Perfesser

I've had this headset for a long time now. I originally bought it to mount my Freetrack LED's instead of a hat. I don't much like the clip style. The farther apart the lights are the more accurately they will be tracked(I see the phone camera picks up the IR LED's very well). The head cushion elastics went first. Packing foam and duct tape to the rescue for a quick fix while on level stab mid mission. The foam ear bits were always too thin for long sessions and became uncomfortable. With some foam pipe insulation and the handyman's secret weapon I extended the ear pads for a more comfortable fit(earpiece on the left) . This has worked great for quite a while but I've increasingly been suffering "wardrobe malfunctions" with them. Turns out you can buy new ear pads quite reasonably priced. Mine were under $20 from http://www.scansound.com . You Euro guys can search "headset cushions" for someone on that side of the pond. All you need is to measure the diameter(good instructions on the site) and the new ones slip right in. Much better than the old foam, these are actual leather(ette?). As a Dog I did look for sheepskin but the world hasn't caught up yet. They're still a bit thin but while youtubing the subject I found an elegant fix. Once the new pads are on you can tuck a piece of rope under the pads to extend them out. I used the rope in the foreground, it's 3/8" or almost 1cm and about the max that will fit without popping off the pads. I may yet press that duct tape into service. The pad on the right shows the finished product - looks better than new! If any of you have those floppy Dog ears you might just give that cheap fix a try.

To learn the hard lessons you're occasionally going to get beat up. If there's only 2 of you, go online, find a server and fly as a pair. Don't get sucked in to the low turning fights. Evaluate your performance - what you did right, what you did wrong.

You've quickly found out that this is the key to fighting as a unit. While it might seem like this is just lost opportunities for kills it's the difference between a quick fight where 2 of the enemy goes down and then one of you is damaged and a longer fight where ALL the bad guys are eventually eliminated. You spot a bad guy and turn in. The guy in the best position to shoot becomes the leader. Wing tries to stay with him in trail and glance around. Always try to be the highest pair of planes in the fight. Any enemy planes get above you, you're defensive, extend away and get sorted out. When your target dives away, let him go. You'll easily kill him when he's struggling back up for altitude later. If your target is dragging you down or another pair is climbing above you, break off and regain the energy advantage of altitude. If one does get a shot, don't stay with the bad guy. 4 enemy damaged, limping home and out of the fight is better than 2 kills. Take a shot, call "breaking up and left" then look for threats, check the tail of the shooter. Your wing takes a shot as he goes by and knows to break up and left to look for you. If he doesn't see you right away he calls "blind on you". You tell him where to look "I'm medium (distance) your high 9". My "whisper to wingman key" gets more use than the transmit key on TS. The only problem with co-ops is that the enemy is always together in one location. Online they come from any direction in ones and pairs, at any time during the fight. Even when fighting you're trying to spot others entering the battle. Coops would be better for training if the fighters came in with more flights of 2. Maybe a dogfight with triggers so they're more random. Or enemy on patrol routes that will engage if the fight wanders in to their view. And......sorry but you gotta shut them icons off. You will spend a lot of time finding each other (I'm due north at 5500 feet) but this is a lot of what it takes after you get separated by some random pilot showing up in the fight and stripping off your wingman. Here's a good video on formations - very much how we try to fly. We never get to fly as a 4 ship though. As pairs we take the 2 outside positions of the 4 ship formation, leaving the center as open space. Only the first bit applies at this point, maybe 2:30 to 7 min

I recall when I was looking for a gaming monitor looking for 2 ms response time http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402169,00.asp

I would be happy to get the stuff in the update posted 10 months ago. I see the Spit had a working rear view mirror.

I still get the theme music of the first C&C running through my head from time to time

After the first session you quickly learn that when fighting together there's no time to learn to fly together. All the formation flying that keeps you as a pair in combat must be automatic before any enemies get into the mix.

I will try to attend and assist. GK and I have been doing this for a while now. One of the hardest parts is simply station keeping and keeping eyes on your partner. Practice this exhaustively till it's second nature before you consider trying to fight as a pair. Basic formation flying will keep you in the right position to react to heading changes while keeping formation as a fighting pair. Once an engagement begins, wing will normally slide into trail formation with the leader for follow up shots. We don't usually fly as wing and leader. Our roles will change as the situation dictates. For instance if wing spots something of interest and the I can't spot it I'll announce "you have lead". His primary job is then to keep eyes on the target and move us into position while mine is to watch our surroundings. First tasks. Designate a leader for that flight. He will call the play and give power settings. Power must be conservative, it takes a lot of extra power to catch up if behind. Wing will fly at the leaders 4 or 8 but much farther apart than you're used to. At least 1km separation in the "looking for bad guys" phase. Wing must be in position such that leader can clearly see behind wings tail for a considerable distance. If you have poor vis to the rear the wing may need to be farther ahead or away to see properly. Assume wing will fly at the 4 o'clock position. Leader is scanning the sky from 11 to 5 oclock, looking past the wingman and clearing his 6. Wing is looking forward also but primarily past the leader from the 12 to 7 position. This lets both guys watch their position in formation as well as their sector. Do some basic turns. Tac turn - a hard 90 degree or more change in direction. Lead calls "tac turn left". Pilot on the outside of the turn goes first. As he crosses the tail of the other plane the second pilot also turns, maintaining separation. Hook turn - more leisurely turn. Lead calls "hook turn left 45 degrees" Usually less than 90 deg but can for more. Both gently turn same direction. Combat reverse. Usually done when a contact is spotted behind. " Reverse GO" Both planes turn toward each other , crossing over and coming out in the opposite direction. That should be enough to get you in the air and started. Just fly some basic navigation stuff with turns then go have some fun and the wing will just come in trail for attacks and STAY there. If you get separated FIX IT. 4fWe did this for about a year before it became easy...........

I saw $600 USD.

I would do some searching on building an antenna. I was looking at a TV antennas for $100 and the one I built for $10 is pretty much the same thing. It's not as pretty but up in the attic it is invisible and out of the weather. Might be as simple as stringing a few wires across the rafters.

Some of the older ones among us not used to the immersion of VR might be overwhelmed by the unusual sensations that a setup generates. These could include vertigo, nausea or... see below. You've been warned. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

While you're at the disk cleanup you might want to run checkdisk......

Any time I do this kind of thing I install Windows on a new hard drive. Keep the original HD as a slave and just change what drive it boots from. If anything goes wrong all your data is still untouched.

That comparison chart doesn't show much gain, Your OS probably is not going to like a new CPU either. Be prepared for a full install of Windows.

Hey Squawk, good to see you. We'll be on at 7-9pm your time all next week.

For the last few years I've had MG's only on the pinky trigger, MG and cannon on the trigger. It's useful to fire MG only to see if you've got the range, or to get a fleeing enemy to turn or go defensive. When I feel I can get solid hits, I fire everything.

Registered. A.P. - I hope to see you and the rest of the NA gang there.

Well now. GK and I fly all the time but in a different time zone. The way this is set up we could possibly make a significant contribution to the effort. We could defend or attack targets when nobody else is around. We're used to dead is dead and bring our planes home for the most part. Can we help?

I'm always looking for some human vs human action, so is Goth and I also know of about 6 more guys in the 352nd FG looking for some kind of action in NA time zone.

I spent some of my youth at the dragstrip. A top fuel dragster is not something that can be adequately described in words. The sounds and shock waves are physical forces that must be felt to be appreciated. Good times....

Had a quick look, they appear to be excellent info.

Actually when you're near stall speed you want to use rudder to pick up a low wing, not aileron. You're right on the edge of a stall when a wing drops, you don't want to disturb the airflow even more by flapping your ailerons about. I'm sure a bit of nose down trim will help your situation.

I've been playing with gun camera stuff. Here's my first upload - compilation of footage from last Sunday. Comments/suggestions welcome. Warning - combat footage, some language.

I would add to this. When you spawn in your elevator trim is neutral. There is a gauge on the lower left of dashboard. Trim nose down a few notches before you roll and it will keep the left wing from dropping when the plane tries to lift off prematurely. You will have to pull back on the stick when you reach flying speed to get airborne but you'll be more stable.

Too bad, this could really be handy for custom game boards or simpits but yeah, pricey. They're asking you to pay about 5x what it should retail for. Needs patch cords so you can mount individual modules remotely from each other.