Drift sight

[valleyboy]

Will the drift sight eventually be operationally modelled?

there are arguments around the net as to whether it was also used as a bomb sight…. It’s modelled in the cockpit (directly in front of navigator above parachute holder) but not operational.

but we also have the towed antennae winding handle in cockpit without the fuselage boom…  so who knows?! 

would have been used to aid navigation, arguments as to whether as a bomb sight also…. 

[Krupi]

I have been wondering this as well, how fleshed out will the navigator position be regarding equipment like this and others?

Edited October 25, 2021 by Krupi

[Retnek]

Let's hope the developers spend time for the FLIGHTsimulator-aspects of DCS. Would be most satisfying to do the real navigation with dead-reckoning, RDF and GEE. For this the brains need (AI-) boots to keep her straight and level!

[Krupi]

Unfortunately we don't have GEE, OBOE has been recreated with scripts by Reflected for his upcoming campaign.

We really should have GEE though, the vast majority of FB.VI were equipped with them.

See...

 

[stuart666]

I posted my thoughts about GEE in the other thread. I can appreciate the technical challenges (and it might as a result be better left till we have a 'wider world' so you can simulate curvature of the earth). Nonetheless, I think that warrants doing.

There is a really nice video of drift sights here, which gives some overview of how they work.

 

Id love to see this in the sim. But to be honest, how useful is it right now? You either look at your kneepad and follow the line, or look at where you are on the F10 map. Its cool, but functionally useless unless there is a reboot of how navigation is doing.

The ONLY way I can see this being useful if navigation in the sim, at least for WW2 pre digital aircraft, is completely rethought. You need a nav that has a route, whom tries to follow it, but may drift over time. The best example I can think of that has been in a sim (gameified though it was) was in the Nav screen in B17. You look out the window, observe where you are, and adjust your position on the map, and the pilot reacts to get back on the created track. You could either do that via some form of 'jester' (Charruthers?), or via a multiplayer nav. Which over a decent sized map would actually give the poor fella something worthwhile to do.

Thats big work. But as more and more twin engined aircraft, particularly bombers, get made by ED, I think its something that needs doing. And TBH, its something that is going to have to be implimented for all kinds of aircraft up to the mid 60's, before computers were introduced into combat aircraft.

You idly wonder if they did ever make a change like that, it would make sense to split DCS into two sims. The modern digital pilots simply arent going to appreciate that kind of baggage, just for the WW2 audience.

 

[FlankerKiller]

No need to split it. As long as they can plan they're missions all modern jets have INS/GPS. Then there is TCAN and VOR. Or NDBs. I personally think having some better pilotage would be freeking awesome. Plus as you said we can have AI navigators now that tell us where to point the nose. And it looks like the European theater is going to get alot bigger. So bring on the old school navigation. You can already turn off the F10 map.