Real life aviation experience of DCS simmers

[hip3rion]

Hello gentlemen (and gentlewomen)

 

 

 

Since DCS is a hardcore sim, i have always wondered what population was attracted to this game and if a good chunk of it had a foot into aviation. Eagle dynamic did a great job giving two free planes and offering the FC3 plane as an intermediate step before the most advanced modules.

I can only admire a teenager with no ties to aviation who would dive into all the systems and general concepts one must be aware of to fly some of these planes. (F-14 rio cockpit is both fantastic and terrifying to me :joystick:)

 

 

Hence my poll today :

My rusted brain couldnt get to make a poll directly on the forum so i created one externally.

https://linkto.run/p/KND5F8OT

Edited September 13, 2019 by hip3rion
longer version

[Emmy]

PP-ASEL Here

[BitMaster]

Only R/C flying, not full size. Tho it taught me enough about physics and always fly 3 mistakes high. I have friends who fly RL, mil and civ.

[Mars Exulte]

Real : 55' ASK-21 Glider

RC : 50'' Dynam BF-109G-6

Sim : 3/4 pit (extensive but not a full pit)

[hip3rion]

Real : 55' ASK-21 Glider

 

 

Ha ! My first bird ever ! You just reminded me of my first take-off. I couldnt understand how one could control that thing in the take-off run, everything just happened in a couple seconds !

[AeriaGloria]

Been flying RC since I was kid, got a commercial drone license 107 first week FAA made it available. Had about an hr in Stearman many years ago. I feel that RC and scratchbuilding has made me understand aerodynamics very well, but I never learned navigation until I played DCS and other sims

[Mars Exulte]

Ha ! My first bird ever ! You just reminded me of my first take-off. I couldnt understand how one could control that thing in the take-off run, everything just happened in a couple seconds !

 

I do fine in the straight line. The airfield we operate at has a P shaped taxiway to the runway, and they line gliders up on and start the tow directly from the taxi, meaning you gotta kick it hard and follow the towplane around the curve.

 

 

I hate that.

[AeriaGloria]

Doesn’t sound super safe!

[Mars Exulte]

Lol no, it's not really, especially for new pilots, but not my call

[Boris]

I started gliding this year (training in ASK-21) and just had my first three solo flights last weekend. Good fun.

Also quite inexpensive compared to powered flight, especially since we winch start.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Boris

[Zinger]

Student pilot here, currently training In a PA-28 Warrior II for my PPL license.

 

I missed my chance for the RAF when I was a young man, so now I'm older I'm on a fully structured course with a flight school to take me from Zero to frozen ATPL :pilotfly:

[hip3rion]

Bringing this up so more people can see it and vote.

 

 

A higher number of voters will create more meaningful results :smilewink:

[kam]

I passed the Helicopter PPL 2 weeks ago, need to get the paperwork sent off so I can get a licence!

[hip3rion]

Congrats !

 

 

I think DCS will be the sim that will get me into choppers (once Im VR equipped) !

[MegOhm_SD]

As I suspected... it appears the majority of Simmers here are not RL Pilots... most like myself wanted to be a pilot of some sort if not a Combat Fighter Pilot.

 

If not for some bad advice which I stupidly took at a young age, I most likely would have fulfilled that dream. But I have flown with friends and actually flew the planes...but never licensed.

 

So I am grateful ED exists and provides this Sim so I can in this way “achieve” what I missed.

 

Really, we would be quite lost if not for them. So thanks ED!

Edited September 22, 2019 by MegOhm_SD

[Burger]

Full Private Pilot Licence & Silver-C glider pilot. (Plus 10 parachute jumps if that counts for anything! :) )

[Joe Kurr]

Glider student here with 59 logged winch starts on an ASK-21 at the moment.

Since I couldn't find a suitable option, I didn't vote.

[hip3rion]

Hey guys,

 

 

I'm quite pleasantly surprised by the proportion of professionnal pilots flying in DCS. I thought the idea would be "I do that all day, the last thing i want when i get home is to fly another plane..."

Although I'd imagine flying a B 737/A 320 for real and goofing around at 100" strafing trucks tickles 2 very different parts of the brain ;)

[Mars Exulte]

In my experience, most pilots are very passionate. The amount of effort involved to even become a private civvie pilot weeds out the casuals. The airfield I go to, not all the guys are even there to fly. They just come to talk and be with like minds. That DCS attracts a large number of them doesn't really surprise me.

 

I built my cockpit so I can fly whenever I want, even if I'm drunk, naked, and there's a thunderstorm. Which you can do anyway, but odds of seeing the sunrise are higher if the flight was virtual.

[Notso]

Interesting..... I was about to start an almost identical thread asking the same question. I was curious about whether there were many IRL pilots or former pilots here. Massive applause to those of you with little to no actual flight experience who dive into the something as massively complex as a Hornet or Viper in DCS. I can't imagine how daunting that must be.

 

I have a related question: What is the background of the ED Mods and Dev team? Folks like Wags, Nineline, BIGNEWY, etc? I'm assuming you guys are former .mil pilots? And I'm assuming you have "guest help" of either current or recent drivers on the development team as advisors given the level of detail I see in the DCS modules. Thanks for all you do!

[Notso]

Hello gentlemen (and gentlewomen)

 

 

 

Since DCS is a hardcore sim, i have always wondered what population was attracted to this game and if a good chunk of it had a foot into aviation. Eagle dynamic did a great job giving two free planes and offering the FC3 plane as an intermediate step before the most advanced modules.

I can only admire a teenager with no ties to aviation who would dive into all the systems and general concepts one must be aware of to fly some of these planes. (F-14 rio cockpit is both fantastic and terrifying to me :joystick:)

 

 

Hence my poll today :

My rusted brain couldnt get to make a poll directly on the forum so i created one externally.

https://linkto.run/p/KND5F8OT

 

Your poll didn't include current or former military pilots or aircrew. That would have been interesting to see how many of those sorts are here as well.

[Los]

PPL w complex rating and tail dragger cert, CAP pilot, working on instrument as well.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Los

[NoJoe]

Commercial pilot here, formerly flew cargo. I have around 2,100 hours total time, but I'm working in aviation-related software now. It's a better schedule and commute. ;)

[Chaz]

Current corporate pilot flying the mighty King Air 350. Home every night. No overnight bag needed. :) Former Captain on E-175, Q400, PC-12, Premier 1 and Saab 340.

[Lace]

PC-12

 

 

Very jealous.

 

 

PPL(A) for me. Currently flying a Robin or an Archer (depending on how many seats I need). Building an RV8 in my shed. Would love a Yak but the running costs scare me. Should have been a fighter pilot but a combination of poor advice and family traditions led me down a different path.

 

 

 

Been sim-flying since the the late 80s/early 90s. Favourites were battling my brother on F-29 Retaliatior over an old serial cable network in the loft. Spent far too many hours on MSFS, and Falcon 3.0 was the daddy of them all. Also loved Gunship 2000, F117A Stealth, Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, and SWOTL.

 

 

 

Now mainly use XP11 for practicing real-world stuff, and DCS to indulge those fighter pilot fantasies. Only ever play SP complex missions, no interest in MP or Air-Quake sessions. Just bought the plans for a Viper simpit, which will be built for VR (i.e. no data output to it, just some hard switches and functional MFDs/UFC).