Zimmerdylan

Just want to wish all of you everywhere around the globe a very happy holidays. Whether it be Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah (falls on Christmas this year), Bodhi, Pancha Ganapati, or whatever. We're all simmers and we are a unified community. So good will to all of you, be safe, and I hope your holidays are happy and your new year a great one!

I actually had no real big issues with takeoff. I have yet to crash and burn. I've damaged the plane once or twice but have found takeoffs to be pretty easy for me. Landings have however been a real challenge. I had always scraped wingtips shortly after touchdown. This morning however, I managed 2 in a row without incident. The key for me was the speed (60-70 mph) and holding the stick back to keep the nose up while I tap the brakes. So now that I got the technique, I'll just keep improving on it. The trick to a new module like this or the 109 is that you really have to find a feel that works for you. Others can tell you all day long about what to do but until you get that certain feel in your own landings or whatever, you'll struggle with it. It all comes down to repetition I think. I struggled with the 109 for a long time even after watching videos, and getting advice from lots of people. But it wasn't until I could start to feel the plane doing the right thing that I got it right. I know that if I had not mastered the 109, I would be struggling with the Spitfire much more than I have been.

Although I understand your point of view and I personally am not a pilot. I have to disagree with parts of your essay. In the time I have had DCS, I have had 3 A10 pilots come here and try it. One of them a retired instructor stationed at DMAFB who flew with a couple of P-51 pilots, and I had 2 Vietnam Huey pilots fly the DCS Huey. Although these are not tail dragger aircraft, all 5 of the people who have come here and tried DCS all agree that it's pretty amazing and that the visual aspect of it and design is very close to where it should be. And I myself having flown in Hueys in the early 1980's while in the military, can also add limited input. All 5 of them said that the sim is much harder than RL for 3 reasons: 1. no sensation 2. no peripheral vision 3. no freedom of movement. 3 of the 5 told me that feel is a big part of the whole experience. And I myself remember the sensation of taking off in a Huey, ascending and descending, and movements that the pilot was making that caused me to lean one way or the other or hold on. That whole experience is just not there in any simulator that's PC based. I can further say that I fly other PC sims as well, and I was privileged enough to be asked to fly several professional level simulators at a company called Arizona Flight Safety here in Tucson several years ago. I am absolutely convinced that flying a $40,000,000 simulator with hydraulics, that gave me the sensation of lift and descent made the piloting experience so much easier. Even little things like trimming the AC could be easily felt my body and I reacted much quicker to the sensation. Of the simulators they had was a Bell 400. At the time I was relatively new to PC flight sims and was not at all adept at any helicopter in any PC sim. When I sat in the simulator and started moving the collective, the sensation of lift was immediate and my feet just started moving as though it was instinct. You cannot get that feeling from a PC. I was able to take off, fly to an LZ and land without any incident and It was worlds easier than any PC sim that I had ever flown in. So in my personal opinion, and from the people who I have actually sat here with and know have flown these AC, and from my own experience with professional simulators. I tend to be skeptical of the essay. Not of the advice your giving, but that PC sims are no harder than RL aircraft. That's not to say that you are wrong. It's just not been my experience. I believe that in many cases, the experience is different for everyone. Let me recant on something. The A10 pilots told me that it just was weird not having the sensations and it made it feel very unnatural. They did not say that it was particularly harder. The Huey pilots however did say that it was harder.

It's very true that time and repetition are the key to these planes. Once you get the hang of one of them, the next one becomes easier because you kind of know what to expect. I remember hating, and complaining about the 109 for weeks. I just could not get that plane to leave the ground without serious trouble. But you develop muscle memory and retain the procedure in your head and it starts to come together. If I had not learned to fly the German planes, I would be cursing DCS right now because I would be in the "I can't get this thing off the ground" boat with the Spitfire. Although the FM in DCS is second to none. I find that ground handling in all sims is shaky at best. This includes takeoff and landing. For some reason it seems to be the area where all sims are the weakest and because of this it results in less than ideal conditions for taking off and landing. It's just something that's part of simming.

I can't steer at all using the brakes. I have to use the rudder, move slow, and only tap the brakes when I need to, to straighten out the AC. It's very awkward using the brakes to begin with in this plane, or even the DCS Mig15 is a bit awkward on taxi. I find that it's way to easy to overcompensate on both of them. That's one thing that I have encountered in every sim that I have ever flown. Ground handling in all of them is just not that great.

90 something views and no one offered anything up. I thought that everyone had already figured this out and I was not seeing the obvious. I figured that all of you were waiting for me to see this while having a little chuckle. What I did was assign my rudder and elevator trims to the upper and lower dials on my X52 HOTAS. I set the curve on both of them to around 10% so that they weren't so jerky when I adjusted them. I then set the curve on my rudder pedal at around 10% so that it was effective for takeoff and was still pretty sensitive for flying but not as jerky. So when I'm doing evasive or aggressive turning, the rudder can be used without too much of a problem. When I'm zeroing in on a target that's in front of me, I can use the rudder trim much easier and I can subtly bring my nose on to my target with little problem. I have to say that the Spitfire is the most natural WWII aircraft I have felt in DCS (or any sim for that matter). It's 1st, next to the 109, and then the Dora, and hopefully the P51 will get the same kind of feel with the upcoming upgrade. I think that even with it's limitations, the P51 would be much more formidable if it just had the same feel that the spitfire has. I hope that if any of you are having takeoff issues and aiming issues, this helps a little. I have seen lots of people having issues with rudder related functions.

:pilotfly::music_whistling:Problem solved!! Never mind...........:thumbup::thumbup:

When I first got into the Spitfire and took off, it was a little tricky but thanks to the German planes, I was able to get it off the ground well enough and as I kept doing it, it became easier an easier. So I moved on to actually flying it around. That too is pretty sweet. I dropped into a server where they had some AI 109's flying around and I began to duke it out with one of them. This is where I started to adjust the curve on my controls. The heavy maneuvering is where this really counts in my book. So I got one of them in my sights and really had trouble getting the plane to line up on it due to the very sensitive nature of the rudder pedals. I adjusted it up to (eventually) round 20% curve and it was within a tolerable range for me to line the site up OK. It was still a little sensitive but I figured I would adjust to it. I believe that in the end I settled around 13 or 14%. My problem came when I tried to take off again. I forgot I had put that curve on the rudder and every time the plane started rolling down the runway, I would be forced to overcompensate my rudder, or brakes due to the fact that the curve had changed so much. I was not aware of this as I had not put 2 and 2 together at this point. I was getting increasingly frustrated as I tried everything from just tapping the brakes to holding the rudder slightly:(. It was just impossible to get a good takeoff. As I realized that I had adjusted the rudder, I went back and brought it back down to 0 again and voila, instant takeoff with no issues. But when I get into the air, the rudder was just way too much for any kind of accurate flying. So I have been messing with this ever since, trying to find a usable curve that allows me the needed sensitivity for takeoff, but also the needed softening for precision aiming. I just cannot seem to find the meeting place for this. In the German planes it is obviously not an issue as brakes and rudder are separate. I have looked and there is no other way to adjust any of this out. So my question is: How did the Devs work around this. What did they set their axis tuning to? Or, what do any of you who are currently flying do to help your takeoffs and keep your rudder usable for accuracy? I am currently at 99% success at takeoff because I have my curves where they work best. But it's really too sensitive for using the rudder effectively in combat flight. Anyone else?

I'm actually kind of missing the dirt and oil buildup on the glass that I saw in the trailer. It looked really good. Canopy and glass has had a going over with Windex. I guess they polished her up for the release.....

LOL.....You are a wise man.........

The takeoffs are pretty easy for me. It's the landings that are hard.

(IMHO) After putting some time in with this plane, both on MP and SP I have to say that it's pretty impressive. Listening to all of the banter on TS, it would seem that I am in good company when I say that this plane is going to have a major impact on WWII gameplay. I put down 2 ME 109's in a row this morning, and had no problems keeping up and turning into my enemy. This plane is more along the lines of what I expected from the P-51 initially. This was the general consensus with the people I encountered in the servers today too. So I can say with confidence that ED has done a very good job on this module. Thanks so much guys. This just keeps getting better and better with every release. I think that a lot of people are going to mothball their P-51's after they climb into this plane. I for one stopped using it for air to air a while back. Again.....Thanks ED!!!!!:pilotfly:

Yeah....it goes up pretty darn fast. Took me by surprise.

I just got the basic idea from the mission and got out of it. I taxied around on my own a little and now I'm fairly adept at it. Takeoff is a dream compared to the German planes. But the taxi is very similar to the Mig15, just a whole lot more sensitive.

LOL.....Can we take me down off of the stake and put out the fire now boys???? You guys are great!!! I love this community.

LOL....guys, read the post there. It's no longer in pre purchase. It now says "Purchase now" this means that the module is now available and is no longer in pre purchase. It takes a few for it to get out as we all should already know based on past releases. It's all good. Breathe......relax.......breathe......relax........lol

Go look at the updates section of the forum. Should be there very soon.

Guys....stop your talking and get to it....Its out!!!!!!

This one is really interesting. These guys are saying that it's hands down the 109. This is a must watch if you think that the P-51 is suppose to equal the 109.

I have seen these guys talk about this several times. For some reason I cannot post the actual video on the forums just now. But take a look at this.

ROFL...............................

As much as the Stuka was a feared and fierce plane (to people on the ground) for the early part of the war, and as notorious, and iconic (for lack of a better term) as it was. And as much as I think it would be cool to fly it. I was chuckling with some pals on TS about it. It is destined to become cannon fodder in DCS for all of the allied planes that should be able to very easily shoot them down by the dozens. But when the WWII map comes out, the possibilities are endless for battle scenarios. I think it would be a hoot.......Hope to see it someday.

Yeah, I'm in Tucson. I'm not as anxious as some of these other fellas over it. In fact, I'm off to bed right now so I'll just check tomorrow morning. I'm sure it will be a free for all when it's released anyway. 50,000 screaming, crazy sim enthusiasts trying to download an update and module at the same time lol.

If there is a set time for modules or updates to be released, I have never been able to figure it out. Sometimes it's late Thu evening (Arizona time) and sometimes its early afternoon Fri. (Arizona time). It just happens whenever it happens. I can't say the time has ever been clearly consistent. It's like my parents use to say...."It'll be here when it gets here."

Now that's what I call flight sim porn!!! I have to admit.....I'm a little turned on right now.........:huh: