Hairier in VR

[Captain Orso]

Good-god, how do you guys do it?

 

Yes, the thread title is my homage to bad Dad-Puns, but it appears to also be very true.

 

The AV-8B is my first modern aircraft in DCS, because... why not --maybe unbeknownst to myself, I'm a masochist.

 

But how do you even look at those switches on the far-back left side to read what they are or their settings? :huh: Even on the brightest day, it's too dark to read the labels, and requires the upmost concentration to recognize the switch position --I find myself lifting my left arm to try to peer down under it, like it was actually blocking my view within the virtual cockpit --I imagine it would look really weird to anyone watching me, if I unlocked my door and let anyone see what I'm up to. So what if I have a minor accident, and lay there until I die? At least it will be with dignity.

 

And you can't zoom-view into them, because they are at the lower edge of the HMD and zooming goes to the middle of the display, and I'd have to push my chin through my body to get the zoom onto those switches --they're basically straight down from my shoulder.

 

So I have to literally get out of my seat, to kneel on it and put my head over where the switch panel would be if I were in the actual aircraft, one hand on the throttle-thumb-hat to activate zoom, the other fumbling with the mouse trying to get the pointer into the zoomed view, and all the while the chair is swiveling to and fro and I keep hearing this voice in my head saying, "common Dad, we're bringing you to a nice quiet place where everything is better"... or at least if they keep the pills coming, you don't care anymore :huh:

 

Anyone else out there having a hairier experience in VR?

[Aerodyne]

I'm pretty sure they are like that in real life too. I'm reading Joint Force Harrier just now and the author describes how he did some of the pre-flight standing on the ladders outside the cockpit as some of the switches and dials were too awkward to get at whilst seated inside.

[Gladman]

Real pilots know where the switches are. So do VR pilots. We don't have a choice right now and it does make learning hard but once I got onto it, the Harrier was and is one of my favorite aircraft.

[milkojohns]

bunch of switches like that in most cockpits in VR, let Voice Attack be your friend for those hard to get at spots.

[Aerodyne]

I'm pretty sure they are like that in real life too. I'm reading Joint Force Harrier just now and the author describes how he did some of the pre-flight standing on the ladders outside the cockpit as some of the switches and dials were too awkward to get at whilst seated inside.

[Captain Orso]

I'm pretty sure they are like that in real life too. I'm reading Joint Force Harrier just now and the author describes how he did some of the pre-flight standing on the ladders outside the cockpit as some of the switches and dials were too awkward to get at whilst seated inside.

 

I guess that means I'm getting the Real-Harrier-Experience™ :D

[Captain Orso]

Real pilots know where the switches are. So do VR pilots. We don't have a choice right now and it does make learning hard but once I got onto it, the Harrier was and is one of my favorite aircraft.

 

I hear you on that, but real pilots can feel the switches, and whether it's up/down/middle. We can only "see" it... maybe :huh:

[Captain Orso]

bunch of switches like that in most cockpits in VR, let Voice Attack be your friend for those hard to get at spots.

 

sooo... I have to learn how to program Voice Attack first to learn how to fly the Harrier? :cry: <- icon does not do justice to the amount of cry I require.

 

:juggle: <- things I need to learn the Harrier

[Shadow_1stVFW]

I hear you on that, but real pilots can feel the switches, and whether it's up/down/middle. We can only "see" it... maybe :huh:

You can also "feel" the switch when the cursor turns greens and locks to the switch.

 

You're in a swivel chair with a headset on, you don't have 30 pounds of flight equipment including a helmet, face mask, LPU, and combat lifesaving equipment all handing in your chest after having walked across the tarmac for. 5 miles in 110 degree heat, preflighting and climbing into, then strapping on the jet. All with the pressure of the rest of your flight rushing to make a takeoff time.

 

Haha. The struggle is all relative.

 

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[Captain Orso]

You changed you're avatar just for me, didn't you...

 

 

 

You can also "feel" the switch when the cursor turns greens and locks to the switch.

 

W-w-what? I've noted that when I left-clock on a dial, that the pointer is locked to the dial while I move the mouse, but what's with the switches? How and when is the mouse pointer locking on switches?

 

You're in a swivel chair with a headset on, you don't have 30 pounds of flight equipment including a helmet, face mask, LPU, and combat lifesaving equipment all handing in your chest after having walked across the tarmac for. 5 miles in 110 degree heat, preflighting and climbing into, then strapping on the jet. All with the pressure of the rest of your flight rushing to make a takeoff time.

 

Haha. The struggle is all relative.

 

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AFK BRB - have to put some more ice in my ice tea

 

ROFL:ROFL:LOL:ROFL:ROFL:ROFL

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[Gladman]

I hear you on that, but real pilots can feel the switches, and whether it's up/down/middle. We can only "see" it... maybe :huh:

 

Well, we all have a choice. Put the time in and get good at it, or don't. Its up to you.

[Buckeye]

Start doing yoga so you can be a little more limber before loading in to the pit.

[Captain Orso]

Start doing yoga so you can be a little more limber before loading in to the pit.

 

The zen of piloting the Harrier -- You do not fly the Harrier - you are the Harrier :pilotfly:

[Kula66]

The joys of VR. Lean forward so your face is in the HUD, reset your VR view (you'll need that mapped to a HOTAS button) and then lean back - puts you further back in the cockpit so you can 'look at' the switches, then once you've finished, reset your view again - works for me.

 

Only really necessary for the couple of switches near the back wall, lights and fuel dump switches.

[Captain Orso]

That's.... that's.... cheating :huh: ... but I think it would probably work too. :thumbup:

 

I knew you could do that, but I never thought about doing it in this case :doh:

 

Many thanks :D

[Mr_sukebe]

You’ll be glad when you’ve mastered it. Definitely one of my favourite aircraft to fly.

[Captain Orso]

I'm used to flying warbirds, and although the Harrier is not supersonic, in comparison... it's pretty fast :D

 

I'm still trying to learn the startup-procedure :(

 

I've dug out ye ol' faithful KneeBoardBuilder to put Chuck's Guide into the knee board --bc flipping back and forth between DCS in VR and the Desktop to read the Chuck's Guide is a major PITA :mad: , but KBB won't position the knee board where I put it in the profile I setup for this :cry:

 

Has anyone out there gotten KBB to work with the HARRIER?

[baltic_dragon]

The proper startup training mission is coming your way guys!

[Captain Orso]

The proper startup training mission is coming your way guys!

 

That is good to know! Thanks :thumbup:

 

There are several startup modes in the pocket guide. Will it cover all of them, or will there be one for each?

[Pikey]

PreFlight: Neck limbers, 5 rotations clockwise, 5 anticlockwise. Chin over right shoulder, chin over left shoulder, repeat x5. Shrugs shoulders forward x5, back x5. Then with back, extend furthest look over left shoulder, same with right. Finally looking up and down, with a careful rotation looking up.

 

 

Some of the switches under your elbows in the wall need a little holding the VR face mask to see, due to the limited FoV.

 

 

I can now get over my shoulder viewing during dogfighting, it takes a lot of effort, and it can be dangerous to do it fast, especially at the merge without a warmup.

 

 

Switches not a bother, start with labels and just repeat, it's like learning anything, it comes with repetition. Stick with it.

[Harlikwin]

Dunno if its helpful. But the mig has a flashlight key ctrl-L or something like that. Maybe it can help.

[Captain Orso]

Basically using Kula66's suggestion to lean way forward and then re-center the view, so that when you sit back normally your POV is way back, allowing you to more easily see the rearmost switches, plus turning on console and floodlights and then adjusting the rear floodlights above the console was the first step in putting me on my path to success.

 

I still feel that it's far too dark in the cockpit, as if very little ambient lighting from a clear blue sky were coming in, but I guess I've found a work-around for that ;)

[Marklar]

Is Harrier fps heavy in VR, comparing to A-10C or F-18 for example? I have MiG 21 which is terribly optimised for VR, same as Spitfire.

[Shadow_1stVFW]

I've found it to be a little better than the hornet in VR. Really depends on your system. But the flir and map are heavy hitters. If you're having fps issues try turning those off

 

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