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DD_Fenrir

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Posts posted by DD_Fenrir

  10. Coming Soon...

    in Missions and mission building

    Posted

    Negative Crash. I will post a full briefing when we establish the date we can best do this. All the info you'll need will be forthcoming then. In the meantime get used to taxiing and takeoffs in ~11mph (5m/s) winds and hitting targets precisely from low altitude.

     

    Taxiing tips for the Mosquito in advance: for those with differential throttles, lead with the left and use ~35% power to get rolling the come back to 28% and 22% for left and right engines respectively, use rudder and brakes sparingly but start any corrections much earlier than you are used to in single-engined aircraft; with enough pre-empting and practise it soon becomes a helluva lot easier.

     

    Mission will be run as co-op, using the new taxi-to-takeoff feature. Speedbar will be limited to heading only. Icon settings as in SEOW. Map will show path but not player icon. 

  20. Coming Soon...

    in Missions and mission building

    Posted

    Can't tell you much at the moment but can say that a Minimum of 12 volunteers needed for this venture, with total slots available up to 25. Maybe more, depending on interest. Mosquito FB.VI slots to be filled first, with Typhoon IB escort slots available depending on interest, but at least two (preferably three) Typhoon flight leaders required or all Typhoons will have to be AI. An unarmed Mosquito B.IV photo ship to film the raid (take track) can also be available for anyone with pacifist tendancies, or designs on a Hollywood directors chair!

     

    Mission date TBC - post SEOW most likely. Awaiting imminent HSFX 7.01 Hotfix to confirm fix to Mosquito FM.

     

    Potentially mission can be run as dogfight or co-op; for various reasons I would prefer co-op but it depends entirely on you gents and your enthusiasm.

     

    Please express your interest in joining and any preference (if any as) to what you fly. I will be taking a Mossie.

  21. Coming Soon...

    in Missions and mission building

    Posted

    gallery_410_133_11260.jpg

     

    Ok chaps.

     

    Here are current allocations:

     

    Mosquito FB.VI

     

    487 Sqn

    Red Section

     

    1. Squawk

    2. BluBear

    3. Fruitbat

     

    Yellow Section

     

    1. Sid

    2. Friar

    3. Pooka

     

     

    464 Sqn

    Red Section

     

    1. Fenrir

    2. Sweper

    3. Ovy

     

    Yellow Section

     

    1. Rox

    2. Jabo

    3. Alpha

     

     

    Mosquito B.IV

     

    140 Wing PR Flight

     

    1. FT

     

     

    Typhoon Mk.Ib (Late)

     

    245 Sqn

    Red Section

     

    1. BadAim

    2. Painless

    3.

    4.

     

    Yellow Section

     

    1. Crash

    2.

    3. Artie

    4.

     

    Green Section

     

    1. Gec

    2. 

    3. 

    4.
     
     
    As we can see still need more pilots, so please spread the word.
     
    Mission will be run as co-op, using the new taxi-to-takeoff feature. Speedbar will be limited to heading only. Icon settings as in SEOW. Map will show path but not player icon. 
     
    For those who have already committed I have uploaded the skins that will be required on the big day, plus a practise dogfight mission for you to hone your low level bombing. Find it here: http://dangerdogz.com/forums/files/file/738-mosquito-training-skinszip/
     

    Taxiing tips for the Mosquito in advance: for those with differential throttles, lead with the left and use ~35% power to get rolling the come back to 28% and 22% for left and right engines respectively, use rudder and brakes sparingly but start any corrections much earlier than you are used to in single-engined aircraft; with enough pre-empting and practise it soon becomes a helluva lot easier.

  22. If You Need Some Convincing...

    in IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Blitz and Desert Wings: Tobruk

    Posted

    ... of reasons to get back into Cliffs of Dover, then please indulge me a few moments of your time.

     

    I have recently updated the game to the Team Fusion patch 4.0 available here: http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6321

     

    Now version 3 was pretty good; fixed a great deal wrong with the game but there were still issues - visibility of aircraft at crucial air combat ranges, clouds, visibility of ground objects etc, but it was pretty good work all the same. A good effort and hopefully a portent of things to come. So here's what happened when I popped onto the ATAG server after our SEOW tonight...

     

    I joined just as a new mission map had loaded; joined RAF and read the brief. Seems Jerry was after our airfields at Biggin Hill and Kenley and industrial targets in Sevenoaks and Gravesend, meaning they would have to cover a lot of ground over Kent to make such deep penetrations - interesting. Usually the maps degenerate into a series of low level furballs over coastal bases, typical dogfight server fare, so it was good to see efforts being made to force some more realistic air ops.

     

    The server was sent up to prevent RAF planes camping the Luftie bases and give them time to gather formations (if reds crossed the frontlines, their aircraft disassembled themselves!). I on a whim decided to fly from Biggin in my trusty Spitfire Mk.Ia (100 Octane) QJ-F despite there being closer bases. Turns out this was a good idea....

     

    I took off smartly and once cleaned up, took a heading of about 110 degrees climbing all the way, watching my temps carefully and trying to juggle RPM and Boost to give me best climb rate without cooking the lovely Merlin. I arrived over Ashford about 10 minutes later at Angels 20 and started getting the gen from the controller of all sorts of trade building over the Channel. Working my way further southeast I had a brief scare when I spotted a contrail above and behind me but soon ID'd the blighter as another Spit and resumed my slightly less solitary patrol over the coast between Dungerness and Folkestone.

     

    It wasn't long before a friendly reported spotting a formation of 27 (!) bombers pushing out from Cap Gris Nez; no height was given as he was engaged and shortly thereafter had taken silk, information that certainly made me swallow a bit and inspired a bout of Messerschmitt twitch. Not long after as i scanned out to sea I saw a collection of faint grey dots upon the horizon - a great deal of faint grey dots, getting darker by the second. Having throttled back to cruise power as I maintained my sentinel status above the beaches of SE Kent it was time to get into fighting trim, RPM to 2700 and Boost to 6 PSI as I rolled onto a southerly heading. "Christ, lucky I was wafting about up here at 23000 ft" I thought to myself, "that formation isn't appreciably lower!"

     

    As the Spitty picked up speed in a shallow dive towards the rapidly oncoming phalanx of enemy aircraft I grimly noticed an ever increasing number of smaller dots in front, behind and above the formation - fighters! 4, 5, 7, 9, I stopped counting as I had no way to recognise which if any were friendly and had to focus on keeping the Spitty trimmed and pick out a target from the bomber formation. Would not matter much anyway, if I could blast though the formation head on before the escorts had time to react, I could worry about them afterwards. I also noticed and tried to ignore an inky black smoke trail above and behind the bomber formation that was etching it's way steadily earthwards.

     

    Those last 2000ft of range passed awfully quickly.

     

    At the last moment just before I was about to hit the trigger I recognised my target as a Do.17Z and struggled to put my pipper gently on his nose; I didn't want to ham-fistedly over control and in doing so make a collision an even more likely outcome than it already was. At the moment I judged best, I opened fire.

     

    As it was, we weren't quite head-on and the slight crossing angle made my shots go wide; I was aiming for his right-hand engine and a saw a brief ripple of incandescence on his right wing tip when a fraction of a second later I flashed by him at something close to 550mph. I immediately pulled up, promptly but not too hard in an effort to not overstress the airframe and also make the most of my zoom climb. As I floated over the top inverted I looked down, heartened by the sight of a number of other Spitfires and Hurricanes wading into the bombers from all sides, but also sensing a twinge of anxiety as I spotted yellow nosed 109s also amongst the aircraft below. As my Spitfire accelerated downhill in an inverted dive a rolled her upright, and then dropped a wing, left and right, clearing my tail in case I'd picked up any uninvited visitors. Looking back to where the bombers ought to be a saw them slightly further West then I'd expected but immediately ahead I saw two aircraft in long trail formation heading North and away in a slight right hand turn. Somehow something didn't seem right, and the more I looked the more I was sure the trailing aircraft was on an intercept course with the first. I dived on in pursuit of a situation that was looking increasingly unpleasant.

     

    Sure enough as the range decreased I recognised the trailing aircraft as a 109 and it soon transpired he aircraft in front was his intended prey - a Hurricane. Fortunately the chap in the Hurri was awake and spotted the 109 as it was about to nail him, breaking into climbing left hand turn. The 109 opened fire as I desperately tried to cut him off, still out of range. I was coming in fast though - a bit too fast as it turned out because as I reefed into a vertical climb to follow I saw that I closing on him much too fast for a well sighted accurate burst. I had just enough time to get a snap shot at him before I thundered past, the tearing of my gunfire coinciding with a series of smoke puffs on his right wing. As I continued up I saw the 109 roll away and dive for the French coast. Hurriedly i cleared my own tail, expecting to find one of his cohorts on my 6 about to ventilate my aircraft. Luckily I was not being trailed. I let the 109 go; no sense in chasing him, I'd never catch him and besides, there were bigger fish to fry.

     

    Having done my Samaritan bit for the day I endeavoured to catch up with the bomber formation that was no doubt ploughing it's way on to paste one of our valuable targets. I saw the formation a ways West of me and very slightly higher and made heading to intercept, all the while keeping paranoid vigil on my vulnerable six.

     

    I caught up with the group just Northwest of the airfield at Lympne at around Angels 19, disconcerted to find most of the aircraft having dissipated and the bulk of the remainder as friendly - two Spits near and slightly above me were on a converging course to a contact ahead - a solitary Dornier. The chap above and ahead closed faster than I and whether he missed or had run out of ammo I saw his attack come to nought. I checked around quickly to ensure I wasn't about to collide with a friendly and couldn't see anyone. Where that second Spit went is anyones guess. Also a quick chance to make sure no 109s lining me up as their next victim. All seemed clear.

     

    Satisfied that I wan't about to meet my maker I settled on a good solid guns solution on the Dornier, again surprised at the speed with which I was overtaking him. There was time for couple of one second bursts producing some light smoke, fuel leaks and a noticeable lurch from the bomber before I had to break off hard high and right in order to avoid collecting him. As I reefed around in an off vertical loop to drop in behind him again I confirmed the trails of grey smoke and obvious fuel vapour as well as the fact that he appeared to be drifting right in a gentle turn and apparently was loosing altitude to boot. Again checking for 109s, I levelled off behind him and was nicely in range with a good shot to his right wing root; a good second and a half burst produced a cloud of black smoke and a flicker of flame. Got ya!

     

    Now where are the rest of the brutes?

     

    To be continued....

    • Like 1

  24. Is Anybody Interested In Some Dcs Missions? Training, Sharing Knowledge, Or Otherwise?

    in DCS Series

    Posted

    Thanks for that, I did a bit of flying about earlier on (Not tried take of or landing yet) and the manifold pressure gauge was bouncing about like mad. Also the throttle handle was displayed as jumping about. I might have to put some damping on my throttle or something but it didnt show when I checked in the windows controllers.

     

    Check your control assignments mate - unfortunately in DCS unlike Il-2 you can assign two axes to the same function so it maybe that you have another axis giving throttle input - as default the game assigns all axes equally so throttle quadrant axis y is mapped to exactly the same as joystick axis y and rudder axis y. Straight out of the box you'll have an impossible task trying to fly it so getting the controls all ironed out is a must! The crucial point here is to clear any input devices other than that you want it to be from the various input fields.

     

    Hope I am making sense.

     

    Otherwise post a screenie of your controls page for me.

  25. Is Anybody Interested In Some Dcs Missions? Training, Sharing Knowledge, Or Otherwise?

    in DCS Series

    Posted

    Hello Dave,

     

    Buttons wise the only thing I can think of that I have mapped that's important for start-up & takeoff is Open/Close Canopy (shift/ctrl-C IIRC) and you might wanna map rudder trim to an axis or pot or something. If you have the facility to map left & right wheel brakes to an axis, I would also recommend. But more of that later. Otherwise I am doing everything via clickable cockpit.

     

    Most importantly though is your pitch axis - make sure you have a curve set. I find 22 a good compromise between sensitivity and controllability.

     

    Start-up is quite prompt when you can remember it! The in game tutorials are always good for that. 

     

    Taxiing.

     

    Very little power is required to keep the mustang rolling, so whilst you might need a bit of oomph to get her started you'll find she saunter along quite happily with the throttle only fractionally open.

     

    Turning whilst taxiing is not quite as easy as Il-2; firstly even though your tail wheel is steerable, there are limits to it's range of motion, 6 degrees either side of centreline. This is quite sufficient for shallow bends,S-turns whilst taxiing and essential for takeoff. This steerable mode is engaged simply by holding the stick aft of centre.

     

    In contrast to fully unlock the tail wheel and make it free castoring, hold the stick forward of centre. Useful for spot turns etc. The best way to get it going is, rather than to apply rudder. to lightly tap the brake in the direction you want to turn. The tail will quickly - and I mean quickly! - start coming round. It will also accelerate as the tail carries round and converts your forward momentum into a ground loop VERY quickly so be ready to catch her with a dab (or three!) of opposite brake as she comes round. remember if you are bimbling along doing about 20mph without much throttle on you'll have bugger all in terms of rudder authority so just hoping the rudder is going to catch it is a fools hope. Be sparing with the brakes though, cos a nose over is not out of the question.

     

     

    Take-off.

     

    Get nicely lined up, and make sure that the tail wheel is locked in the steerable mode (stick aft of centre) and more importantly that it is centred. I have seen so many people get all nicely squared but their tail wheel is at almost right angles to the direction of travel where they've made a 90 degree turn to get into position on the runway. They wonder why the plane suddenly veers as they power up! So after you have pulled on to the runway just run her forward gently a few feet until you're sure the tail wheel is centred in the 6 degree steering mode.

     

    Last checks -

     

    1. Close canopy

    2. Flaps UP

    3. Dial in 6 degree of right rudder trim

    4. Stick held slightly aft of centre - no need for it to be in your gut

    5. Take a brave pill.

     

    Power up smoothly to 45 inches Manifold Pressure (MP) -  that's all you need for now. Cobb the engine and she'll get all gyroscopic and squirrelly on you the moment the tail lifts. Just ease up the power to this mark, it's plenty for takeoff and concentrate on keeping her straight on the rudder - I find tiny little darts and jabs of rudder far more effective than sitting on it. It's tricky and the visual cues are almost imperceptible but you have to be on top of them real quickly and preempt - I can't stress that word enough, PREEMPT! - any movements you think might be happening. If she starts to get away from you then by the time you've got enough control authority to pull her back things just start getting real unpleasant. Then providing you haven't ground looped already in a ball of incandescent avgas, your massive correction will turn into a massive over-correction (cos you didn't release the rudder fast enough) and you'll end up ground looped in a ball of incandescent avgas... only this time on the other side of the runway.

     

    If you've kept her somewhere near straight during the initial power up then you'll sense she wants to lower her nose as the speed builds; just let her do it in her own time. Relax a little back pressure and be prepared for a little dance on the rudder as the precession takes, though if you let her do it in her own time it's barely noticeable. If you force the tail off in anything but a feather-light manner she'll ground loop and kill you in a heart beat.

     

    Ok by now you should be roaring down the runway doing something approaching 100mph - TBH I don't even look at the ASI, I just let her get on with it. With the horizon now on the nose I ever so gently bring the stick gently back a fraction of a smidge and wait till she's ready to lift off - if you keep hauling back until she reacts you will

     

    A - at best be wondering why nowts happening when she suddenly leaps into the air and scares the bejezus out of you - then you'll spend the next 10 seconds correcting and then over-correcting, porpoising around like a noob, or,

     

    B - at worst she'll leave the ground too quickly and snap stall and roll on her back only a few feet off the runway. Cue the ground looped in a ball of incandescent avgas - again. (Though in truth, this is more of a full on air crash.)

     

    Once airbourne that rudder trim you dialled in for Take-off will make itself painfully apparent so get on the trim, get your gear up and come back on the prop pitch to 2700rpm.

     

    Voila you are flying the P-51!

     

    Hope this helps mate.

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