I’m up for another session soon. It is certainly enlightening. I’m enjoying the switches between aircraft as well. The changes you made tonight were definitely for the better.
I had such a good time. Thanks for putting this together @schurem
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I did an absolutely Fricking beautiful cobra earlier that nobody saw in the flanker.
Irrelevant but I’m taking that as a serious win. It was gorgeous lol
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The tacview file I am sad to report, is only 1kb. I don’t know what’s wrong, but they’re all that way since 20-04-2020 
Sorry.
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Might be due for an update!
I think there is something you have to do as well to have tacview record if you are both session host and flying.
Firstly, I’d like to dispel the notion that I’m some kind of master at this stuff; I draw on experience gained through old IL2 back in the '00s, which is a very different environment, though a lot of the principles are similar. Wes and I were discussing this, as essentially a 1 vs 1 environment is a very different realm compared to other forms of combat, and certain aircraft advantages enjoyed in many vs many don’t convey much of an advantage in an equal 1 vs 1 battle. In particular, aircraft with high acceleration and alpha potential have a huge advantage over aircraft that might be rate fighters with high speed but low alpha. I’ll add that Ivan Kozhedub had famously said, “No matter how good the violin may be, much depends on the violinist.”
One thing I’ve noticed is that smooth inputs seem to be difficult for a few of you, which makes it very difficult to squeeze out the right performance. Yes, we have G limiters and SAS, but those don’t convey much of an advantage if you’re aiming for your ideal corner speed and your stick is either too much or too little to maintain the speed. It’s also crucial for aircraft like the MiG-15 and F-86 which are very, very, very picky about stick forces, especially at high alphas. I also see a lot of abuse of Gs and alpha without understanding what it does to energy state (though some of you are getting better at this). As I was noting to @Victork2, aircraft like the F-14 with their G limits at 6.5-7.5 means that if you keep pulls around that limit, you’ll do much better in your energy management, and crossing over or under those limits will do bad things to you – both energy and aircraft. The MiG-29, Su-27, F-15, F/A-18, F-16, etc. won’t break the airframe like the F-14, but they as well have the same performance limitations, and overriding them has to be done carefully with attention to the situation at hand – especially when it comes to energy potential.
I think a lot of you are getting better at situation awareness and energy management, but where your work needs to focus on is smoothness of motion and execution as well as anticipation. If you’ve got them, I would highly recommend some time in helicopters practicing general flight, as they can greatly enhance your ability to feel the aircraft and smoothly move the controls in such a way to go where you anticipate it to go. We don’t have the seat of the pants feeling that real pilots have, so helicopters can help you get the visual indicators you need for that sort of flying. Plus, helicopters (especially the ones we have) are very punishing of strong snap motions, which will help keep your instincts of throwing the stick around in check. Finally, helicopters demand good yaw control, which can make or break a gunzo fight quickly – more often than not, I’m using the rudder to get where I need to go, not the stick, which is incredibly important with these high alpha fights.
The other part is formation flying and tanking, as both of these require lots of coordination and smooth motions, since sudden and abrupt control forces can easily induce PIO.
If the demand is there, I can make some general graphics to convey the various approaches I might have to the merge of a gunzo fight, though it naturally isn’t an end-all, be-all guide to how it works. These fights are very fluid and dynamic, so it’s hard to say “if X does Y, then do Z” as there isn’t just a set series of moves.
And the final thing: trigger discipline. I have problems with this as well, but a lot of you were taking shots that shouldn’t have been taken. I cannot stress how important it is to get as close as possible to the target: for a lot of the US fighters, the 20mm’s potential at distance and speed is terrible. The high rate of fire means you empty that magazine very quickly, so you really want to take the shots that will both connect and maximize your damage. The M61 in particular has a huge advantage in deflection shooting and this conversely is also when you’ll do the most damage, so your best bet is to get a shot opportunity set up that allows a burst of rounds to walk through a target. In the F-14, I put the pipper on the nose of an aircraft and walk it down, which almost always does heavy damage at a minimum. The Bug and Viper can aim center of mass and hit all over, which means they’re that much more likely to score a critical hit.
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I am re-watching the MiG Alley episode of Dogfights which had a useful insight, that the Sabre was deployed in Finger-Four formations with the the intention of the flight staying as a group when engaging MiG’s. Should the flight need to break, then it’s down to two elements. So in this case, a one versus one fight would be inadvisable I would presume.
For the F-86s vs MiG-15s, I noticed that so as long as the F-86s could keep their speed up, the MiG-15s had a difficult time; in order to even get close, I had to push to the limits, almost ended up in mach tuck a couple times, and had no perceptible roll rate without rudder use. The problem then becomes that once it splits up, the MiG-15s hold most of the cards and unless the F-86s closely coordinate and work together, the MiG-15s can dictate the fight due to better energy potential, turn rate, and slow speed performance.
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On a separate note, some of what messed with my gunnery at least in the Hornet was I failed to remember to adjust the HUD brightness appropriately.
While the HUD symbology is crucial for your aim, it will also obscure the target at high brightness and I typically prefer it to be translucent such that you can see the target through it better. With the amount of symbology the Hornet has for the gun - I think this can make a difference in some cases.
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As well on a third note - this flying experience in the last two days has made the upgrade I did to the TPRs well worth the investment over my aging but functional Saitek ProFlights.
Sorry I missed last night. I am suffering from allergies and I was pretty miserable. I’ll live, but I was no top gun last night. @Wes is got a very good point. Keeping the HUD brightness down help a lot. I often lose my tgt in the clutter. @Franze, you have some very good advice as well. Here is something I heard recently. Problems should be solved w analytical thinking. Emotions have no place in this and tend to complicate situations. Now, if I can stop pulling the wings off and searing the AB I’ll be ok.
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I disagree. Aggression, a drive to get the kill is very much an emotion, and will, if properly regulated and used make for a better result. “Only the spirit of attack, born in a brave heart will bring victory”
Running the other guy out of fuel is not winning.
Another very important emotional aspect is to feel empathy, comradery and shared joy in the game.
It is not healthy to deny emotion like some sort of wannabe vulcan. That only leads to smug pwning of n00bs. And you know how little fun that is.
I mean, I got pwned time and again both nights, but nobody was smug about it. There was gentle teaching and merriment.
About pulling wings off… that happens a lot if you have a short stick with a stiff spring, say a warthog. Some machines like a tomcat, sabre or spitfire literally take Fingerspitzengefuhl (feeling of the tips of the fingers). A long, lightly sprung stick helps a lot with those.
@Franze uses a CH products fighterstick. That is very lightly sprung and has a long throw, thereby allowing very fine control around the center.
Myself, I use a floor mounted virpil CM2 with a life sized stick (almost 50cm in total) on it. Even with the heaviest springs it it feels light. And I still manage to spin out the spit time and again 
if you also run yourself out of fuel in the process.
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I think there is a miscommunication here. What a meant was Anger will not help. Panic will not help. Of course you must stay agressive or die. Even in defense you mhst be agressive.
My stick is a WT with a 3 to 4 inch extension and a harder spring. I consider it perfect for my use. The harder spring was installed as it was flopping around w the stock.
Oh I fully agree on anger and panic. In that sense we must indeed strive to fight dispassionately. Fear is the mind killer
Reading these reports really makes me want to get in on the action. I’m currently running the Mudspike Rally and my rig is set up for driving, not flying, but if you guys are still running this in a few months I’d love to join in.
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You really should bud, no pressure, no problem if you fail as long as you are willing and a good sport. You will learn lots and have a great time doing it. It really is a good time had by all.
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@Roo, Get in the rink. It’s not like flying w strangers. This is so much better. I cant wait to fly w the guys again, and I was way down the pecking order. It’s just fun.
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Thanks guys, definitely on my to-do list once I reconfigure my pit for flying agian.
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You are welcome to jump in, the water is warm. Most likely we’ll fire it up again over the weekend.
That is entirely in your mind mate, we’re all equal in fight club. Skill is not ranked, at least not until we run a formal tournament.
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Oh no! The Peking order is real. The whole thing is visible. I can see who I’m on par with and who is way better. But it’s how you play the game that matters. By pecking order I mean skill level.
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