What next after my F18 - Piston aircraft or helicopter?

Flight Sims
41

HAVOC!!!

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42

Twist stick is fine for DCS. You can check the “rudder trimmer” box on the special options for the Huey and Ka50 if you get tired of holding it. Been rocking a twister since 2003 with no issue.

Once you get sufficient forward motion most times you don’t even need it. I’m old school though. Been simming on a budget for 25+ years.

5 Likes
43

I am going to sound a slight differing opinion - I did fly the Ka-50 a bit with the X-55 (didn’t realise to change those special settings though), which was okay as the AP modes mostly dampen yaw
but trying to fly the other helos just wasn’t terribly fun because you spend a lot of time with the (in-game) pedals not centered.

Sure, doesn’t matter once you’re at cruise speeds but all the dynamic transition / slow speed stuff is a lot more pleasant with pedals.

So my experience is that helos and, to a lesser extent, the prop planes are more fun once you get a pair of pedals - doesn’t matter with jets , but with helos, the pedals really made the difference between it being kind of meh to being amazing.

That’s just me, though - if you get by with the twisty then that’s all the better :blush:

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44

Quality of the pedals matters too here. With my old saiteks fine control was out of the question. I think a good twisty stick might be slightly superior for that.

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45

My thrustmaster tflights aren’t brilliant either to be honest. I’m looking to update again


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46

Not trying to sell stuff (or getting that new badge) but the MFG Crosswind rudder pedals are an absolute marvel. Precise, sturdy and look amazing. I got mine and I couldn’t be happier.

https://mfg-sim.com/en/rudders/1-mfg-crosswind-v2-graphite.html

Although it turns out I was crap with the Huey, and it wasn’t a rudder issue! :stuck_out_tongue:

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47

Undoubtedly true, I did not think about that. I was fortunate in that I was able to go from X-55 straight to MFG Crosswinds, which was a massive jump in precision.

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48

@Victork2 is a star.

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49

Nice of you to say
but we are all in this hobby together :wink:

Share your progress with us :helicopter:

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50

I’m with Gunny. I do most of my flying these days on my laptop with a twist grip. To be completely honest, I actually prefer it over rudder pedals for most things. Coordinated turns in an AC for example feel much more natural to me with a twist grip rather than pedals. YMMV however.

I feel pretty solid flying most anything in DCS with a twist grip. If the “simulation” aspect is more important however I do get wanting to fly with pedals.

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51

I found myself a bit overwhelmed with the twist axis. Once I moved to pedals the whole act of flying felt a lot more natural to me

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52

I think it boils down to muscle memory.
Once you get used to something, it works for you and it’s cool. :smiley:

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