ARM505

Whilst I too would love to see something like the Longbow, it's actually mind boggling how complex this thing is, and even more so to simulate an AI front/backseater. I can see why ED chose to simulate a single seater attack helicopter, a very wise choice. For those who want to get a clue just how demanding operating a Longbow Apache is, and how much crew co-ordination is required, read the recently released 'Apache' by Ed Macy, detailing the Royal Army Air Corp (something like that!) involvement in the Helmand province in Afghanistan. Frankly, I don't think a fully realistic representation of what this helicopter can do is possible on todays PC's, let alone a plausible CPG representation, where the dismal levels of even the best AI would really show up. The book is a good read (obviously they deal with the Westland Apache AH Mk1, the British version, but the concepts are the same), and the part dealing with the evacuation of Royal Marine Mathew Ford makes for very exciting reading. Worthwhile. My point then, is rather go for the A model Apache, rather than the latest and greatest Longbow version, there's a much better chance of getting something a little closer to reality.

Yup, that's the way it works...

Was just wondering about the same thing - I was cruising, weapon system in Nav (reset) mode (poor terminology, sorry), and the screen, which of course had been in it's grey, 'off' state, showed the test pattern for a little while. What triggers this? I've seen it before of course, but it would be nice to know the answer...

Definitely. FBW would allow pilots to safely unleash this things full potential. See how quickly those Commanche prototypes could roll?

'Damnage modelling'...but I'll call it realistic, nothing a Ka50 can carry will hurt a large damn!

Papa Doc, Papa Doc....now there's a name I haven't heard for about a zillion years....from the newsgroups? Comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flightsims or something like that? Sorry, OT, but the name somehow rang a bell...maybe I'm thinking of somebody else anyway.

There are infantry units (goodies and baddies, you can tell who the baddies are because they have beards ;) ), and they will fire at you with their rifles and MG's. They can move as well. Don't expect Armed Assault levels of AI though (ie they are even further below 'vegetable' level), they only do what they're set to do from the mission planner. Basically they're like mobile shooting targets, but they do the job and it's great that they've been included.

Seriously, modelling the electrical system in such detail (to manage voltage and amperage fluctuations and spikes as systems are switched on and off) is a) a seriously massive job, and b) of almost zero practical importance in this type of sim. Really, it would be of use to train ground engineers, thats it IMHO. I do it for a living, and believe me, you can only verify 115 VAC, 400 HZ, 28VDC (or whatever it should be) only so many times a day before it all becomes a bit dull. Of course, what is of importance, is knowing where systems get their power from (ie Gen 1 or 2), and if some kind of overload condition is occurring (unlikely). But actual volts and amps? Not in my opinion...

Your thumb is resting on the ALT key....just kidding, but it sounds like you have some kind of modifier inadvertently pressed (if the key commands aren't even working), possibly by a programmable joystick or something like that? I assume your keyboard is actually working. Try checking everything in notepad, or something more powerful along similar lines and see what is actually being sent by the keyboard and joystick. That was a pretty wild guess...

Despite the very strong response from ED, they are fortunately placed in that they have a large and loyal following, the vast majority of whom are well aware that in this niche world we live in, piracy can mean the death of our hobby. Hence, whilst I believe ANY copy protection can and will be bypassed, loyal customers will still accept the hassles associated with aggressive CP, and shell out the cash. It's just a pity that the option to give them even more cash (by buying the Russian version) has been made more difficult than it needs to be. I personally believe that a lot of potential sales have been lost, and that's a pity - they need our support. So, as mentioned earlier - they could have gone cheaper on the CP, and been more agreeable to international options for the Russian version - ultimately, I firmly believe that they would have had more money in the bank had they gone this route. IMHO.

I think one of the OP's points was indeed quite valid - that MSFS is totally and utterly wrong when it comes to rotary winged sim modelling. In other words, it's not just suffering from PC limitations, it's just plain wrong. I would also wish for a sim that promoted correct techniques etc when it comes to handling. And sims do have a certain level of potential: I just flew my first line flight on a 737-400 (two days ago), having NEVER touched the real aircraft until fare-paying passengers started climbing in the back. Many EMERGENCY procedures can ONLY be taught in the simulator. I know most people here know about zero-time conversions on full motion sims, but it's worth a mention. And when it comes to fixed base sims, there's still a lot of potential. Some points that self taught MSFS pilots tend to forget however, is that training on sims is done in a highly structured environment, by highly experienced pilots, with full knowledge of the limitations of the sim. Certainly, the further the training to be done is from actual handling of the aircraft, the better. In other words, sims are excellent at teaching procedures, interpretation of instruments etc, but not so good at teaching handling itself. The sim technicians (ie the guys who fix the sim itself) at the company I work for are able to handle the sim like legends - and can indeed fly the real aircraft (it has been known to happen on test flights, shhhh!) But not with the same level of situational awareness as a normal crewmember. Helicopters present a unique challenge - they're VERY 'hands on' compared to an airliner - hence the shortcomings of a sim are at there most apparent. Still, taken with the correct attitude, a sim can be very useful in laying basic foundations.

Sounds like an awesome idea, and like all paradigm-shifting ideas, will seem obvious once it's been implemented - as for the 6DOF, the cursor doesn't have to 'stick' to a switch - just make it click whatever happens to be 'on top' of whatever else happens to be underneath it. It's up to the user to move his head to unmask a button that he wants to see, just the same as with normal mouse cursor button use. Once again, an awesome idea.

Here is a very nice shot from the gunners front cockpit of an Mi24 whilst firing the cannon. A single tracer can be seen (I went through the thread, hopefully this hasn't been mentioned): http://www.airliners.net/photo/Czech-Republic--/Mil-Mi-24V/0815441/L/&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=110&sok=keyword_(%5C%27%2B%5C%22gun%5C%22%5C%27_IN_BOOLEAN_MODE))_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=0819577&next_id=0812526 My 2c, based on my RL experiences: .50 cal, day and night: Night firing was from ship to airborne flare target, both own ship and preceding vessel in the formation - the tracers appeared as slightly dull orange streaks, looking rather lazy as they floated upwards from the preceding ship. From my own ship, they looked like small glowing balls, almost points (viewed from almost directly behind the gun mount), dimming slightly as they flew outwards and dropped. Pretty obvious I suppose. 40mm Bofors, straight out of WWII!, night only: Big, bright, yellowish tracers, made a yellowish streak of light. Viewed from about 10 meters to right of muzzle. Nice. Various 7.62mm, day only: Again, similar to .50 cal, (dull orange) but smaller points of light, harder to make out tracer, especially hard (but not impossible) when viewed from any place other than directly behind gun. I remember one or two tracer rounds lying sputtering and burning in the sand of the backstop after they'd gone through the paper target. May be too late to be of use, but there it is anyway.

Some pilot stories from my co-workers I'm ashamed to say: (All B737-200) Whilst testing the window heat, one light would not come on. Light test showed it was fine, so the Captain thought 'No problem, I'll just do the overheat test to force it on', not realising that this applies full power to the window immediately, without the normal ramp-up time. Full window heat to a cold window = *CRACK!* Doh! There goes a few $. The F/O on another flight was doing the trim lock test (when you try and trim in the opposite direction to the direction the flight controls are applied in, a mechanical lock stops movement of the trim wheel, normally with a bit of a bang), and the trim would immediately lock up. This seemed like a major fault to them, so they got the pax, catering, baggage etc off the plane, and changed to a different aircraft. Little did they realise (until the engineer made it painfully clear to them) that they hadn't turned the B system hydraulic pumps on yet, hence no pressure to the flight controls, and the yoke was just slight forward of neutral. Hence the lockup whenever they tested nose up trim. Doh! So far I've managed to avoid embarrassing myself too badly...

....but I forgot to add, you can't. Because microsoft will have changed to DX10.x, and your newly bought gfx card is now obsolete. ;)

And then, to get DX10 performance, simply underclock your GPU to half its present speed. Job done!

I'm here too. Here's our little local hangout (amongst others): http://games.saix.net/cgi-bin/sgsbb/ikonboard.cgi?;act=SC;c=20 Cheers!

Er....it IS a FPS.....?

Take a read here, this guy actually mentions the spectre of critical stuff such as medical software running on vista: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html Scary. Personally, I feel we're just seeing the result of one company having absolute dominance in the OS market - proof positive that competition is good, and monopolies are bad.

Old analogue CH pedals work fine as well, but you'll need to do a little rewiring if you want to get toe brake functionality as well.

It's a device designed to increase forum traffic on aviation and simulator related forums.

Some get blown clear, others get fragmented. If there's MDC in the canopy - it gets fragged.

TAS

Well, this still seems utterly pointless to me (and for 40 USD too!) - who could possibly have an absolute need to have that? Whats wrong with the cap, or attaching the reflectors to the headset? I don't get it....

Ugh! It's pictures and solutions like this that perpetuates the idea that people of bygone ages were mind-numbingly stupid! Which they weren't no doubt.....but what on earth were they thinking when they came up with this idea?!?!