GrislyAccord

Can we get some non-Nazi skins for the German warbirds? I can't bring myself to buy them for this very reason. There's no way I'm flying a plane with that crap stenciled all over it... Fantasy skins. Captured skins. Air racing skins. Hell, I don't care if it's Hello Kitty and My Pretty Pony. Be a helluva lot better than the options available.

Interesting about the nicknames. And makes sense. I kind of like the more understated British approach of being "affectionately disparaging" in their nicknames. Saying, in essence, "Despite it's obvious shortcomings, this bird keeps bringing me home intact."

Just give me all the planes! Wildcats. Hellcats. Corsairs. Zeros. Lightnings. N1K2s. Oh. And a goldurn gooney bird! Don't care if it doesn't have any armament. As far as I'm concerned, the Skytrain won the dang war! We could do wartime cargo runs. Drop paratroops. Retrieve wounded. All under intense ground fire and fighter ambushes. (And then, how about some Flying Fortresses?)

I don't have a particularly beefy machine, but the beta is pretty much unplayable for me even at low settings. I get a nausea-inducing frame rate. I get teleporting aircraft. I get ridiculously long loading times. The stable release is much smoother at higher settings--Higher settings than the beta, not HIGH settings. DCS is the most resource taxing game I own. A certain WWII combat sim competitor (which will not be named, ha ha) I can play on high settings with no problems at all, and a frame rate between 90 and 110.

Just one? Man. That's a tough one. I would absolutely LOVE the Zero... But if we could only get one, I guess I'd have to go with the P-38, just because of the twin-engine, counter-rotating prop configuration. That alone makes it a more interesting plane.

Huh. Was going to get this module--have enough "miles" to get it at a good price. But after reading this thread, I'll save the miles for something else. Not particularly a fan of abandonware. (Also, may have to hold off buying the P-47 while it's in early access. Yipes. And the Thunderbolt has always been a "shut-up and take my money!" sort of proposition. But now I'm afraid I'll get it in early access, find all sorts of bugs, and then be frustrated by three years of waiting for for improvements.)

Same here. "Invalid username or password." Did not have the problem 20 minutes earlier, so just started for me on the most recent launch.

Whew. I thought I was the only that found it jarring. Dolores O'Riordan, I imagine, would not be amused. And yeah, I'm pretty certain it was chosen just because of that lyric: '...with their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns..." Reminds me of the people who think "Fortunate Son" is a pro-war song because it's often featured in films about the Vietnam War.

My prediction: PZL-104 Wilga Polish. Not Russian. Can easily take off and land on a carrier (in a stiff breeze) without need of either a hook or a catapult. hahahahahaha

It wasn't auto-rudder. That box wasn't checked. I have pedals. It was the "take-off assist" slider. Just out of curiosity...what is "take-off assist" supposed to do? I would assume it would just reduce torque and p-factor during the high power, low speed condition at take off, making the plane MORE controllable. But it obviously doesn't do that. Furthermore, why would it affect the sensitivity of the controls, and it's FLIGHT characteristics? I was able to reduce the curves to a reasonable 20, rather than the drastic user curve that was recommended. Considering that it makes ground controllability WORSE, i'd say they should just get rid of it entirely. How is it "assisting" anything? I don't know if I LIKE the plane yet. Only flew it around for about 45 minutes and shot down some drones. But it's a HUGE improvement. (And my apologies for not trolling this forum for why the plane was just irritating to fly. Since I didn't have the problem with any of my other DCS aircraft, I figured it was just the plane itself. In fact, I only came to THIS particular forum because of the title of this thread. "Delight to Fly" when my reaction was, "Pfaaawww!")

Was sick yesterday, so spent pretty much the entire day in bed watching YouTube videos. Watched a lot of Grim Reapers vids, and was feeling pretty vindicated in my disgust for this plane. One regular challenge they do is called "the Birds and the Bees" where the prop planes take off from one airport and land at another, while a bunch of people in jets try to pick them off by crashing into them. (Jets can't use guns, but prop planes can; it was kind of fun to see an I-16 shoot down an F/A 18) During the takeoff runs, there are often collisions and crashes, but the majority of them were spitfires, just wobbling all over the place. And I thought, "See, there's NO FRICKING WAY a military would allow a plane to be so uncontrollable on takeoff. If it exhibited these characteristics, they would fix it. Widen the wheelbase, add a tailwheel lock, something." This isn't world war one and these planes don't use rotary engines. Even the guy who does the videos, named "Cap"--a British fella no less--had nothing nice to say about the plane in these videos and a few others. And I thought, "See, I'm not the only one that thinks this plane sucks!" Then, in another video, they explain some of the options available in the Special tab, which I hadn't really explored. I had clicked on it a couple of times, saw something about VR gloves, and clicked out. Never clicked onto any of the individual planes (in fact, I hadn't even noticed the sidebar was there.) In the Spit tab, the Takeoff Assistance was all the way up. So I turned that off, went and tried out the Spit... ...and now it's a completely different plane. Not just takes off more fluidly, but actually FLIES better. Before, lifting off was like trying to clean up roadkill with a shovel. You had to PEEL it up. And in flight, it didn't seem to WANT to turn, and when it did, it would tuck into it like a retarded toddler doing somersaults. I didn't have any "suggestions" for the devs before because I figured this thing was just a frickin turd, and I'd just avoid it. But now I do: get rid of the "take-off assistance." It isn't "assisting" in anything. In fact, it actually made the whole process MORE difficult. It certainly won't give new pilots confidence. And the fact that it affected the plane's entire flight envelope really irritates me. (It wasn't active on either the I-16 or the Mustang, which is probably why I appreciated and enjoy flying those planes.)

I haven't gotten either the BF109 or FW190... I haven't been able to bring myself to buy them. The idea of 'flying' something with even an abbreviated swastika on it is way too distasteful for me, even if it is "just a video game." (And completing a campaign as one of those fellas...fuhgeddaboutit.)

Let's see if I can articulate my trouble with it. It has nothing to do with taxi, take-off or landing, or my ability to do those things. The I-16 is far more challenging in every one of those aspects, and I enjoy flying it. (Although, I do admit to some skepticism about the ground modeling of the warbirds in DCS. Like they took the RELATIVE challenges from pilot reports (i'm sure a Spit requires more care and control input than, say, the Tiger Moth or Stearman pilots of the period trained in, for instance) and cranked it up to eleven...you know, cuz it's one more than ten.) For me, what irritates me the most about the Spit is that accelerated stall behavior. Any relatively rapid (and no matter how smoothly it's applied) deflection of the controls causes it. That vibrating stutter behavior. Freaking hate it. It doesn't drop a wing, or anything, just flutters rapidly like a sheet of crepe paper in front of a fan. But more importantly, the thing doesn't "feel" like it's flying to me. It "feels" like a car on one of those slot car tracks you get as a kid. Like it's got it's little metal contact stuck in the groove, and is zooming around quite nicely...until you apply control pressure, then it pops it right out and goes skittering away across the track, trying to get its button back into the groove. Compare that to the Mig15, which just seems to float. It "FEELS" like it's flying to me. (I absolutely LOVE that plane.) But there are other things that irritate me, too. The sound of that big fan from inside the cockpit. Outside, it sounds fantastic, especially on flybys. But inside, it sounds like a little RC plane zipping around--ZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZ. And now that I think about, THAT'S exactly how it "flies" to me. Like an RC plane. Not a heavier weapon of war, with wing mounted canons and machine guns. But like a little plastic plane with a tiny engine you have to start with a cordless power drill. Ironically, though, I'm way better at dogfighting in it than in the Mustang, and even my beloved Mig15 (getting hits with its heavy canons and that awful sight is tough.)

A2A Simulations did a nice version of it for FSX, with all of its systems as accurately modeled as possible, and even managed to circumvent a lot of FSXs inherent limitations. But yeah, not exactly modern. But again, I'm sure the DCS version is as accurate a representation of the actual plane as is possible in a simulation... So my complaints, I am sure, are with the plane itself. I pity the poor pilots that had to fly it. And into battle, no less. And this is coming from someone who actually likes the I-16 in DCS. That thing is actually fun to fly. Just the other day I was flying it around in mp wishing someone else in the server owned it so we could get an air race going.

lol

I don't think anything's broken. I think I just can't stand the plane. I'm sure the plane is as accurate as any sim can make it. For me, it is just as far from being "a delight to fly" as any plane I have ever flown.

Yes, I did, and thank you. But the thing is just completely unpleasant to fly. The only flight sim model of any aircraft in any sim I have ever actively loathed. If it had been possible, I would have gotten my money back a long time ago. I keep going back to it, though, because I really WANT to like it. But each time I do, my irritation with it and contempt for it just grows and grows. It's a shame, really, because the Spitfiire is such an iconic warbird, and the actual pilots loved it. Interestingly, my FAVORITE plane I have ever purchased in a flight sim is the Mig-15bis, and it has all sorts of issues: poor roll rate, all around awful performance at altitude, and a tendency to wallow at slower speeds...and yet, I still frickin love it.

Have to disagree with many in this thread. The DCS version of the Spit is, without a doubt, the worst plane I have ever flown in a flight sim. (I have flown it, and enjoyed it, in other sims, though.)

Oh, lame. I was hoping there were some rumors way down in the mill... Would be nice to get into some Cold War style engagements against the Tomcat, only in a study-plane environment.

Any chance the Mig-29 will be upgraded to a "Study" plane in the future? Just realized there are a lot of US/Western study planes, but no modern (-ish) Russian planes. Would be sweet.

Was coming here to discuss this very thing... Guess there isn't an easy fix. Drat.

I find it absurd to think that, with all the field modifications these things went through, that enterprising ground crews weren't attaching trim tabs to the trailing edges of the rudder and elevator. Hell, if this is the way it flew in real life, I would have done it myself. Trim tabs that could be adjusted on the ground for particular speeds certainly wasn't unheard of at that time. What would be great would be to have an option in the ground crew menu to have them bent to reduce the workload at somewhere right around 300 kph.

I know this is an old post, but man, I love this plane. I was just flying it around online this evening, and thinking this exact thing. Why isn't this the most popular plane in the DCS stable? It's become my favorite by far. Just fantastic and fun to fly.

Is there a way to slow down the way aircraft systems respond to keyboard or joystick buttons respond? For instance, I've mapped the wingspan and distance mechanisms on the K-14 gunsight of the Mustang to a hatswitch on my throttle, but even the briefest press makes them whiz rapidly through the settings. The same is true when trying to map the trim wheels to a button in the Mustang. (It's not so bad in the Spit, for some reason.) It makes it very hard to make incremental increases. Is there a way to slow down the speed of these things? Or, better yet, make it so that each button press moves it a slight tick? Even hitting the button a bunch of times would be better than zooming way past the intended setting.

I use a button occasionally, too. On the Mig-15, it's all I use, but then that's got a nice wide wheelbase and tricycle gear, and no torque, so I can taxi that thing like a champ. Also, it's a helluva lot of fun to fly. Probably my favorite, right now. I am trying like hell to like the Spit, but so far there is just so much I don't like about it. Like just sitting in it. It's like being in the bottom of an aluminum canoe with a sloppy outboard motor poorly attached to one end...off center, of course, to optimize it's poor steering. Haha. The view through the sight even leaves a lot to be desired, being mostly nose. And it's so excruciatingly slow. Good for slow Sunday afternoon fly-in at a regional airport, not so great for chasing down German aircraft. The cannon is nice, but the ammo capacity lackluster at best. Lol. Like I said tho, I really WANNA love it. It's certainly a beautiful bird. Err, at least the elliptical wing version. The clipped wing, not so much. Of course, when my beloved Thunderbolt comes out, won't.matter much anyway. And then I heard tell there's a Zero in the works!