DD's, at 3,000 yds cruising plan. So in the pattern, will fly over several at 150 kts/300 ft, as they are plane guard and lead destroyers in line w/ the carrier. They look great, except for the later applied dark deck coating, if that is correct. The overhauled ships, not used, even appear to have it on the 5" gun turrets. As these are still gunboats, a lighter deck would make them a great WWII cut-in. Don't know the trouble, but a mod file would be fine as the rest of the ship is good to go. Consider it. Thanks TeTeT, as this is some very nice work. Bowie

Update: Added a detent step, to coincide w/ the mdl.'s Mil/Full throttle detent. Come back any from full throttle, and it drops back into Mil power. Also allowed for a symmetrical curve, centered on 30" of manifold pressure. Really liking this one, both in a fight and around the boat. Call it done, unless they change the flight profile. Give it a try. Bowie

Update: After further testing, revising this recommendation down to 25%: '895 kjz = 0.07625,' Still stable as a gun platform, and nicer in field combat landings. Better around the boat as well. Same Joystick Curves: Y Axis =33 X Axis = 11 Bowie

Am enjoying this 'F4U-1 1943 Grey-Blue Version 3' livery more than expected, now 'VMF-222 (MAG-11). Bowie

Hey TeTeT, Any chance you could strip off the deck coatings of Vietnam War Vessels: DD537 The Sullivans DD731 Maddox So that they would better fit the WWII environment, now that the F4U/Essex carrier have arrived. Thanks for the work, these are great ships, along w/ the DD942 USS Bigelow. Bowie

Of course. But they would also be generally familiar w/ the A/C and the unit, as it was a specific and large part of their life at the time. This allows both random numbers and familiarity, on a recreational level, across maps and missions. Give it a try. Bowie

Thanks for the education. Was confused by the Landing Pattern nomenclature. "...pass over the carrier, starboard side, at 150 kts/300 ft, hook down..." Since the tail wheel comes down first, and fast, it's 'gear down' command, pause, 'hook, down' command, 'tail wheel, unlock' command. Couple of seconds. Thanks. Bowie

Another interesting stumble. For a single digit Number? Put a Letter before and after it. ie. 'a7a' Gives you a centered '7', on both the fuselage and gear doors. Bowie

F4U DevGru - Tail Hook Inoperative w/ Gear Up Neither keybind nor mouse (no activation 'green' symbol) Works fine with both w/ the gear down. Bowie

Glad it worked for ya. Have an interesting system for these U-birds. Figure that they showed up in batches, so like '8xx' for the early(red), and '5xx' and '7xx' for the later(blue) arrives. Three Divisions(12)/Squadron. Division Leaders: xx1(or 0),2,3. Section Leaders: xx4,5,6. DL Wingman: xx7,8,9. SL Wingman: x10,11,12. The first number is Squadron (8,5,7,etc.), and the middle is random(non-'1'), except for the SL Wingmen that have the '1' already. Usually set all Leaders(xx1(or 0),2,3,6) to veteran, with the exception of the first and second Section Leaders(xx4,5), as aces. First two DL Wingmen(xx7,8) are also veteran, while the remaining four(xx9,x10,11,12) are trained replacements. Ace-2 Veteran-6 Trained - 4 Will look like a gaggle, but can identify A/C and pilot skill in-flight or on the ground at a glance. Set the enemy up more or less accordingly, depending of attrition. Early to mid '43, still had a lot of hot Jap pilots. Bowie