Q&A with Nick Grey

[NineLine]

So as a perk to now working with the ED Team, I can more comfortably bother Mr Grey. He was nice enough to chat with me on Skype for almost an hour, and had I had the time, I probably could have kept him going for another couple.

 

One of the things I asked him, that I would like to bring him into the fore front a little more in the DCS Community, I know most of us know of him, but we dont get to know what kind of impact he actually has on DCS World at all its aircraft.

 

It was refreshing to find out just how hands on he is, how much experience he has had with many aircraft, many that we have in DCS. I did not know that he has flown the Su-27 (cobra and all) and the MiG-29. Most of us know he has a wide sampling of WWII aircraft, many marks of the Spitfire as you can see in my signature, the 109, Hurricanes, etc etc...

 

So I asked him if I could brings some questions to him to answer for the community, and he said he would love to.

 

I did ask a couple myself, for example.

 

I asked him his favorite Spitfire he has flown. He stated the Vb, specifically the EP120, because its a mostly original aircraft, with 7 actual kills in WWII, he said there is just a smell about it, that he cant put his finger on it, but something about it makes it just that much more special. Although he also said, if you want to feel some power in a Spitfire, there is nothing quite like the Mk14 either.

 

See the Ep120 here: http://fighter-collection.com/cft/spitfire-ep120/

 

I also asked him about flying a real warbird compared to flying them in DCS. That many people complain or are disappointed that they can be a lot of work to fly, and that you are hands on the stick all the time. He stated that this is right on the money. He said that the P-51, if you trim it out just "beautifully" you can maybe get away with hands off flight for about 10 seconds, but in general, you are going to be flying the aircraft all the time.

 

We talked about ground handling, I mentioned that it always felt like things were too slick in the Spitfire in game. He stated while he thought that it was easier in the really thing, that it isnt the fault of the FM, but more the fault of the lack of feelings in our "bums", that in the real world, you could get the Spitfire squirrelly on landing or take off if you did something wrong, but because you can feel it better in real life, its easier to catch. In the sim, you have a harder time staying ahead of the aircraft, hence the reasons for the assists for WWII birds.

 

All and all, he seems like a great guy, very intuned with DCS and where he wants to see it go, and how much he is invested in making it great.

 

So throw down some questions for him, I will pick out some of the best and most interesting and send them off to him. I hope this is something interesting to all of you, I know it is to me.

Edited April 4, 2018 by NineLine

[Pikey]

I'm guessing he has his heart in the warbirds and Spits, but apart from those, I'd like to hear a wishlist from Mr Grey on what plane that we don't have in DCSW that he'd like to fly and where would it be.

 

Obviously caveat that this is not a trick question or a way of garnering project information, but if there is one thing people like to talk about, it's about stuff they like doing or want to do.

[Overvolt]

We'll see a bomber on DCS World with multcrewn some day? Which one would you like to fly in the simulator?

[winchesterdelta1]

Do you ever fly Multiplayer on public servers? And what is the most exciting non aircraft feature you can't wait to tell us about, in the not so near future of this SIM.

[TomCatMucDe]

Will we see some 4gen Russian fighters? Is there a way to get the ok from th per Russian government? And why do they actually care?

[Mizzy]

Will we see survey modules again like FC3 for the casual simmer and especially 'The Century Series' Surely classic air frames are a market seller ;-)

 

Mizzy

[frixon28]

Thanks NineLine I always love hearing a real-life pilots perspective about DCS

[Strut]

Very interesting read and im envious of Mr Grey being able to fly all those real AC,

 

We'll see a bomber on DCS World with multcrewn some day? Which one would you like to fly in the simulator?

 

I would also love to see a WW2 Bomber in the stable, is this in the " future vision" for DCS ?

[philstyle]

I have a few questions.. you can pick and choose which you might want to use, if any:

 

1. Has anyone tried / would it be beneficial to use 3D scanning tech to get 1:1 scale models of the Fighter Collection's air-frames that could form the basis for importing into DCS (either as flyables, or even AI models)?

 

2. Have you considered bundling, in some way, memberships of/ subs to the "Friends of the Fighter Collection" (or merchandise from the online shop) with specific DCS warbird modules?

Maybe this page on the TFC website needs a bit of a gloss-up too: https://foftfc.com/product/dcs-world-flight-sim-products/ :)

 

3. As far as I can see, TFC doesn't have a flyable twin-engine warbird right now (I see a Beau in restoration...) does this impact on the likelihood that we will ever see a twinnie flyble in DCS?

(maybe Avspecs in New Zealand can throw a Mossie our way .. )

 

4. Battle of Britain... any thoughts?

(Ok, this one was silly, but I'd pay 150EUR (now + annual inlfation) for a fully complete BoB DCS, even if it only had 2 flyables for each side, so long as the rest was there in A.I. form and the map extended from Colchester to Dorset, Cherbourg to Bruges)

[MAD-MM]

The Good old Question, what he think in Pro and Contra about the old revials 109 and Spit, was these adversary over Time equal? what did he enjoyed on Flying each of the Warbirds what not?

[Phantom88]

Is good info and documentation on P-47 Available? If not,Why? Thank You

[xvii-Dietrich]

1. How important is it to have access to real aircraft when working together with ED on developing new WWII modules?

 

2. As an owner of real WWII aircraft, does this ever give Nick Grey the privilege to interact/inspect the aircraft of other WWII collections?

[BlacleyCole]

It sounds like aircraft is his interests. I’m wondering what he thinks of the ai system and the lack of ability to create real training missions that follow the four basic phases of training explanation, demonstration, famialiarization, and evaluation. Does he expect that the ai will be able to use it to train new pilots.

[Yurgon]

NineLine, could you give some background regarding Nick himself and his position at ED/TFC?

[NineLine]

NineLine, could you give some background regarding Nick himself and his position at ED/TFC?

 

He owns The Fighter Collection, flown a great number of aircraft (classic and modern), as I listed a few in the OP, he partnered with Igor in DCS. He is very active behind the scenes with DCS, and form what I have gathered a really great guy (not just saying that cuz he is one of my bosses either :D ).

[cichlidfan]

He owns The Fighter Collection, flown a great number of aircraft (classic and modern), as I listed a few in the OP, he partnered with Igor in DCS.

 

Who is Stephen Grey?

 

Wikipedia claims that he is the owner of TFC.

 

The Fighter Collection is owned by and was founded by Stephen Grey,[1] a businessman and former RAF pilot domiciled in Switzerland.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighter_Collection

[philstyle]

Who is Stephen Grey?

Wikipedia claims that he is the owner of TFC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighter_Collection

 

 

 

Stephen is Nick's father.

[hreich]

Will there ever be a save game option midflight? This will be a gamechanger for me.. I have 2 kids and i really need to get away from pc during long flights..

 

Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk

[Paganus]

This is a great idea 9_

 

I'm interested in sounds. sometimes our DCS warbirds give me the feel of a new car. Not a lot of rattles, or squeaks.

 

In the real thing, do you hear much external noise or are the engines so load you cant?

 

Like when you approach the edge of the flight envelope and you pickup vibrations, do you hear rattles pings, pops?

 

What is the scariest sound he's heard while operating a warbird?

[ILoveRice]

Who is Stephen Grey?

 

Wikipedia claims that he is the owner of TFC.

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighter_Collection

 

Stephen Grey set up the Fighter Collection at Duxford, but a few years ago retired from airshow display flying. Nick Grey is his son and regularly flies at Duxford airshows, which I certainly recommend on attending :)

[birdstrike]

1)rudder forces and effects of the 109.

are you really of the opinion that the 109 pilots in dcs should be restricted in rudder deflection already during the takeoff run? the way it is now in dcs, full deflection is only possible at really really slow speeds, and already during the later parts of the take off run, the pilot will not be able to give full rudder deflection due to the forces.

 

the same is true for the stick forces acting upon our 109 pilot. at speeds way below 300kph IAS he will not be able to pull the stick completely back...

and what makes me personally really sceptical that the stickforces are implemented correctly, is the fact, that once you lose 1 elevator, you all of a sudden can turn much tighter at higher speeds, which for me at least doesnt make any sense.

whats your opinion about the matter?

 

 

 

 

2)ground physics outside of airfields and runways.

please try some take offs and landings with unlocked tailwheel in the 109 somwhere in the grass fields on either of the maps in dcs, away from airfields and runways. i would be interested whether you think this is implemented correctly...

Edited April 7, 2018 by birdstrike

[Yurgon]

He owns The Fighter Collection, flown a great number of aircraft [...]

 

Thanks! :thumbup:

 

My question would be: Where do you see DCS in 5 years? What are the most important advancements and developments from your point of view?

[Nate--IRL--]

I always wondered about the Origins of the relationship between TFC and ED. How did it come about, and what exactly is the relationship?

 

Nate

[xvii-Dietrich]

So throw down some questions for him, I will pick out some of the best and most interesting and send them off to him. I hope this is something interesting to all of you, I know it is to me.

 

Have you picked out which questions to ask? Various people have put forward some interesting suggestions and I, for one, am indeed very interested and am looking forward to reading the answers to them.

[QuiGon]

I always wondered about the Origins of the relationship between TFC and ED. How did it come about, and what exactly is the relationship?

 

Nate

 

Great question! That's something I'm trying to figure out for years now.