baylor703

Went for a spin on the Caucasus right before nightfall. Ran out of daylight and radioed the nearest airport that my plane had a channel to (Maykop) and got the heading and mileage. Flying in complete darkness in the P-51, never saw any runway lights come on, and simply couldn't find it. Passed the point several times with navigation assistance, tried different altitudes etc. Nothing. Pitch black. Had to bail. I read that night lighting on the Caucasus map was bugged, and that a plane had to be at the airport at the start for it to work. Is this still the case?

Embarrassingly, in my case, it wasn't the engine that was seizing. I was playing a mission where the fuel was low and as I hadn't played in a while and forgot to switch tanks, was simply running out of fuel. So far, fortunately haven't encountered any overheat issues that you have grafspee. I run with the coolant on auto and the oil on manual full open (really no noticeable drag induced), and can go balls to the wall almost indefinitely if I keep the speed up. Maybe I've just been lucky so far.

That would be nice, huh? tbh, personally, I play mp only on the other sim, and DCS is for my sp kicks. Love the detailed startup and interactive pits in VR that DCS offers, but the spotting and environment for mp is more suited to the other one imo. Nice pic, btw. Looks like she'll have no problem spilling over from the factory to the front

Practical:lol:

I've been in flight sims off and on for years, and aside from the occasional youtube tutorial, haven't paid back the community for as much as it has helped me. So let's change that a bit. If you have a custom photo you want in your cockpit but can't make dds files or aren't sure how to do it, send me a pic in 4:3 scale and I'll do it for you. Put the file in DCSworld\Mods\aircraft\P-51D\Cockpit\Textures\P-51-CPT-TEXTURES and voila. You should be able to just drag and drop.

The attention to detail is tremendous. From the vehicles and soldiers crossing by to the audio, it's all there. Nothing gets monotonous and the pacing is spot on. I don't know if this was programmed by a spawn or happened by chance, but I just had a B17 escort mission that went perfectly- shot down some 190s that tried to intercept and started the flyback across the channel. Thought all was well and then out of nowhere, bounced from a 109 about halfway across and shot down when everything seemed safe. It's the stuff like that.

Five or six missions into the campaign and it's the best I've played. DCS is the better sim over il2 imo, owing largely to the clickable cockpits. But the content has always been lacking. This helps. Much appreciated.

That's a shame, I don't remember it being like that in the past. Does opening up for six or seven minutes guarantee the engine kill now as well? Seems like it, but could there be other factors in play? I go gentle on the throttle, make sure RPM is up before mani, and mani goes down before rpm when cutting back.

Took a break from DCS for a about half a year or so, and I've returned to find myself constantly killing the engine. Never had this problem before, so maybe there was an update? I always keep the oil rads full open and the coolant on auto, and stay at the top of green for cruise. In combat, I'll go full open on the rpm and mani (no wep), but only for seven minutes or so, and the temperatures will stay within green. Nonetheless, when going back to cruise, the engine will usually die within 5 mins. Is it more sensitive now? Does seven minutes at full kill the engine now even if you stay within green temps, or could it be something else? I can't imagine how you would even try to use WEP if that's the case.

Thanks for the info. You left me some tips for landing on the mains a long while back on yt and I'm going to get on that as well.

What is this maneuver called in Shahdoh's video? It's timestamped here: His mastery of the craft is excellent, and I'm trying to mimic that maneuver. I can get vertical and maintain it nearly to a standstill by using the rudders and watching the wings, but the way he gets the nose down immediately after is lost on me. Any tips?

Hope you enjoy

Ok, did some more testing, mainly for those who may see this thread later and want a place to start. This was all done low, at 6k feet, and with the OIL set to auto. These were the best settings I could get doing combat maneuvers and that I would consider "safe" to set at, including occasional loops. Obviously others may get better settings and you will want to monitor coolant temp, but this is a baseline. 0C/32F: WEP, closed coolant rad and then opened for 4 seconds. >10 mins 10C/50F: WEP, closed coolant rad and then opened for 4 seconds.- 6/7 mins 24C/75F: WEP, keep both coolant and oil on auto.- >10 mins 32C/90F: WEP, keep both coolant and oil on auto.- >10 mins

Tried the four second method you suggested, and it made all the difference. Even in hot temps above 30C. For simplicity's sake, do you think leaving the oil rad open at all times (aside for warming up oil on cold starts etc) to keep cooler is worth the minimal increase in drag?

Hope this can help anyone who needs it!

After testing it out some, you all are definitely right. Here is the result of a quick test I ran. Trim wasn't perfect, but the point remains that having the radiator flaps fully open all but negates the benefit of WEP: 6K Feet (all ias): 310 MPH @ Combat settings w/ auto rads 310 MPH @ WEP w/ fully open rads 340 MPH @ WEP w/ auto rads 10K: 320 MPH @ Combat settings w/ auto rads 320 MPH @ WEP w/ fully open rads 350 MPH @ WEP w/ auto rads 20k: 280 MPH @ Combat settings w/ auto rads 290 MPH @ WEP w/ fully open rads 300 MPH @ WEP w/ auto rads I don't feel as comfortable as you all closing the flaps, but will do a few practice runs to see how far it can be pushed.

Wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the info. EDIT: I have heard that only one of the flaps need to be manually opened while the other can stay on auto like you said. It's for sure the oil? I only ask because I have heard opposite versions.

The old b-17 game is what got me in to flight sims. It had a lot of role playing aspects (healing wounded crew, flight plans, extinguishing fires etc) but if DCS made an updated clickable cockpit version with a real bombsite it would be marvelous. I will hold out hope.

I always have them both on auto, unless in wep which I crank them open. Is the increase in drag with having them open on WEP even worth it?

Was just wishing this function was available last night!

Hey Dave, don't give up! Flight sims are so rewarding once you finally get them down, and just like riding a bike, you will if you stick to it. What you may not realize is how dependent your enjoyment is upon your controls. If you are using a keyboard and mouse, not only will you not enjoy it, but you won't be able to fly well no matter how good you are. You should at least get a joystick and throttle, and map the important functions in the controls. The T-51 is a good plane to learn first, and comes with the game for free. Here is a vid I made that attempts to be short and to the point. Try to follow it and practice until you get it down. I hope it helps. After that, start to learn navigation.

Nearly done with my first big scenario- including custom kneeboards, images, audio etc and I'm excited. But I'm having a small issue with the random triggers, and was hoping someone could help. Right now, I have 3 "radio shows" that I want to play on Channel C of the player's P51-D. I'd like them to be in random order. However, it seems only 2 of my 3 random possibilities play, and then once the first file is done playing, the next two do not play. Here is how I did it: TYPE: Mission Start / CONDITIONS: none / ACTIONS: Flag set Random value flag: 10 val lim min: 1 val lim max: 3 I then make 3 of the following triggers, altering only the flag equals 10 value to 2 and 3 for the ones following this example and jumble up the actions order. TYPE: once EVENT: NO EVENT / CONDITIONS: flag equals 10 value 1 / ACTIONS: Radio Transmission (I fill out the rest i.e. AM/FM and file etc). I then put the other 2 files in right beneath, hoping it will play in secession in that order. What I get is only the first of the radio shows playing when I listen, and then it stops. Aside from that, it only seems to randomly play 2 of the 3 radio songs randomly. The one it doesn't play is fairly long, about 25 mins. Is there a limit to size of audio? Could anyone help?