Il2 Battle of Stalingrad on Steam

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Manifold pressure,  prop pitch,  fuel mixture?

You guys should start flying civilian planes first in FSX / X-Plane before going to combat. :D

Doing it when you've got all the time in the world to stare out the windshield is easy.  Trying to change everything on the fly when in a tight bank so you can keep optimal power settings in order to get guns aligned on or evade a baddie is a different story.

[Nefaro]

This is why I feel you really need a joystick + throttle combo to fly any kind of sim from WWII up. Every thing you do with the aircraft requires a change of some kind of setting, be it trim, prop pitch, super charger, etc. Trying to do all that with a key board would be maddening.

Not only that but having an expensive one with numerous hat switches and many buttons if you're going to be flying stuff with all the modern avionics, such as DCS A-10C.  Otherwise we're just making it more difficult on ourselves.

It's a damn nightmare getting all the "DMS/TMS/CMS-Left/Right/Up/Down-Long/Short" stuff set up even on decent HOTAS sticks if they don't have all the hardware to accommodate.  And that's just a fraction of them!

[jomni]

You will probably need one of these.  Instead of HOTAS setup.

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/tpm.html

[Tuna]

Manifold pressure,  prop pitch,  fuel mixture?

You guys should start flying civilian planes first in FSX / X-Plane before going to combat. :D

8)

[Nefaro]

You will probably need one of these.

[MengJiao]

If you take the leap into the world of complex engine management, it adds a whole new realm of difficulty.  Trying to fly while keeping one eye on water and oil temps, oil pressure, manifold pressure, tachometer, fuel mixture, and trying to remember your prop pitch and oil and water radiator settings can be ridiculously challenging.

I've tried engine/prop management from time-to-time.  I found it far from easy -- especially when combined with some dog fighting.  These days I end up with a "custom" difficulty level ie everything real except engine management and prop settings.

  I might get back to engine management if the Wildcat ever gets the full sim treatment (I guess it was sort of like that in IL-2) so I can yell "Go to high blower!"

[sandman2575]

If you take the leap into the world of complex engine management, it adds a whole new realm of difficulty.  Trying to fly while keeping one eye on water and oil temps, oil pressure, manifold pressure, tachometer, fuel mixture, and trying to remember your prop pitch and oil and water radiator settings can be ridiculously challenging.

Ain't this the truth.  It's taken me close to a year of pretty solid practice to be confident flying the 109-E3 in combat in Cliffs of Dover.  The bitch there is managing prop-pitch in the heat of battle.  By now it's become more or less second nature, although I still do on occasion notice my RPMs revving too near the "you are about to destroy your engine" mark of 3000.  The real key in combat is is *not* watching your instruments and being able to tell what your RPMs are based on the sound of the engine.

It's satisfying to feel like you've mastered it, though.  Plus, using manual prop pitch in the 109 allows you to squeeze extra performance in combat, which is often crucial.  I never use the auto-prop pitch even on the 109-E4 for this reason.  Once I make the leap to BOS, I'm pretty sure I'll stay all manual on the 109-F and G as well.

[sandman2575]

This is why I feel you really need a joystick + throttle combo to fly any kind of sim from WWII up. Every thing you do with the aircraft requires a change of some kind of setting, be it trim, prop pitch, super charger, etc. Trying to do all that with a key board would be maddening.

The Thrustmaster HOTAS is a pretty decent setup esp. for the price:

http://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-Flight-Playstation-3/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408544764&sr=8-1&keywords=thrustmaster+hotas

Has a reasonable number of programmable buttons (although you always wish you had more).  Although I covet the Warthog hotas, I've been pretty pleased with this setup for a while now

[Cougar_DK]

I have one of these for twins engine planes (and one engine of course):

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Ain't this the truth.  It's taken me close to a year of pretty solid practice to be confident flying the 109-E3 in combat in Cliffs of Dover.  The bitch there is managing prop-pitch in the heat of battle.  By now it's become more or less second nature, although I still do on occasion notice my RPMs revving too near the "you are about to destroy your engine" mark of 3000.  The real key in combat is is *not* watching your instruments and being able to tell what your RPMs are based on the sound of the engine.

It's satisfying to feel like you've mastered it, though.  Plus, using manual prop pitch in the 109 allows you to squeeze extra performance in combat, which is often crucial.  I never use the auto-prop pitch even on the 109-E4 for this reason.  Once I make the leap to BOS, I'm pretty sure I'll stay all manual on the 109-F and G as well.

At least the evil Jerry planes give you the option of putting things in auto.  The Soviet crates are very hands-on affairs. 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The He-111 H-6 bomber was released as flyable in today's patch.  I spent about an hour practicing bombing runs with it and then about 30-40 minutes shooting it down from a Yak-1.

Bombing with both the He-111 and the Pe-2 is actually probably the easiest part of the game.  The developers have put in a sort of generic, English language bomb aiming system in both planes that's all mouse controlled and very simple to use.  I'm not sure if this is intended as a place holder or if this will be the final version of the sight.  I hope they also include the option to use the authentic aiming systems found in each plane as they've gone to great lengths to model the real-life cockpits and control systems for the rest of the planes and plane compartments and it seems a bit incongruous to have an idealized bomb sight.

[MengJiao]

The He-111 H-6 bomber was released as flyable in today's patch.  I spent about an hour practicing bombing runs with it and then about 30-40 minutes shooting it down from a Yak-1.

Bombing with both the He-111 and the Pe-2 is actually probably the easiest part of the game.  The developers have put in a sort of generic, English language bomb aiming system in both planes that's all mouse controlled and very simple to use.  I'm not sure if this is intended as a place holder or if this will be the final version of the sight.  I hope they also include the option to use the authentic aiming systems found in each plane as they've gone to great lengths to model the real-life cockpits and control systems for the rest of the planes and plane compartments and it seems a bit incongruous to have an idealized bomb sight.

I haven't tried the bomb sights.  Yeah, it would be odd if the game were completed with generic bomb sights.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

It seems that the idealized sights are the final ones for the game.  Odd choice given how they're trying to make everything else authentic.  Oh well it's not a show stopper.

[MengJiao]

It seems that the idealized sights are the final ones for the game.  Odd choice given how they're trying to make everything else authentic.  Oh well it's not a show stopper.

  Interesting.  I guess a bombsight simulator isn't as simple a thing as I thought.  Which is fine with me, I only bomb from fighters as a rule.

[RyanE]

In any flight sim with bombers, I almost never worry about the bombsight simulation.  My bombs only hit the earth while still loaded in the flaming carcass of my plane.