Charley

Thanks for the responses. I'm wondering my computer isn't able to handle logging onto the multiplayer missions. It's an Intel i5 4670 cpu 3.40 ghz. 16 gb ram, Windows 7, 64 bit. I use a wireless router.

When I try to log onto multiplayer servers in DCS, 99% of the time my DCS program gets hung up. The task manager shows that DCS is not responding. I am able to connect to a friend's server to fly in DCS though, without any trouble. The problem seems to be connecting to the multiplayer servers on DCS. Does anybody know what could be causing this problem & how to fix it?

I'm really enjoying this plane & trying to learn some aerobatics. One thing I'm curious about though I noticed when doing a dive straight down for too long & over speeding the engine. The throttle can't be reduced after a certain point & the rpm lowered. At the very same moment the rpm locks up, the elevator locks up & can't be moved. Is it accurate that these things happen & at the exact same time?

It's really great to see & purchase the new F 15 campaign. Is Maple Flag still going to also do the Basic Flight Training campaign , with sections on emergency procedures ,navigation & ILS ?

Oh I'm embarrassed of my beginner mission building efforts. My aircraft views were restricted to my aircraft only & F 10 view restricted too in the options like you said Feefifofum. Thanks for your help. Why did you ask about late activation? I did reactivate all of my modules onto a different computer. Does that sometimes cause problems?

Oh yes, I should have mentioned that the "hidden on map " box isn't checked for any of the aircraft.

Lately , when I try to create a very simple mission with the ME, only my player plane is showing up in game. None of the AI planes I placed are present in game. I have placed them close enough to my player plane that they should be easy to see. They are not on the F 10 map or in the F2 view. They are present on the ME map though. When I tried hosting a server & changing one of the AI planes to a "client" for a friend, he was able to select & fly that plane , but could only see his plane & mine, none of the other AI. It makes an air to air refueling mission impossible when the tanker isn't visible. Does anybody know what's wrong here? I ran the repair function but it didn't help.

Whenever I increase my throttle, my F5E taxi light goes off. Then when I decrease the throttle all the way, the light comes back on. It makes taxiing in the dark really , really difficult. Is this problem common to everyone?

Thanks Grimes! Hope they're working on fixing this.

I've been experimenting with making very simple missions with the ME but I don't understand why the airports are all dark while the surrounding towns are all lit up. I'm using the Caucasus map in version 2.5. There's probably an obvious answer, but I have to ask. How do I get them to turn on the airport runway lights? Shouldn't there be beacon lights too? Thanks for any help

Many thanks!

I see in the Mission Editor that AI F15s can be equipped with smoke pods, but how do you turn them on?

thx

Did the BF 109 & FW 190 not have landing lights? I don't see them listed in the controls.

What a cool new feature! I didn't realize it existed until I saw your video. I've been trying to get more than one AI to perform maneuvers with each other as a team. So far, I haven't figured out how to do that. I can only get one AI to do a maneuver.

Yes, that was it, I had a control conflict. Thank you!!

Sorry if this has already been asked, I couldn't find this topic in the forum. Whenever I try the dogfight mission in "instant action , P 51 vs P 51" , my P51 immediately trims the elevator nose down as far down as it can go. This happens while the other P51 flies over me and my view finishes its really annoying initial view adjustment., that I can't control. I can't even correct this control input of the trim going fully down until the program is done going through this initial view adjustment. I can see the cockpit trim wheel moving down, but it's nothing I'm doing. Is there a way to get my P51 to start the quick mission just trimmed to neutral, instead of starting in a dive? Hopefully,thanks for any advice.

When setting up my controls, some of my button assignments aren't recognized at all in game, even though they are entered in the control assignment menu. After failing to get some joystick commands recognized,I also noticed that some of the default key assignments aren't working either, like the left shift F 10 command for labels. I ran the repair DCS function, but it didn't help. Do I need to reinstall?

Sorry it has taken quite awhile to respond after beginning this discussion about temperate effects. I have learned a lot from reading the great responses of everyone. I must admit though, that I think all my trouble was the result of flying a mission that included some mild wind speed & turbulence . After reducing the airspeed & turbulence, I think I failed to click the "save" button that is present in the weather profile. When returning to the mission, I was also returning to the default settings with higher wind speed & turbulence without realizing it. I'm ashamed. Now I realize one thing for sure . Taking off with wind & turbulence makes take offs in perfectly calm weather seem easy. Also, the advice about density altitude made me want to try different density altitudes. Being a Mission Editor virgin, I'm not sure how the default weather settings reflect different density altitudes though. As I understand , "density" in the weather profile refers only to the cloud density. Does anyone know how would I set different density altitudes under "dynamic weather" , and are different DAs already reflected in the "default" seasons?

slight weather changes & take offs I felt very proud of myself with being able to take off in the 190 (after a few practice crashes for warm up). But now, when I try in a mission that includes mild weather differences, take offs are disastrous pretty much all the time. I don't understand. I've tried to examine the weather differences that might influence my take off in different missions, & the only thing that I notice is a slight temperature change from my successful take off missions in perfect weather (20c perfect compared to 15c ). Even with the wind at all altitudes set to zero, I have extreme trouble. In perfect weather , I can hold the aircraft straight & lift off with the nose held down. Not with very slight weather changes though. Another person I fly with online who has success in good weather has also been unable to control the aircraft on take off with these very mild weather changes, so I wonder if it's probably not just me & him who would experience this. My question is, have others noticed this , & is some weather effect on the aircraft over modeled ?

Ok thanks, I did find that enabling the "map only" button under "F10 view options " took care of it for both the in game map & kneeboard.

I would like to make a mission for WW2 planes to practice navigation in bad weather. I'm not understanding how to eliminate the aircraft icon on the F10 map & the kneeboard though (being able to refer to these defeats the purpose of the mission). In the Mission Editor, when I check the "Hidden on map" box for each aircraft , the aircraft icon disappears in the Mission Editor map, but then the F10 map & kneeboard in game still shows the aircraft location. Is there a way to eliminate this?

I don't know what real test figures would prove about turn rate ( I feel proud if I can convert IAS to TAS), but to me, it feels like the turn radius is greatly increased while the turn rate is decreased. Maybe the turn rate feels like it is reduced because I have to be ever so careful to be sensitive with the controls so I don't over control. This brings up another slightly confusing thing for me. The DCS P 51 manual says : "As a general rule, the greater the altitude, the greater the control movement required to achieve the same response. " I find just the opposite to be true in the sim. It seems much more sensitive to control input at altitude. I also found this in a Boeing document about high altitude maneuvering that seems to contradict the DCS manual: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_02/textonly/fo01txt.html " For example, for the same control surface movement at constant airspeed, an airplane at 35,000 ft (10,670 m) experiences a higher pitch rate than an airplane at 5,000 ft (1,524 m) because there is less aerodynamic damping. The pitch rate is higher, but the resulting change in flight path is not. Therefore, the change in angle of attack is greater, creating more lift and more g. If the control system is designed to provide a fixed ratio of control column force to elevator deflection, it will take less column force to generate the same g as altitude increases. " This seems to confirm that it's accurate that control surfaces should be much more sensitive at altitude. In the end though, I'm still amazed that they could successfully maneuver in dogfighting at 25- 30,000 ft.

These are really good links from Rangi & Oydoron. Thanks! Unfortunately, I couldn't get the one from Solty, it's blocked in The U. S. for some copyright reason. That one I really wish I could also see because it would describe maneuvering at the altitudes I find so extremely mushy on the controls. I'm working my way through the encounter reports for the P 47, but wonder a few things. I read the book "Thunderbolt" by Robert Johnson ( it turned me into a Thunderbolt pilot in my imagination), and remember that he made the comment about one dogfight that he looked at his altimeter and it "showed a height of 20,000 ft. -- according to all the rules, absolute suicide for the P 47". It seems like it would be really hard not to find yourself getting below 20, 000 ft. though. Also, if you did go down close to the deck, it's hard to get back up there to bomber altitude. I'm still trying to learn more about how these real life guys handled different situations. When they didn't have the altitude advantage, did they always dive away? If they were assigned as escort , did they still dive away? Anyway, I think these guys really did maneuver at very high altitudes & also took their planes ( even the P 47), down to lower altitudes , I just don't have the hang of it yet. I also wonder, because it feels so different, if many other people have tried maneuvering their DCS WW2 planes at altitudes greater than 20,000 ft.

Since becoming interested in flight sims, one thing I have noticed is that fighter combat in sims usually starts or quickly descends to low altitudes (1000 - 5000 ft). This seems to happen so naturally & easily. What I'm curious about is whether this was also true in real life WW2. There's a couple of things I would like to ask the real life guys, if I could: When I fly in a P51 (in sim ) at an altitude of 28 - 30,000ft, I feel like it's an effort to keep my plane flying stable & stay in nice formation., let alone maneuver. The controls become very mushy at altitude. My question is: How could these planes be effective in a dogfight at this altitude with such mushy control? Another question is: Did the combat usually descend to such low altitudes in real life? If it did, were the escorted bombers abandoned while the fighters descended in combat? If the fighter was a plane designed for best performance at high altitude , such as the P 47 or P 51, did they have strict orders not to pursue below a certain altitude, or to simply stay with the bombers ? These are things I've wondered about, the main question being : how could anybody effectively dogfight at high altitudes, when it seems like the plane wants to flop around like a fish?