EC145 Pilot

Yes; I was wrong about the hp numbers. Apparently the developers were too... As they provided the Gazelle with the same engine from the Millenium Falcon; which makes it all irrelevant.

Perhaps you should get a few hours in a helo or two yourself, before you make an utter ass out of yourself talking about controlling a helicopter in a sim. I can fly most REALISTIC sim models just fine with both my own flight controls, and the ones furnished by my employer. In all honesty, the DCS Huey, Mi8, and Ka50 are done quite well. This Gazelle sim is complete rubbish. There is no justification otherwise.

I know people were running the Quest with ALVR previously. In my experience with the Go, the Oculus software still runs as well as the tray tool, but I was not able to get ASW to work that way. Not sure what the case was with the Quest. Its good to know it works with the link though. I am very impressed with ASW (using with Rift S now).

I’ve tweaked a lot of settings and gotten it working with every major racing sim, and now DCS. I have no complaints about the image quality; it is pretty amazing. I run an AC1750 router nearby and get no noticeable packet loss or input lag with ALVR. Its lightweight, comfortable, wireless, and cost me $200 (was briefly on sale for $150 last week). I really am curious as to how the image quality compares to other gen 1.5 headsets, and if it is any more or less demanding on the GPU since it is running through ALVR. My only complaint is the fact it is only 2DOF. D

I’m running a $200 Oculus Go, using ALVR and I am more than happy with the quality. Very lightweight and wireless... Really the only setback is that it is only 2DOF. Waiting to spend more when the next gen stuff comes aling.

I’m running an old 4770k clocked to 4.3, 16 gig of 1600 DDR3, and an RTX 2080 Super (overclocked stable by 120/1100). OS SSD and DCS on its own SSD. Most basic settings are high, flat shadows, 0 predraw radius, msaa @2 and PD at 1.5 with 16x AA. Using the Oculus Go & ALVR, I get a consistant 37-60 FPS with the Huey on missions and in Vegas. I’ve jumped between MSAA 0-2 and PD 1.2 to 1.8, with varying results as these seem to affect the clarity the most while sacrificing frame rates. I don’t play multiplayer. I don’t know if the Go/ALVR is any less GPU demanding, but I am very impressed by how well DCS runs on it. I also did get a nice little jump in frame rates with the overclocks.

I would love if someone would make a higher contrast panel mod for 2.5, with more realistic/accurate backlighting... Also a brighter radar altimeter digital readout.

Ok. My take on the Gazelle vs. Huey Disclaimer: DCS is a simulation. Helicopters are inherantly difficult to simulate, due to all of the aerodynamics involved. DCS does provide a pretty good flight environment model though; and its been demonstrated by the first three helicopters. The other issue is lack of proprioceptive/vestibular motion and the availability of realistic simulator flight controls. It will never be true to life, but a good developer realizes this and adjusts accordingly. With that being said, I loaded up the Huey with my MS FFB2, CH throttle (strapped to the side of my chair with reverse axis to simulate collective), and my cheap saitek pedals. I was able to pick the huey right up to a hover and with very little practice, it became familiar as a helicopter and easy to fly. With no SCAS/SAS/stability it is a workload, and that is very well simulated. You can feel its performance change, based on DA and weight. It takes good attention and power management to fly. The Gazelle, on the other hand, is horrible in contrast to not only the Huey, but every sim helicopter I’ve ever tried since 2004. I can tweak the excessively sensitive controls as needed and its awkward for me as I’m not used to flying clockwise main rotor aircraft, but this thing just does not fly realistically at all. How does it have so much power? I fly IRL daily in a dual 760 shaft hp bird by the same manufacturer and even on a low density altitude day at 2000 lbs under max gross, I would overtorque the shit out of the main transmission and hit N1 engine limits trying to give it the power that this single 590 hp Gazelle engine simulates in DCS. I get its a rigid rotor system and the cyclic is sensitive. That doesn’t mean it has to become even more sensitive in the sim. Force trim should also work properly. It does on the other three DCS helicopters. My favorite test of any sim helicopter is autorotations. I get that the Gaxelle has a very low inertia rotor system using fiberglass reinforced plastic blades, but at a 100 knot autorotational entry, I should be able to maintain NRO at >60 kts and maintain a glide rate commesurate with airspeed. This is a single engine combat aircraft. Its ability to propey autorotate is critical. I kinda regret spending the money on it. You guys at PC really need to go back to the drawing board. I can understand why so many of your customers are upset. Graphics wise, its a great looking model. I would add a little more bright contrast in the cockpit to make the gauges more readable. I hope you do a much better job on the Kiowa.

Best Buy just had the Oculus Go VR on sale for $150. Most people do not realize this, but it runs DCS just fine using ALVR and a 5g router. I’ve been using mine for several months and will continue to until the next gen units come out. I would rather fly the Huey on that than any flatscreen; it simply makes flying a much better experience because the depth perception is there, as well as the ability to visually scan and pick up peripheral cues and drift the same as I do in an actual helicopter. I’d go so far as to say its a better experience than the multi-million dollar 180 degree projection screen simulator we have at work. I don’t know about jets. I just know for helicopters, VR is visually the best simulation experience I’ve ever had.

I never knew about the Gazelle. I will download it tonight. I just got back into DCS again since I started using VR (what a game changer!)... I am also very EXCITED about the Kiowa Warrior and looking forward to it. BTW I have numerous REAL pilot friends and coworkers with 10’s of thousands of hours of combined OH-58D combat time, if you need any additional consultation.