DCS Discussion

[Redwolf]

Does anybody have both the F-15C and the F-15E?

How does the E fly? I love how the F-15C handles, easily my favorite so far. But I would hate to spend the coin and end up with a sluggish milk cow.

How playable is it as a single pilot (no player for the backseater)?
The Mudhen is a sluggish milk cow compared to the F-15C.  It is however a magnificent module and superior in almost every way to the low fi F-15C model.

The Mudhen has an amazing radar, great loadout, and is a sublime striker.  It's insanely fun in almost every way and quickly became my second favorite module to play with, even though it's got a lot of development time needed. 

It's not a dogfighter.  It pretty much can't dogfight against most fighters.  It can however provide excellent BvR air to air threat if that's what you want to use it for. 

It lacks Datalink though so don't expect to be superior to planes like the Viper or Hornet in situational awareness.  Do however expect it to detect and track targets far better with its radar. 

The Strike Eagle is best when using it for its intended purpose, a self escorting ground strike aircraft. 

[SirAndrewD]

How playable is it as a single pilot (no player for the backseater)?

Very.  Much like the actual Strike Eagle all the functions of the backseat are available to the pilot.  Swapping to the back is rare and usually something done outside combat. 

On Air to Air you can completely use the front seat.

They plan to implement an AI for the back seat but released it as is because it's really not necessary. 

Flying wise, I enjoy the plane.  It's stable and brutally fast.  It's a wonderful platform for bombing and can get out of trouble when it has to.

If you're on the fence with it, hold off till it's available for a license trial.  However, for me personally, the F-15E was a must buy since I came from the days of Mircoprose's F-15 Strike Eagle 1 thru 3.  It absolutely scratches the itch if you were there for those old days.

[JudgeDredd]

I haven't fired up DCS in such a long time!

The problem with me is I can't commit. I've got too many sweeties and I don't know which ones to eat.

I always fire up DCS with a plan to master an aircraft. Sometimes I get a fair way in...other times, I just get in

It's an excellent simulation with excellent modules. I just can't commit.

I wish I could 

[JudgeDredd]

Also - I wanted to love the Apache - but helicopters for me in the sim are unflyable. Again - I don't think it's the game's fault...but I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I've got a HOTAS. I've got pedals. I just take off and spin...most of the time uncontrollably. Sometimes, I do get off - but it's not pretty at all. I can never, EVER do a straight lift...I'm always spinning one way of the other...sometimes to a lesser degree than others - but I always spin.

Maybe I should just forget about the loves (the F-14s and the Harriers and the Apaches) and focus on an easier bird to fly with all the mod-cons - the F/A-18.

[Redwolf]

Also - I wanted to love the Apache - but helicopters for me in the sim are unflyable. Again - I don't think it's the game's fault...but I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I've got a HOTAS. I've got pedals. I just take off and spin...most of the time uncontrollably. Sometimes, I do get off - but it's not pretty at all. I can never, EVER do a straight lift...I'm always spinning one way of the other...sometimes to a lesser degree than others - but I always spin.

Maybe I should just forget about the loves (the F-14s and the Harriers and the Apaches) and focus on an easier bird to fly with all the mod-cons - the F/A-18.

As mentioned above, the Ka-50 is a helicopter that is easier to fly (even for me). It doesn't have a tail rotor and stays straight much easier.

[JudgeDredd]

Yeah - I do like the Shark.

I haven't flown it in a long time, but iirc the controls being in Russian (which made sense because it was a sim) threw me. I can't remember...did hovering over show the English? I guess it must've.

Anyway - yeah, I like the Shark - but I love the Longbow.

[Jarhead0331]

Yeah - I do like the Shark.

I haven't flown it in a long time, but iirc the controls being in Russian (which made sense because it was a sim) threw me. I can't remember...did hovering over show the English? I guess it must've.

Anyway - yeah, I like the Shark - but I love the Longbow.

I believe there is an option in the settings to convert the language of the cockpit instrumentation to English.

[Pete Dero]

There are mods that change the cockpit to English :

for Black Shark 2 : https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3328030/

for Black Shark 3 : https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3309519/


I don't have v3 but like Jarhead said that one could have an English option in the settings.

[JudgeDredd]

Does anyone else have competency in flying helos? What's your secret?

And if be interested to find out what is peoples favourite module...maybe favourite and also easiest

[Jarhead0331]

Does anyone else have competency in flying helos? What's your secret?

And if be interested to find out what is peoples favourite module...maybe favourite and also easiest

"Competency" is a very subjective way of putting it. lol

My ability to fly helicopters is very inconsistent and I'm not sure why. Some days, I'm decent. Other days, I can barely get off the ground in one piece. On average, I can take off, fly around and land safely. However, hovering or any maneuvers that require fine or precise control? Forget about it. Add hostile units or combat...hahahaha. Not there yet.

I think mastery of the trim controls is a critical step for really flying rotary wing aircraft.

As far as favorite modules. That is really hard. I'm really trying to stick with the Strike Eagle for awhile because I think it is such a powerful and capable platform. However, if I had to pick just one, it would probably be the Hornet or the Viper. They are both great at just about everything. The only difference being whether I want to participate in naval/carrier ops, or not.

[JudgeDredd]

Am I right in thinking, JH, that the Hornet is more advanced in development (weapons and avionics) than the Viper?

I really do like the Viper too. Loved the F14 but man, it's old 

[SirAndrewD]

Does anyone else have competency in flying helos? What's your secret?

And if be interested to find out what is peoples favourite module...maybe favourite and also easiest

I can do the startup procedure in helos before I auger in with a fiery death.

My favorite modern module has been the Viper and I can say I'm more than proficient with it.  I also consider it overall to be the easiest.  Hornet is a close second in both categories and might actually be easier overall but for the time I've spent in the Viper I'm more used to it.

In Cold War modules I have a lot of fun in the F-5 for blue and MiG-19 for Red.  Neither are hard to get a handle on and the F-5's a great training platform.

[Jarhead0331]

Am I right in thinking, JH, that the Hornet is more advanced in development (weapons and avionics) than the Viper?

I really do like the Viper too. Loved the F14 but man, it's old 

Yes. I think that is the case, but the Viper is really catching up. It's not too far behind.

[JudgeDredd]

 

[Destraex]

Does anyone else have competency in flying helos? What's your secret?

And if be interested to find out what is peoples favourite module...maybe favourite and also easiest

I had the same problem you did in choppers JudgeDredd. I found it hard to control the helicopter spinning uncontrollably on take off and once I did take off different manoevres were harder than they were for others I played with.

These are the tips I have to get you in the air and stable to "begin" with. To see if you are doing what I was doing wrong:

1) Just after take off, once you are in the air high enough and spinning uncontrollably:

a) Lower your collective (main rotor blade bite) as this will decrease torque and thus slow your helicopter spin.
Scary I know, but trust me, lowering that lift power will actually slow your chopper spinning. You will start heading to the ground slowly.
b) Lower your nose a little with the cyclic (joystick input) to start forward momentum.
c) Apply some pedal (tail rotor to apply counter torque) on and off in small increments.
Once your forward speed increases you should come completely out of the spin and resume normal flight. The key in a chopper is to make no sudden moves, bring the collective from step a back to 100% now if you have to but do it slowly.

2) Make sure you know which way the tail pedals must be pushed to counter main rotor torque. Eastern and Western chopper blades spin in oppostite directions and thus the pedal direction will be opposite for each. Pushing the wrong way will exacerbate the main rotor torque forces instead of countering them.
Remember as soon as your wheels leave the ground the faster the blades are spinning and the harder they are biting the more the aircraft will want to spin.

3) I had a huge problem with my pedal curves being set too sharp. My pedals were causing huge spikes in torque every time I pressed them. You can tune pedal axis in the controls menu within DCS. Right click on the setting in controls and choose tune axis.
Once you flatten the pedal curve you can set your tail rotor more finely and thus get it in the correct position. Once your pedals work properly it goes a long way to preventing spin via accidental over correction.
Also I needed more of a deadzone in the middle to account for any wavering because my pedals are very old.

4) Make sure your throttle (spin speed) and collective (blade bite angle) are separate controls. Some choppers you can use both together and they fly fine. But I find it's best to control both separately. I use my warthog dual throttles for throttle and collective. Sometimes I get lazy and lock the two throttles together if the chopper is handling well.
Both spin speed and bite force have a huge impact on torque spin force. So controlling these separately can be a big help.  Lowering spin speed with collective bite force in step 1  together may have a good effect as well.

5) Remember that all inputs in helicopters run on LAG. Most times you will not notice a change for a second or so after control input. That can help when you are trying to understand what is going on. Do things slowly and watch for the results.

6) Don't stay in one place going too slowly or hovering AT FULL spin\bite because you can chop the same air up so badly that it no longer supports your aircraft (nothing to bite into) and you fall out of the sky. This is much more of a danger when coming in to land though which you are not up to yet.

Conclusion:
I think that the most important lessons within DCS were that the pedals need tuning and lowering the collective after take off can really lower any spin problems you are having. Hope I have helped.

Where you tune your pedals. Controls>axis assign>rightclick>axis tuneThese are default curves as I think the last patch DCS managed to wipe my pedal settings.


Hardest chopper to understand but easiest to fly = Blackshark III
Most classic cold war chopper that can do everything = Hind
Western muscle that has similar control UI to the western jets and thus hornet pilots will be right at home in = Apache
Classic chopper to learn in = Huey UH-1 - this is the worst affected by poor pedal control causing spin

I don't have any time in the Apache really and the above are all I own. I understand the Gazelle is a lot of peoples favourite chopper. The Mi-8 is supposed to be ok as well iirc.

I love choppers in DCS because they are more challenging than the jets and you can do more than dogfight and drop bombs. You can run supplies, pickup troops and downed pilots. Generally you see the terrain in more detail as well. I am fascinated with the physics of it all. How can they fly ....