regards

Almost all of the above happened to me too. After many years without flying flightsims I decided to buy a new and well spect computer and install DCS. My good old Saitek X52 pro had been eating dust for many years and at first the rudder acted like it had parkinson at center position. The solution: partly disassemble the stick, inject the potentiometer with a few drops of contactspray, move stick from left to right and back a few minutes, use compressed air to blow out dirt and contactspray, re-assemble the stick, plug in, fire up DCS and........ problem solved. Next issue was the sensitivity of the nose wheel. Taxiing at low speeds was ok but at 60kts+ it was much to sensitive, sometimes it even flipped the bird on it's side. Here is why lining up with the runway centre line is key. I personaly prefer to disable as soon as I start the take-off roll and let the vertical stabilo do the job from there. At landings almost the same but in opposite order.. Line up , touch down and keep the nose gear in the air as long as possible. Once it drops, increase wheelbrake power to slow down even more and only switch on the nosewheel at speeds below 60kts. It works best ( for me that is)

Like =Panther= , I think that sound is produced by the actuators. Loosing a canopy due to high speed seems pretty much like you forgot to lock it? If so, it's a masterpiece that you were able to land. Big chance that the vertical stabilizer and rudder will be ripped off as well? I'll try to reproduce this scenario when I'm back home.

I think there's no good or wrong way.... As long as you're able to walk away from the bird without leaving scratches on it ( or worse) it's considered to be a good landing. Every landing depends on many variables. IAS, crosswind, air density, total weight of the plane etc. prior to touchdown. I'd say: practice, practice, practice and at some point you'll get familiar with all of the external parameters and succeed.

Well.... In that case the best option is to perform a low and slow pass-by and pull the eject lever, land your chute on the deck, file a damage report and enter the bar for a bottle of whatever. Furthermore I hope that DCS keeps their focus on being a sim, and keep the gaming elements outdoors.

The only reason would be if you're very low on fuel, your tanker also ran out of fuel or crashed... In that case you have a choice.... ditching into the water ( totall loss of hull) of park the viper on the deck. I cannot find an other valid reason to operate from a carrier.

I prefer low ( at least below radar) and fast over densed hostile area's. I know, i'm an asshole but since it's a sim no-one gets hurt. Hint: try to abuse las Vegas as a rally area, using the hotels and casino's as pylons.

Look at it as if you're in heaven now. That's the nice thing of simulators. If you fail to save the bird, you just insert coin to continue. Another 'easter egg': after ejecting you'll stand upright in the field... ctr+eee again and you'll finally lay down on the ground, playing dead.

imho controls positions don't really matter. I flew several types of single props irl and the position of stick/yoke and throttle were the least concerns to fly those. In simulators I always use my good old Saitek X52-pro ( throttle left, stick right) and I never experience confusions in handling the planes. For example: The viper fits the expectation of controls but my brain translates my so called muscle memory easily when flying a plane with a centre stick and thottle at my right side. Same with let's call them dual pilot planes. It takes some practice to get comfortable with but it saves a lot of money in buying several control sets.

Well..... auto pilot and diving strong is an issue with the B 737 Max but afaik the viper doesn't have MCAS onboard.. Have to say that with almost every update the F16 gets better and better but... even more complex to master.. No problem to me since it's 'only' a simulator :pilotfly:

I think your tires would become square if the brakes were not ( automatically) released above a certain thrust level. And why would you? Once you're on the runway and cleared for take-off, you want to be airborne asap and it helps a lot if your brakes are released during take-off roll.

Or a hoist to put the viper on the deck.. The first, the last en most probably the only time I saw a F-16 on a carrier deck was in NYC.. USS Intrepid museum:pilotfly:

Without rudder control, your nose wheel will also be frozen and that will most probably result in unsuccesful take-off, landing en taxi procedures. Why on earth would you operate an ( or any) aircraft without rudder control? :-)

Please call me stupid but why on earth would you edit a LUA file to hard-program your seat-height? Doing so feels the same as starting a flight ' ready on the ramp' I'd prefer 'cold and dark' , just like in the real world. It's a simulator, remember?

Did you check your contols for smear, wear and tear already? At first, while I plugged in my X-52 pro Hotas after years of eating dust, I couldn't keep my rudder /nosewheel steady and centered. Rudderpedals were shaking constantly. Disasambling the stick and a treatment of the potentiometer with contactspray and compressed air solved my problem. Since then, 'my' viper goes where I want it to go. Even with hands-off the controls there's only very little deviation in altitude and direction. Ofcourse, introduction of auto-pilot will make flying this beauty even easier but hey... the viper is still in EA status. Thumbs up for the ED team so far!

Very useful information during dog-fights or playng 'seek and hide' with uncle SAM:smartass:

Such happened many years ago (1990) above the Netherlands. RNLAF 315 sqd F16 pilot 'Puke' flew back to EHTW after a dogfight training above the north sea. Viper began to shake, pitching up and down, banking left and right. Pretty annoying it was and after 10 minutes of fighting against the angry bird he was forced to eject.

In case of emergency I would jettison both the external tanks and as much as possible the bunch of freedom and democracy that you carry underneath the wings.

I'd say that it's not a bug.. it's a feature... Let's not forget that the Viper is a weapons platform that happens to fly to the theatre on the double. I flew several single piston GA planes over the years and I can tell you.... You really have to work hard and precise on your pedals, especially in crosswind conditions. My feelings about this EA Viper are mainly positive, despite of some functions that are still under construction. Thumps up for mister Wagner and his team:thumbup: