First flight - Impressions and Questions

[Briggs 0]

Hi, new here at the forum, long time flight sim player though :).

 

After reading about OFF on simhq i finally decided to buy it and it arrived yesterday. Installation and setup went really smooth. Watched the entire intro movie, really good feeling :)

 

Created my pilot and took a testflight, choose Britain in 1915 so i got to fly a Bristol scout, the one with the machine gun firing slightly to the left

 

Took off and went about, fiddled with the fuel richness (really like it) tried stalling the plane (went ok) stopped the engine and tried finding the best glide speed (went quite ok). Restarted the engine (simulated airflow over propeller by cranking it). Finally i went back to the airfield and landed which went good as well (quite surprised, landings are usually my nemesis in simulators).

 

So i fired up the campaign and as a Sgt i choose to fly by rank. Started, took off and tried following behind my wingman which went ok until we neared the front for the recon mission. All of a sudden my wingman and flightlead zoomed ahead and gained altitude at a pace which i couldnt match :(

 

The recon above the frontline went on about 8k above the ground i tried desperately to gain the altitude and to catch up all the time. Not until my flightlead returned back to base and got back to 2k above the ground was i able to catch up and fly in formation.

 

After the flight back i landed which went all kinds of wrong, i tried to watch my plane from outside while landning which uhm was a bad idead (plane planted in the ground) but my pilot didnt injure himself (nice touch there :) )

However my flightlead was injured while landning and my wingman is now missing in action?!

 

I must say that i really liked the sim, the flightcontrols, the sound, (trackir working real nice), flying in formation with my flight. The briefing and everything really draws you in :D

 

Note that i didnt meet or see any enemies at all (did get one shot from flak at me) which did even more for my immersion!

 

 

Now to some questions which i would be very grateful if someone could try to answer

1. How do i keep up with my flight, i leaned the engine, didnt trim the plane since it was not reommended.

2. Does anyone have the stall speed, best climb speed (for climb rate), best climb speed over time, best speed for gliding (while engine off) for the different planes?

3. Shouldnt the leaning of the engine result in better RPM at almost all heights? Im in the middle of taking PPL (private pilots license) flying a cessna and when leaning it always results in lowered RPM which results in me upping the RPM to the previous setting which results in higher speed (i.e. lowered RPM same speed).

 

Hope i dont come off as some cranky irritated new person to the forum :) I must say that i really loved the game and will look forward to many more sorties (really like the campaign). I was especially impressed with the ground graphics, trees and everything gave you a good sense of being there :D

 

Lucas Briggs

[Siggi 10]

Can't help with 2) and 3), but you'll have a better experience if you choose to be the flight leader on all sorties.

 

And welcome aboard sir!

[Check Six 2]

Briggs,

 

Welcome to the world of OFF. You have chosen the best WW1 flight simulator. Totally immersive. You have visited the correct site. If you have ANY problems, post them here. Many very helpful people here that are willing to help you if they can.

 

OK. Answers to your questions...

 

1. Regarding catching up to your flight... You may need to mess about more with your mixture to get ideal conditions, but this won't help you catch up. We all fall behind our flight. The reason is that the AI aircraft in OFF are not subject to wind effects, and so can climb slightly better than your aircraft, and are slightly faster. Some tips though. You CAN catch them up by Warping (X). Some purists or total immersion enthusiasts here will scoff at the idea, as "the pilots in WW1 didn't have warp", but as a newbie, you'll have enough trouble flying and fighting without having to worry about what is considered "cheating". You can utilise all these "helps" until you're adept, and know what you're in for, then gradually remove them one by one. OK. So, you're following your flight, they start climbing, and you can't achieve their climb rate, nor catch up to them. You can wait until they're well above and ahead of you, hit "X" (Warp), and you will be behind and to the right of your flight leader. If you choose to fly total immersion, or wish to practice staying in formation, you can exit warp at any time by hitting "Ctrl+X" (exit warp). You should be careful though, of your throttle setting as you enter or exit warp. If you enter warp at full throttle, when you exit warp, you will overtake your flight, and it's difficult again to regain your position. I try to enter/'exit warp at about 70% throttle. See if that works for you. So you can catch up that way. If you're concerned that you're way too far behind, and in danger of being "picked off" by some enterprising enemy, you can quickly hit "X" and then wait a second, then hit "Ctrl+X", and you'll be at their height and in formation. If you think you don't want to do this (ie if you consider this to be "cheating" you can put your nose down slightly, pick up speed, then pull up until nearing the height of your flight. You'll probably have to do this a few times until you catch up and are at their height, and even then you might not reach them. Also, if you glance at your map (M), you might notice that in a few miles, your flight will reach a waypoint, and then turn to the right. This will enable you to catch up, especially if you anticipate the turn. Check your TAC (if you don't consider this cheating) and the top figure will show how far till your next waypoint.

 

2. The figures for the stall speed, best climb speed, best glide speed etc for any aircraft will supply you with a bazillion combinations from any one of reliable sources. For instance, go to Jane's Fighting aircraft of WW1 (a reputable reference work indeed), compare the speed at various altitudes with any number of other books, and you'll get many discrepancies. There are many reasons for this...aircraft manufacturers quoting higher performance figures to get higher sales or more bragging rights, test aircraft that are "tweaked" by a master mechanic, or others that are incorrectly rigged, poor weather during some testing, a pilot choosing a climb rate for his last aircraft to test the climb rate of the current one, different models of aircraft (was that for the "b" model of the "c" model?) etc etc. Your best bet is here...

 

http://snomhf.exofir...FFaircraft.html

 

Homeboy is a regular here, and an invaluable source of information. He has taken it upon himself to test the OFF aircraft. Not go poring through massive reference works and culling the rubbish information and figures...he hops in OFF aircraft, as they are modelled in this sim. Tests their climb rate, turn rate, speed at altitude etc. Please, be patient. He's only one man (albeit a very clever one), so the figures are, of course, incomplete. But this is by far the best figures you'll get on the aircraft you're flying here. OBD Software have been through the same dilemna...when they model the aircraft, and are trying to find out what speed a certain aircraft will do, they are confronted with many different figures. Which one is right? With Homeboy's figures, whether OBD have chosen a certain performance parameter that is not quite right, Homeboy's figures are accurate for the aircraft that you will be flying.

 

3. Umm....sorry Lucas. I can't help you with this one, as I fly with "automixture on" (Check Six covers his ears to drown out the howls of CHEAT! CHEAT! LOL). I'm sure someone can and will help you out. Good Luck.

 

Lucas, you didn't come across as cranky or irritated especially considering some responses on many other forums. It doesn't matter, mate. If you are cranky or irritated by something that you think is wrong with this sim, please voice your opinion here. There are many developers that visit here almost every day, and if the other users in this forum can't assist you by telling you which parameter to tweak or adjust or de-select etc, they will help if they can here in the forum, but will show you how to contact their support if you are unable to get joy from this forum. Very, very helpful people and developers here. Mate, if you have the slightest problems, ask here, and we will try to help.

 

Most users here LOVE this sim (as I do), and will do anything they can to help others to fine-tune their sim for their computer, so that they might achieve the same sort of love for OFF that we have.

[themightysrc 5]

"Very, very helpful people and developers here. Mate, if you have the slightest problems, ask here, and we will try to help."

 

I'd very much second that view - you can even bend the developers' collective ear! If you check out the number of patches that have been produced since OFF came out, you'll probably realise pretty quickly that OBD are extremely responsive to their users' wishes, which has led to some fairly intensive work by the developers.

 

The other nice thing about this forum is that you'll find enthusiasts, rather than fanbois, so if you find something not to your liking in the sim, people will actually discuss it without leaping down your throat. I've detected very little rancour in my time on here.

 

So welcome to the legion of the lost (evenings & weekends), and look forward to accumulating a huge pile of dead pilots (like the rest of us...)

[JimAttrill 24]

I wonder if the warp 'x' could be made a toggle - ie. into warp if you are in normal flight, and out of warp if you are in warp? I ask because I am a lefty and normally have to let go of the stick to hit <ctl> x

 

Maybe I should program a joystick button instead.

Edited September 3, 2009 by JimAttrill

[Mr. Lucky 0]

3. Your PPL instructor should have taught you that you should have an RPM increase when leaning. If you don't have an EGT guage, you lean to max RPM's then a little past until the RPM stat to drop, then go back to max again. IF you keep an RPM drop, you're leaning too much. In OFF, not all planes utilized mixture control (Shredward has a couple of posts about which ones). In OFF, I usually don't start leaning until 2500 feet and then you might see a few hundred RPM increase or hear it but not see a real result in on the tach.

 

But, you won't keep up with AI planes because they're not confined by aerodynamics in the way we are. That's one of the reasons I choose to always fly lead. That and I tire of circling the field 8 times when 2 or 3 will suffice.

[Briggs 0]

Thanks for the answers

 

Will try to fly lead, but it would be nice to be able to work my way up the ranks, ah well, i guess i will have to ignore that bit...

 

Thanks for the link Check SIX lots of good info there!

 

Oh yes my fault (memory not working correctly today) Mr Lucky, the rpm does indeed increase and then i can lower it and get same speed for lower rpm (lower flightcost), my bad

 

Thanks for all the welcomes as well, will try to fly another mission tonight and fly lead this time.

 

Btw i´ve read about how you all are striving to reach 17 flight hours with your pilots, what happens then? Are you relieved of duty? Can you choose to keep flying?

 

 

/Lucas Briggs

[themightysrc 5]

"Btw i´ve read about how you all are striving to reach 17 flight hourswith your pilots, what happens then? Are you relieved of duty? Can youchoose to keep flying?"

 

I really can't answer this - i've never survived that long!

[Hauksbee 103]

Can't help with 2) and 3), but you'll have a better experience if you choose to be the flight leader on all sorties.

...and, on landing, it's best to stay inside the plane. (LOL) When I started OFF, I always flew from the six o'clock chase position, because when I flew CFS1 (Europe) I felt I was just chasing black specs from insde a richly detailed cockpit, but had little sense of a dogfight swirling around me. The canopy obscured the view. If there was a six o'clock chase position in CFS1, I never found it. But in OFF, it worked. Then I gave cockpit view another try, et voila!, 360 deg. view! (TrackIR enabled)

 

So, welcome to the Flanders Death Wish Factory. I pass on to you the only piece of advice that guarentees survival: New guy buys the drinks. If you reach the magic number of 17 flying hours without getting your butt shredded, we buy for you. The game does not end. You don't get rotated stateside. There's just another damned mission. Fail, and we toast your memory.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Hauksbee

[Fliegenhund 0]

After 17hrs Briggs your career continues. Most guys want to hit the magic 50hrs which I think is extremely difficult unless you are in a boony sector with no enemies. Personally I set a goal of 30 more minutes after 17hrs, it is tough!

[themightysrc 5]

"Personally I set a goal of 30 more minutes"

 

Delete the 'more' and that's my ambition...

[77Scout 3]

Flying flight leader is not an acceptible solution for me as a new pilot would never be leading. Also following is much easier as you don't have to navigate, just follow the leader. When following I rarely have trouble keeping up with the flight leader...I think maybe the problem varies depending on the plane you are flying. In the FE2b it seems very hard to keep up in, while Albatros careers I can easily keep up.

 

If you are flying this as a simulation, and not just a game, then you will never be flying from an outside view. Landings are ususally not a problem in most planes if you come in low and slow (around 60-ish mph in most planes).

 

 

[Rickitycrate 10]

I thought the idea was 17 pilots or less in 17 hours of flying . Anyway, welcome Briggs! Nice of you join-up with this motley assemblage of fliers of previous and might I say archaic WWI flight sims. There's is much to learn for a new guy. The gents you'll find here are top shelf and they are all Aces in my book. Best wishes with your OFFing and use this forum to help.