siege00

Testament to finding your niche and producing a stellar product: How many software releases can say that they have people trolling their boards all day long begging for a new beta (including myself), and cracking jokes to pass the time. LOL Wags, you guys ROCK!

ACK! That's like blasphemy in DCS land. I'd fly if they told me the whole manual was bogus. lol :pilotfly:

LOL @mooshim. Back when sims used to be a cardboard box or a set of legos or heaven forbid, a model... gasp!

I've had the X65 since September and swear by it. For a desktop stick, I think it would be hard to beat by any other, but people seem to be REALLY passionate and opinionated about using a force-sensing stick vs. a deflection stick. If this is going to bother you, stay away from the X65. For me, it's my first stick of its type and I've owned Saitek and CH products prior to and loved them as well. I've actually never had a problem with any HOTAS that I've used. I considered getting the TM WH, and battle with the idea of it everyday. I can afford it, but to be honest, I'm really not willing to give up my X65. I could see buying the WH, using it for a while, and heading right back to my X65, though I love the switches on the throttle base. Knowing myself though, using that will make me want to have the rest of the switches in the cockpit as well. The fact that I play on a desktop, and the fact that the X65 doesn't deflect makes it perfect. I'm never worried about knocking things over. lol. Now I will say that it took me a month of regular flying to get used to the X65. It was just such a foreign concept to not have the stick deflect, but now I swear by it. You're thinking about banking and the plane is already rolling. :) There are many who say they couldn't play with it because of this reason or that, but I've used it for DCS BS, IL2, A10, and FSX and I still don't think about the tool, I think about the application of the tool, and the X65 now feels completely natural and far more accurate than any other stick I've ever used. However I've never used the WH so I can't comment on that. I'll say this... if you're going to have a mental problem with using a force-sensing stick because "it doesn't feel natural to fly deflection stick airframes with it", don't even bother. If you've got an open mind, and willing to practice with it until you get used to it, give it a shot and you'll likely love it. But if you do give it a shot, it will make it very hard to go back to using a deflection stick, IMHO. Also, if you plan on mounting the WH, then think about mounting the X65. I played with a center (crotch) mounted X65, and from that angle, there is no issue whatsoever with reaching the top hats. For A10, I don't have an issue with the TMS top hat (left one), but reaching the trim top hat (right) requires a shift or release of the stick to get to it. And I have large hands. XL min in gloves. Good luck and I for one would like to hear what you decide and how it works out for you. By the way, I've got full HOTAS function mapped to my X65 and even mapped a couple of the T buttons to Master Arm On/Off. Had to get creative with mapping the rotaries as bands to the boat switch and pinkie switch but it works perfectly now.

Thanks Quick! -Shadow

Headspace... you've got us all frothing over this. When's it coming? LOL. Seriously, thanks for putting something like this together. And remind me if I ever need someone to market something, to give you a look first. ;)

Check out this vid: There are certain times in this vid, ie. 3:42, 4:42, and others, where it's obvious that the pilot is popping open the brakes. From what I've come to understand, it is regular practice, not just demo maneuvers or because the pilot is overspeed, for A10 drivers to slide the brakes open (I'm not saying full brakes mind you) to increase the manueverability of the aircraft. It's not a slight increase, it is a significant one. It's significant enough for it to be practiced by A10 drivers. The deflection from the brakes definitely increases the roll rate and pull through rate with needing less aileron. If I recall my aerodynamic studies correctly, the deflection from the aileron causes the roll, while part of the break still lays flush with the wing, maintaining lift along the proper vector. Less slip, better turn. Definitely much better rolls. Of course I could just walk down to the flightline at Pete and ask someone. By the way, I couldn't tell a difference in Beta 3, but Beta 4 seems to have it modeled. Maybe it's just me, but try popping open the brakes just a touch before beginning a maneuver and see if you think it's more effective in sim.

Ran this last night as a 2-ship. Definitely had a great time with it. Look forward to going at it again and the next release. Nice technical mission, and liked the search as well. Was able to get through 3 of the mini missions before we ran out of time. Will be going at it again! +1 inc. Thanks for the mission.

I don't know if this holds true in every case, but I've had success with trimming the plane in a bank that also holds altitude, then activating the AP. Last night I orbited for 20 minutes without touching the stick at 35 degree bank, after getting the trim set to maybe 90% of what I wanted to keep.

Also, you can try changing the slew rate on mavs to 2 or 3. It defaults to 5 which is too much in my opinion.

I believe that you mean, "Devil's Cross." That's the nickname that I recall, though it's quite possible the other was used as well.

Agreed on the TIR. Pick it up. Besides a HOTAS, I'd say it's the next most important purchase for a serious simmer, ie. one that would print out the whole manual. :D Seriously though, it's definitely worth the investment, prior to rudder pedals, prior to multiple monitors. My 2cents. As for the manual: I love my iPad. :)

It's been so long since I've played a good flight sim. I was browsing around Steam and saw DCS:BS and HAD to buy it. There was no choice in the matter. I must admit that I wasn't thrilled with it being a Russian bird, especially since I remember having plenty of trouble with Havocs in some of the other sims I played back in the day. I can honestly say, I am in NO way disappointed. Took me a solid day of playing just to get the startup down. I love the challenge of learning it. When I read the A10 propaganda, my mouth started watering. They released the Beta with pre-purchase???? Money easily spent, and for a great product! Hopefully DCS will bring back the brain users that have been letting their minds go to mush in the RTS's and FPS's, myself included. I haven't played anything else since pulling down BS and A10. Keep up the excellent work! Whatever platform they work next, lawn mower or fast mover, I'm buying! I must admit though, I would love to see an AH64 sim. ;)

I believe I read that when you're in CCIP mode, and you're pointing at a target that is at your altitide or higher than you are, you'll get that error. From your pic, it looks like your pipper is over the hill/mountain in front of you which will give you that error since the computer can't compute a solution over that target from your current location. If you're trying to launch JDAMs there's a really good video that takes you step by step through how to do it with setting up mark points for each target. That way you can launch multiple JDAMs in a single pass. I've done it, and the vid is spot on with the instructions. Also, it pays to RTFM, then play, then RTFM again so that you have some context and actually understand and reference what you're reading about. :) Good luck.

I love riding with the windows open. :doh: Nothing like some fresh air and strong canopy construction. Anyone else have any comedy shots they'd like to share?