Your fantasy vs. the OFF reality?

[DukeIronHand 8]

Flying one of my several careers recently, this one with 60 Squadron in March, 1917 using the Nieuport 17 (Lewis).

 

In every sim I have ever played, books read, etc, etc I have always had a sweet spot for this plane along with my usual cabal of favorites (Sop/Cam, Se/5, Alb series, Dr.1, Br/F2B, heck - all of the darn flyables!)

 

In OFF though I find myself almost dreading this career for one reason...cockpit visibility!

When I fly I feel like I am blind and my SA feels poor. And the Aldis sight...yikes! To top it off I find it hard to target the enemy. No other plane makes me feel quite as claustrophobic.

I have a big monitor, TrackIR, FOV set well...its just the layout of the cockpit

 

This is not a slam on the modeler and I am sure the cockpit is quite realistic - there's just something about the set-up.

And no, I have never sat in the cockpit of a real Nieuport.

 

Do you have a plane that you feel you should like and love but some quirk about it makes it tough to fly?

[gaw 5]

DIH.....feel your pain.....after slogging thru innumerable pilots.....all on the historic lifeline curve pretty much....I do 1 campaign with the cockpit on and after my inevitable demise...........do the next with no cockpit and target locking so I can feel like I've some futurity. With the cockpit enabled....they're all pigs....some worse than others but the difference between cockpit/reality vs no cockpit/game-aids always astonishes me and makes me feel a retroactive dread........... the guys who did the real dance must have felt that X10....

[Rugbyfan1972 1]

DukeIronHand,

 

The Be2 series, it is a swine to aim the lewis, but she is a beaut to fly, so forgiving, unlike the camel, which I stand by the RL pilots "a good pilot swears by her, a bad pilot swears at her). The only plus point with the camel as far as I am concerned is that she has taught me how to recover from a low altitude spin, and no one can hit her when I am flying her, because even I don't know what she is going to do.

 

I can fly the rest of the planes that I have tried (Alb DI-DIII, SE5 & SE5a, Sop Strutter single & 2 seat, Sop Pup & Sop Tri 1&2 gun variants &Fe2b) fairly well. as you can see I favour 1915-1917 heavily, I have tried the DR1 a couple of times but cannot get the trim set right, and also the engine noise is unnerving (when another plane makes that noise I know I need to head back to my side of the lines and land ASAP)

 

.

[DukeIronHand 8]

....because even I don't know what she is going to do.

 

[NS13Jarhead 6]

I would say the DH-2. It was one of the first planes that I flew because it's an aircraft that I always had a soft spot for it since my days of playing Richtofen's War (hex board and cardboard squares). However, when I tried to make a hard turn like I had gotten used to in the D.VII, It slid sideways - straight into the ground. It taught me that I need to be careful about the angle of bank. Too much and it'll go into an almost irrecoverable side slip.

[carrick58 23]

I have to say, The DH 2 and The Spad 7 as well as the N-11 are a little disappointing. The DH2 because of the Torque and Nasty Turns. The Spad 7 Limited View. Last but not least is the N-11 a real paint to take off, Torque or whatever the wing wants to dig in, A quick dive and pull out or a spit S and the wings come off.

[Burning Beard 14]

The DH2 is one of my faves, I always enjoy flying it. The one that drives me crazy is the DH5, I can not get used to the wing set up. I know it sounds stupid to like the DH2 and hate DH5, but for some reason if a plane gets above and in back of me in the DH5 I just lose all spacial orientation. The same position doesn't bother me at all in the DH2.

 

I like the N11 hate the N16 (which is a real dog), I really like the N28 though the lack of a gun site is really annoying. The easiest for me fly and aim accurately in SE5 (either A or Viper).

 

Beard

[TSmoke 2]

The only real disappointments for me are the N11 again for the takeoff and the SPAD 7, never tried the 13 yet but the visibility just sucks. My favorite from the Allies side are N17 lewis or vickers models, and pretty much all the Sopwiths with the exception of the Camel haven't survived long enough to try it out. The German craft all feel like I'm driving a Greyhound bus compared to the Allied planes. But I do like the Alb D2.

[Slartibartfast 153]

Must admit tried the Spad and the N11... and promptly went back to old Fiddly Bits aka the Sopwith Strutter... just cannot get on with those French fighters...

[Olham 164]

Duke, I feel the same in the Nupe, but from all pics I've seen, it seems to have been quite a small crammed aircraft.

Have you tried to zoom out one or two notches? May help to eliminate that feeling.

But if you like perfectly free vision, come to "the dark side" and fly the Albatros, or the Pfalz D.IIIa.

After that, you'll be spoiled for anything else, visionwise.

 

 

...I have tried the DR1 a couple of times but cannot get the trim set right...

The Fokker Dr.1 is an "instable aircraft". That means, you cannot really trim it. The crafts position is completely determined

by what the pilot does with the stick. That makes her tricky to fly first, but when you know her, she's a hell of a turndevil.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Olham

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Mine would have to be the Pfalz...I like it, but it doesn't suit my style of Dogfighting at all!...it's a swooper rather than a turner...and I have lost more pilots flying this aircraft than any other!.....but then, a lot of German Pilot's slated it anyway!

[Olham 164]

The Pfalz was used quite some time in the elite Jasta 10, so I don't think it was a bad aircraft.

But you're right, Widowmaker, she's not a turnfighter. You have to fly her fully according to the rules

for energy fighters. Then you can get SPADs in her.

The Pfalz is the perfect aircraft for balloon attacks; she performs the steepest dives very stable.

[Olham 164]

The Albatros D.Va disappoints me in OFF.

In real life, the craft wasn't much of an improvement over the D.V, but still a little.

In OFF, the D.Va feels worse than the D.V IMHO.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Do you have a plane that you feel you should like and love but some quirk about it makes it tough to fly?

 

Duke, for me it is the N28. I had always thought that kite to be something quite fine, but it is not that great IMHO. The rest of the planes in OFF are really close to what I imagined them to be, with the Camel still being my all-time favorite.

 

.

[DukeIronHand 8]

Finally figured out why the N17 cockpit rubs me the wrong way and feels so confining...Olham hit the nail on the head above.

 

I have been flying an Alb/DIII career with Jasta 11 in March 1917 pretty heavy.

 

After flying a couple of flights with 60 Squadron I made the above post and then went back to Jasta 11.

 

I soon as I was in the seat I knew what the problem was. I was used to the Albatross!

 

The DIII really has a sweet cockpit layout, good view, and nice gunsight. Probably one of the best. Hence the shock of the N17.

 

Luckily I am half German so I don't feel too traitorous!

 

Maybe I'll pull an Albert Ball and have my N17 windscreen removed.

Edited May 26, 2011 by DukeIronHand

[Olham 164]

Some here said, that the windshield could be lowered on some kites - not sure how though?

Duke, even without being half German, it must be allowed to say, that the Albatros have a good view.

[+Polovski 460]

We try to give you what the pilot sees in the craft, warts and all :) Many craft had terribly cramped cockpits and poor view.

That's why on paper something seems to be super, and often thought of as amazing until you actually get to fly it and then reality of the bad points hit home.

 

Shift+c will lower the Windscreen on the Vickers N17 usually.

[Olham 164]

Ah, thanks, Pol - now I know, why it didn't work on any other.

[Lewie 7]

I like the OFF Nupe 17, if anything it's better than the various Nupe V-strut versions of RB3D patched, that had, (especially), the Lewis gun N17's which in WFP were as doggy climbers as the Sop Pup and Spad 7 in Full Canvas Jacket. The thing the OFF Nupe 17 excells at is descending turn fights with fast "E" gain after you finish your turn around, no plane in the game does this as well. It can be combined with little zoom and booms but you are limited to how fast you can dive.

[DukeIronHand 8]

Shift+c will lower the Windscreen on the Vickers N17 usually.

 

Just the Vickers version and not the Lewis one?

 

I love the N17 performance-wise I just wish I could take a hacksaw to the cockpit.

 

Too bad I'm bald or I could just say I like the feel of the wind in my hair!

[Lewie 7]

Just the Vickers version and not the Lewis one?

 

I love the N17 performance-wise I just wish I could take a hacksaw to the cockpit.

 

Too bad I'm bald or I could just say I like the feel of the wind in my hair!

 

I rather like the cockpit of the OFF Nupes but they do miss one detail. All the Nupe V strutters in Richthofen's Skies had the entire functiong monkey works of the joystick>transverse rods> aileron pushrods>aileron bellcranks>ailerons. It was a joy to watch all the interconnected gizmos as you pushed it through maneuvers. The cockpit of their N12 was especially open and had the celluloid covered center section of the upper wing. I'm not sure how close to accurate it was but it was a joy to fly even if it sounded like a 1950's Cessna.

[DukeIronHand 8]

....the joystick>transverse rods> aileron pushrods>aileron bellcranks>ailerons.

 

Well you clearly know more about the mechanics of the N17 than I.

 

Whats moving around in the OFF cockpit - just the aileron pushrods and bellcrank?

[Olham 164]

Too bad I'm bald or I could just say I like the feel of the wind in my hair!

No way to let the wind rush through your hair - they wore leather caps, so no one would see you're bald

[Shiloh 12]

Well you clearly know more about the mechanics of the N17 than I.

 

Whats moving around in the OFF cockpit - just the aileron pushrods and bellcrank?

 

Just curious, how come you can see the body of the pilot on some planes (ie; Strutter) but not on others (ie; Albatros D.II)?

[Olham 164]

Beecoz vee Dsherrmanns hav der "Tarnhelm" - a cap of invizibility from der Nibelungen!

Mmuahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!