New user from VA

[BigHairyGobbler]

Hello. I flew MS Flight Sim 1.0 back in the early 80's on a C-64 but only dabbled in flying since 2000. Found DCS and want to get back in so I am hoping someone can steer me in the right direction.

 

I served in the USAF for a few decades so would prefer to fly a 3rd or 4th generation USAF or USN plane. My computer is good (i7, 16GB, m.2 SSD, nVidia 1060) and my stick is a Saitek AV8R-01. No HOTAS and no head-tracker.

 

Can I fly the A-10C or F-16C without a proper HOTAS or head-tracker or should I start with the FC3 aircraft? If I get the A-10C (on sale for 50% off at the moment) or F-16C could I fly and use mouse look or would it just be too frustrating?

 

I'm primarily looking to perform CAS-style missions for now. Thanks.

[joey45]

Yes you can.

 

Even though the HOTAS and head tracker will make your life/flying/fighting easier you can fly with a simple stick.

 

there is free / cheaper head tracking stuff out there.

[Dannyvandelft]

You technically can, all you "need" is a keyboard and you can fly but it's not very enjoyable. Honestly a decent HOTAS is a must. It makes a big difference in immersion and capability as critical controls are right under your fingertips.

Head tracking can be done cheaply, but VR is the way to go. You go from looking at a screen to being in the plane itself. I find the F-16 much more enjoyable than the A-10 personally so I'd choose that.

FC3 has a low fidelity A-10 as well.

If you find you're really enjoying flying, consider a HOTAS upgrade at the very least.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[draconus]

2 years ago I was flying with cheap HotasX and no trackIR. Normally you use hat switch on the stick for view but having a free hand you could mouselook with it. People are amazing and it's not hardware that make you better pilot. It won't be long though when you'll start buying stuff ;)

[BigHairyGobbler]

Maybe I’ll get the A-10A and F-15C to whet my appetite then get a full fidelity plane after I have proper HOTAS and head-tracker. Any reason to get full FC3 when I truly just want to fly USA planes?

[Dannyvandelft]

Maybe I’ll get the A-10A and F-15C to whet my appetite then get a full fidelity plane after I have proper HOTAS and head-tracker. Any reason to get full FC3 when I truly just want to fly USA planes?

FC3 is much better value and to not fly the Flankers is letting yourself miss out on some wonderful planes. I enjoyed the Flankers much more than the Eagle. And the 33 can get you started in carrier operations before you buy the Hornet, Harrier, or Tomcat.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Andrew8604]

You can fly with just a joystick...or a flight yoke. I flew with an expensive, all metal PFC airliner yoke for a while, along with CH Products rudder pedals and CH Throttle Quadrant. On jet fighters, rudder is not used that much, but on the ground taxiing...but the throttle is. You're going to want a throttle to vary engine thrust minutely all the time. I guess your AV8R-01 has throttles and twist rudder to get by with. I don't know if it would be good enough for inflight refueling. Someday, if you're up to spending a $1000 or so, get the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS stick and throttle package. They are very high resolution, with hall-effect sensors, not potentiometers. No jittery noise at all in the electronic signal to the PC. Also the Thrustmaster TPR rudder pedals. That's if you really get enthusiastic about this sim. I have all three and am happy with them. I used to just look around with a mouse (actually, I got used to a trackball mouse, so I can just move my view with my thumb and not have to have a surface to slide a mouse around on). TrackIR 5 is a piece of junk, however. I just can't recommend that thing. I have that and am able to get it to work but not at all as needed for air combat maneuvering. It just does not seem be able to track your head through the full range needed. You need to be able to look up without the view flipping around at zenith (straight up). And you need to be able to look up left and up right in a turning fight. I just can't get mine to do that. It freezes or wigs out. Still, TrackIR is better than mouse view, for casual flying around and ground attack missions. Just not for dogfighting. I would get VR goggles but am concerned with the pixel resolution in them. I already have a 43" 4K monitor. 3840x2160 makes it just a bit easier to see the aspect of an aircraft at a greater distance. If they ever get 4K VR goggles, I'll be sold...if it's under $2K.

 

 

***My criticism of TrackIR 5 is overly harsh...see my other post below for update.***

 

F-15C is $7.49 right now. A-10A is the same. So that's $15. FC3 is $10 more. I would say get FC3. That's what I did a couple years ago. I still have only flown the A-10 and F-15, but someday I'll get around to flying the others. I'm trained in feet and knots. I just struggle with metric cockpits. :) Don't forget, there is a free A-4E Skyhawk Community module that's a lot of fun to fly, too. Possibly more so than the A-10 and F-15, if you like fixed-adjustable bomb sights. If you're a HUD-CCIP fanatic, you may not like the A-4. The A-4 comes with a lot of old-fashioned 'dumb' munitions, though. And its working radar, authentic to the real aircraft, is not very useful, just as it was not very useful in the real aircraft. Sort of funny, but cool. :) It has a working navigational computer that'll get you to a waypoint...pretty cool for 1950's technology! You're going to get so many detailed modules that you won't know which one to fly. LOL

Edited December 30, 2019 by Andrew8604
add another detail

[BigHairyGobbler]

Thanks for all the advice. I wound up purchasing FC3 on sale and will get a HOTAS at some point, maybe the Warthog model. No desire to get VR as I'd need to drop a box of cash on the device and another box of cash to upgrade GPU from nVidia 1060 to something that can handle VR. Thanks again!

[Andrew8604]

For who ever else reads this thread, I'd like to revise my criticism of the TrackIR 5. I was finally able to figure out my tracking issues. The TrackClipPro has 3 LED lights on it. They MUST be seen, individually, by the IR camera at all times or tracking stops. I realized my tracking issue when looking up and to the left was because two of the LED lights merged in the IR camera's view. I figured out a positioning of the TrackClipPro so that the LEDs will never merge. If you want TrackIR to work for you, you have to figure that position out depending on where you place you IR camera unit. Now TrackIR is working much better with no "dead zones" of tracking.

[chris_lancaster]

I would recommend head tracker software. Any really, it really will help.