Today I attempted to check the flight model in more extreme flight regimes.
Unfortunatly the first thing off was found a few seconds after take-off. The Flight path marker/ total velocity vector seems a little off. In this screenshot I am losing altitude (-408 Feet Per Minute). But the FPM/TVV is above the horizon. So that can’t be right.
Taken her up to altitude.
FL280
And I am diving. I reach a transonic speed in my dive. I’m not sure what I was expecting. The harrier was not designed to go past mach 1.0. Should the controls stiffen? Should we get some vibrations? I don’t know and as such I can’t offer a verdict. All I can do is report in that when above mach 1.0 it flies exactly the same as at subsonic speeds. When leveled out it quickly drops below mach 1.0, so that’s good.
For my next test I tried to put the nose 90 degrees up in the air. When I approach the speed many planes start to stall at and the control surfaces start to become ineffective ( between 100 and 150 knots) I try to kick the rudders hard to the right. I’m trying to induce a spin.
This turned out to not have the desired effects. I could not induce a spin. Instead I started to slide backwards back to the earth. I couldn’t regain much control over the harrier after this. I fell in the ocean facing backwards.
Nozzles are in 0 degrees. So positioned for forward thrust, in this image
At this point I figured much of the extreme flight model regimes are probably still work in progress. I decided to stop trying to test these things untill the developers had more time to work on things. Instead I decided to take-off one more time. Burn of some fuel and fire off my missiles at unsuspecting fishes in order to test what sets the Harrier apart from 99.5% of the other warplanes.
Before we go any further. I’d like to note that there are 3 difficulty levels for hovering. At the easy and medium difficulty levels the throttle becomes a request for vertical velocity. Allowing you to control the rate of climb or descent, or sustain a certain altitude. You can use the stick to control your movements in the remaining two axis. In the most difficult mode, the nozzles become just a vector of force. If you pitch 10 degrees forward while the nozzles are pointing straight down, compared to the harrier, then you will start inducing forward motion as well. You may also see an increased rate of descent as not all force is directed downwards too now. This is the most realistic mode, and the mode I’ve been flying in exclusively so far.
Like I said in my last report. I think working the nozzle angle is one of the best and most unique aspects of this sim right now. Let’s try to do a landing like this.
approaching the carrier group at a very low speed.
doing a slow pass over the deck. I decided to try to do a go around and land on the rear of the deck, so I could possibly do a bit of a roll out in case that would be necesary.
There appear to be no obstructions except 2 harriers on the rear deck.
I ended up a little low. It’s quite tricky! It reminds me a little of helicopters and the danger of VRS state. The Harrier won’t face VRS naturally. But losing vertical velocity (increasing rate of descent) is easy while trying to regain it is hard. The Harrier carries a tank of distilled water. Wich it can mix with the exhaust gasses where it will evaporate and increase the amount of mass ejected through the nozzles. However I am not sure if this system is automatic or manual. There is a button for it but it doesn’t seem to do anything just yet.
…End up dangerously close and low to the carrier again.
Luckily I manage to regain myself once more. I approach the rear of the deck (at and admitted poor angle) and manage to touch down at a rate of descent of about 200 feet per minute (1 meters per second)/ Unfortunatly the moment my gears touch the deck the game crashes. I still had a lot of fun doing this though!
Let’s try some combat.
My job is to defend the fleet.
Radar contact! I lock him up. Unfortunatly there aren’t any dynamics to the avionics in this case. There is little to none radar interaction. Targets pop up on the radar and you press T to cycle wich one you want to lock-on to.
There is no DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) or anything like that either. I tried to shoot from about 14 miles, rear aspect. The missile never seems to have connected.
I close in further to about 3 miles rear aspect.
Fox three!
I start scanning for more bandits… I find some… 125nm away. Luckily we’re in a head-on this time. Still takes time to close the distance in this subsonic fighter.
despite the graphics I still have a good sensation of flight in this game.
passing our fleet as I move to intercept the bandits.
Now that we’re in a headon. I try to shoot again at 15nm. This time the shot connects! I see the target tumbling in the distance. I hope we can get a DLZ. His wingman is still fine though!
Lag/pure pursuit to try to keep him in sight and try to end up behind him. I select an AIM-9.
I return to the fleet.
They’re shooting a lot of stuff. Even their CIWS, or so it appears. I don’t see any bandits or even missiles though. Maybe it’s scripted. Since no more bandits pop-up. I decide to call it a day.
hope you enjoyed reading it! I hope to dabble into the campaign tomorrow.
