Players not knowing how to fly.

[Rudd]

But what is the definition of a good pilot? That he can do cool maneuvers, avoid trees and shoot people or the fact that he is actually transporting both people and supplies?

A good pilot does a risk assessment of the task being asked of him/her, and puts into action a plan that mitigates or avoids those risks.

E.g a squad wishes to be transported to XY, however an enemy APC report is not far from that location. The plot offers an LZ 300m further west where a friendly APC may also be able to secure that area.

achieving a 100% success rate in transporting/supplying/supporting your team is a very tall order.

Be forgiving of people who did not achieve perfection, but be firm with those who treat a public server like their personal training ground.

A good pilot doesn't need to be able to fly under bridges or do loops, he or she needs to know their own capabilities and only complete the tasks they are able to. If a pilot's best effort is to fly in a straight line, land and return...that's fine, as long as they choose a straight line that avoids enemy contact.

[npsxbox]

I fly, sometimes. There are two big issues.

1 - It's true. Even if you land carefully and all that jazz, if the chopper has a slight angle on it it will fly off to the side and flip over sooooo easily. This has been a problem from the beginning and I still haven't seen it fixed. Choppers need more mass! It takes a long time to get moving, and a long time to stop. They accelerate so fast, that if the angle is slightly off to the side, it goes like a rocket right or left. Get this right, and most crashes will stop.

2 - a lot of times its lag, guys. Cut the pilots some slack.

[rPoXoTauJIo]

I have a feeling that flying Trans in PR1.0 might even be more boring than it is now, if the rally system changes remain untouched. In that case, squads will mostly rely on rally points instead of FOBs or Trans.

The problem will be if all rallys, fob's, jeeps\trucks down. Transport will be overloaded by requests and sooner or later it will get shot down->blame noob pilots/drivers.

[saXoni]

It's true. Even if you land carefully and all that jazz, if the chopper has a slight angle on it it will fly off to the side and flip over sooooo easily.

Tap 'S' to make sure your chopper sticks to the ground, or you could get yourself a joystick to make sure you will never ever encounter that issue ever again.

[Rhino]

Tap 'S' to make sure your chopper sticks to the ground, or you could get yourself a joystick to make sure you will never ever encounter that issue ever again.

indeed, that's a joystick with a decent throttle thou.

[Sgt.BountyOrig]

How have we managed to get this far without:

[saXoni]

indeed, that's a joystick with a decent throttle thou.

Surely getting a throttle-wheel with your joystick is standard these days? This one works perfectly fine, and it's under $30.

[Rhino]

Surely getting a throttle-wheel with your joystick is standard these days? This one works perfectly fine, and it's under $30.

I personally wouldn't call that throttle very good for flying choppers or other vertical take-off/landing aircraft since you can't really tell very easily what % your throttle is at, which with BF2 with 50% being 0% and 0% being -100% that isn't too good, especially for the Harrier when you need to taxi round the deck of a carrier since you want your throttle to be at 0% or just above (although if its just above then the HUD tells you) so you don't start flying forwards or with your hover engine engaged at all making it harder to taxi.

But ye I would say the minimum decent throttle is the CYBORG F.L.Y 5 which is around ?40, but again, can't really tell where your throttle is but better positioning of the throttle IMO than right in front of the stick.


But ye, I would advise anyone who has the spare change to afford it and flies a lot to get something like a x52 with a proper throttle


The real one has the throttle % marked on the throttle base like the x52pro, just without the lights:

[saXoni]

-snip-

Personally I haven't had any issues about not knowing what percent my throttle is at. After 10 minutes of flying with the joystick for the first time you'll get the feeling of how it is.

I do however agree with you, there is definitely an advantage about actually knowing where your throttle's at, as it would give you a lot more control in general. It all comes down to how much money you're willing to spend I guess.

[Rhino]

Indeed, but investing with any joystick is worth it, just make sure it at least has some kind of throttle with it

[notmyingamename]

i do some computer work for a couple clients that are way past the sane level of flight sims. some of these guys have cockpit closets with everything you could want, including the cupholder for that black coffee on the 3am out of LA. most are retired pilots for larger airlines and prior military, but i can't wait to see what else we'll have available in 10 years time.

[matty1053]

Uh... No?

Just wait till more maps w/ the osprey come out.

[CR8Z]

I have been using this same joystick since before 2000, and it still works great! It squeaks a little, but gets the job done. I've considered upgrading, but I haven't found the need. I figured if I started playing DCS or something like that, perhaps, but for PR, I can rock n' roll all round long without incident. (Knocks on wood...)

[Gracler]

I have been using this same joystick since before 2000, and it still works great! It squeaks a little, but gets the job done. I've considered upgrading, but I haven't found the need. I figured if I started playing DCS or something like that, perhaps, but for PR, I can rock n' roll all round long without incident. (Knocks on wood...)

Ms sidewinder precision right?

Looks almost the same as my old Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback pro (longest title in the world i bet ) Which I still use today.

Personally I haven't had any issues about not knowing what percent my throttle is at. After 10 minutes of flying with the joystick for the first time you'll get the feeling of how it is.

I do however agree with you, there is definitely an advantage about actually knowing where your throttle's at, as it would give you a lot more control in general. It all comes down to how much money you're willing to spend I guess.

In the beginning I had issues not knowing when I was at 50% throttle but I just made a mark with a pen on the throttle when it was at exactly 50%. It works well.

Furthermore I got a script program that works with my keyboard display so that it shows the real-time throttle on the LCD.


Unfortunately I got problems getting it to work on win vista/7 but it worked well on win XP.
The simple pen line indication is much more simple and easier to use though so as long as 50% is the only thing you need to be aware of it works great.

[Rudd]

I have been using this same joystick since before 2000, and it still works great! It squeaks a little, but gets the job done. I've considered upgrading, but I haven't found the need. I figured if I started playing DCS or something like that, perhaps, but for PR, I can rock n' roll all round long without incident. (Knocks on wood...)

I use the same no bells or whistles but it's a very reliable piece of kit. I just wish the throttle was a bit stickier these days, a bit twitchy.

[Insanitypays]

I like flying transport-and I'm good at it. Fact is, everyone crashes, it's normal, and some of the real world's best pilots throughout history have crashed their aircraft- and they didn't even have to deal with latency! When it happens, don't always assume that it's because the pilot is inexperienced or new to the game- it just happens- getting mad at them won't make their flying any better, although constructive criticism is often appreciated

One of the big reasons I don't fly too often is because players rarely use the choppers while we're readily available. People would rather spawn at a fob and die over and over again, even though my cow could pop them behind the enemy and turn them into a badass flanking ninja rambo squad.

Someone could hop on a turret and ask to search out enemy fobs or caches- commander could request my copilot and I to do flyovers for the same reason

Choppers can drop a nearly unlimited number of crates- often in less than 2 minutes- so maybe you see a tank in the distance, I can drop a crate somewhere behind where he won't see me and you could grab an AT.

All this is possible- these are missions I've flown successfully in the past on multiple occasions- sometimes on my own initiative. All of them have had good results (once my copilot and I took out 2 enemy fobs and quite a few infantry using just crates and our handy dandy cow)

Problem is that people think it would be a waste of an asset to assign a risky mission. Well guess what buddy, it's a waste of an asset leaving it at main for 2 hours while you all whine about losing.

-I'm not advising people to be asset wasting daredevils- I'm just saying you can accomplish any mission if you approach it in the right way- there are safer ways to take control of dangerous situations.

[Rhino]

I have been using this same joystick since before 2000, and it still works great! It squeaks a little, but gets the job done. I've considered upgrading, but I haven't found the need. I figured if I started playing DCS or something like that, perhaps, but for PR, I can rock n' roll all round long without incident. (Knocks on wood...)

I use to have this one which is pretty similar, just a slightly cheaper model:


In fact I still have it in the attic as a backup but ye, haven't used it since I got my x52 many years ago, although recently replaced it with the x52pro after it broke (to anyone who is thinking of getting an x52/pro, personally I would recommend the normal x52 over the pro, the extra money I would say isn't worth what the pro gives and it has a few tiny little things I don't like such as tiny little bumps on the throttle at around 95% and 5% which is annoying for PR and some other games, and no rubber grips on the POV HAT switches which makes them harder to use).

Its a good little stick but the worst thing about it is no twist rudder, only two buttons on the top of the stick for the rudder which isn't so bad if you have rudder pedals, but chances are your not going to have any if you only have that stick
Also it dose lack quite a few buttons which you do need for everything from flares, open map, mumble chat keys, weapons etc.

[CR8Z]

I remember that model! I think my dad had that one. I've been playing flight Sims since the very first MS flight Sim game.

I do wish I had a stick that I could bind my comms to. My mumble buttons are on my mouse, which makes it problematic to use them while I'm flying as I have to reach across my body with my left hand while I fly with my right.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[DDS]

I had this original 3D Pro sidewinder model until. Took it apart a couple times to fix it. Finally gave up the ghost back in 2005 I think it was.



This one too



On topic. I encourage people who want to fly to practice, practice, practice in a local created server before you fly in a public server.

But again I will note that air assets are held to a much higher standard than armor crews or lemmings squads.

[Hulabi]

You're not supposed to hold down the S key all the way, you tap it repeatedly and lift the nose of the chopper up for a fast but steady landing, really don't see what's so hard about it?