I must have a heavy hand

[Easy_Target]

I react too much and have a heck of a time lining up shots or trying maneuvers. It feels like if I move the stick more than a tiny bit, my Gustav just spins like crazy. Is there a way to adjust joystick sensitivity?

Edited August 31, 2014 by Easy_Target

[FlatSpinMan]

Sure is. Go to your Control settings, look for a little picture of some curves,then monkey about to your heart's content.

[AbortedMan]

Make sure your using trim to steady the aircraft for the attitude you're looking to achieve whether it be level flight, diving on a target, or landing. 

[VR-DriftaholiC]

Really should force yourself to learn without joystick curves. It makes it harder to pull more lead when the sensitivity is ramping up the more you pull on the stick.

[Finkeren]

You can of course fiddle around with sensitivity on your stick, but in the end, there is no way around simply getting better by practicing a lot. When Early Access was first launched, we had no guns to fire at anything and it was a mark of honor to just be able to take off and land without crashing, frying your engine or spin around like a top. We all had to climb that learning curve at some point.

 

There're two reasons why controls feel overly sensitive in BoS (as well as other sims):

 

The first have to do with the length of your joystick (feel free to make all the jokes you want) A normal gaming joystick is much shorter than the control collumn of an actual WW2 aircraft, yet BoS (and most other sims) model stick movement in degrees from center 1:1. Because of the shorter stick even a small movement of the stick results in a much larger movement of the control surfaces, than the same movement would've done in an actual WW2 aircraft. This problem can be helped somewhat by buying ridiculously expensive stick extentions that can be fitted to some flight sticks, all they do is simply making your stick longer (teehee) and thus improving control drastically. In the end though, there is no substitute for practice. You need to learn to relax the muscles in your hand to make it steady and move smoothly. 

 

The second reason has to do with the fact, that we don't experience the forces on the stick and don't have to put the amount of force into moving the stick that it actually took to maneuver a WW2 aircraft at high speeds, we simply don't have to pull 50 lbs to get out of that dive. People who own a good force feedback stick have a good deal of an advantage in this regard and have a much better feeling for how the aircraft is doing. Still, the forces involved in moving a FFB stick are many, many times smaller than real life. You have to learn to appreciate the fact, that you can throw the plane around with the slightest movement of your hand in ways that would've taken a lot of muscle to do in real life.

 

One technique, you can try practicing which really helps a lot (at least it helped me) is to try and learn to "ease" into maneuvers. That means not immediately yanking the stick to the position, you think you need, but instead gradually apply more force into a maneuver over a few fractions of a second, until you reach the desired control input. Doing this will make your responses slower at first until you learn to do it in a split second by heart, but it'll make your flying much more precise , you'll stall and spin a lot less, and you'll find that you keep your airspeed up way better.

 

This is hard to train in MP, where everyone else will just seem to react much faster than you. Instead set up some "target drones" in QMB. Pick a squad of big juicy HE 111 as targets and take away their ammo so they don't shoot back while you slowly move into position. Later move onto smaller targets and give them back their bullets. Then go up against AI fighters, and by then you'lll be fast enough on the controls to jump into MP.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Finkeren

[Dakpilot]

 

There're two reasons why controls feel overly sensitive in BoS (as well as other sims):

 

The first have to do with the length of your joystick (feel free to make all the jokes you want) A normal gaming joystick is much shorter than the control collumn of an actual WW2 aircraft, yet BoS (and most other sims) model stick movement in degrees from center 1:1. Because of the shorter stick even a small movement of the stick results in a much larger movement of the control surfaces, than the same movement would've done in an actual WW2 aircraft. This problem can be helped somewhat by buying ridiculously expensive stick extentions that can be fitted to some flight sticks, all they do is simply making your stick longer (teehee) and thus improving control drastically. In the end though, there is no substitute for practice. You need to learn to relax the muscles in your hand to make it steady and move smoothly. 

 

The second reason has to do with the fact, that we don't experience the forces on the stick and don't have to put the amount of force into moving the stick that it actually took to maneuver a WW2 aircraft at high speeds, we simply don't have to pull 50 lbs to get out of that dive. People who own a good force feedback stick have a good deal of an advantage in this regard and have a much better feeling for how the aircraft is doing. Still, the forces involved in moving a FFB stick are many, many times smaller than real life. You have to learn to appreciate the fact, that you can throw the plane around with the slightest movement of your hand in ways that would've taken a lot of muscle to do in real life.

 

One technique, you can try practicing which really helps a lot (at least it helped me) is to try and learn to "ease" into maneuvers. That means not immediately yanking the stick to the position, you think you need, but instead gradually apply more force into a maneuver over a few fractions of a second, until you reach the desired control input. Doing this will make your responses slower at first until you learn to do it in a split second by heart, but it'll make your flying much more precise , you'll stall and spin a lot less, and you'll find that you keep your airspeed up way better.

 

This is hard to train in MP, where everyone else will just seem to react much faster than you. Instead set up some "target drones" in QMB. Pick a squad of big juicy HE 111 as targets and take away their ammo so they don't shoot back while you slowly move into position. Later move onto smaller targets and give them back their bullets. Then go up against AI fighters, and by then you'lll be fast enough on the controls to jump into MP.

 

+10

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[SR-F_Winger]

if you have the possibility then mount the stick in the center between the legs and add a stickextension. Works exeptionally well if you have a warthog for example. Also what ALWAYS helps is more precise gear.

The gear i can recommend the most is:

 

Schreinerschmid KG 20 Stick

Hotas Warthog Throttle

MFG Crosswind rudderpedals with extensionplates

 

This setup is soooo awesome precise its unbelievable. Makes the aiming really far better.

 

Oh and another recommendation: Dont fly the Gustav. Its outperformed by the F4 at all heights up to 6km when using "Kampfleistung". Better visibility and maneuverability for the F4 added on top.

Edited August 31, 2014 by VSG1_Winger

[Dakpilot]

Nice setup Winger, but I really would hope it is VERY precise, at a cost of over $2000.00 (flight controls) I think that is rather out of the scope of most beginners in this game

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[1./ZG1_ElHadji]

Agree on the equipment. My flying improved a lot in all flight sims when I got my TM HOTAS. Also waiting for my MFG's...

[Leaf]

Fly the 109 like Hartmann did. Don't try to be a Marseille and go into into lufbery circles at stalling speed with landing flaps out. 

 

High-speed, sweeping attacks. Don't turn. The 109 can do it, but it's a matter of minimising risk. After your attack use the 109's best feature: rate of climb. Once high again, chandelle, rinse and repeat.

Edited August 31, 2014 by LeafyPredicament

[ShamrockOneFive]

Yep I found the controls very sensitive at first too but the interface for managing the sensitivity has improved to the point where I'm zeroing in on a very nice sweet spot for my X-52. I'd say spend some time fiddling with the controls flying solo until you find a nice spot for you. It takes a bit of trial and error but I'm sure you'll find something.

 

The strategies the other suggest should help too. Use the trim/elevator stab to help and then use smooth and precise inputs on your stick.

[Splat]

[...]

 

This is hard to train in MP, where everyone else will just seem to react much faster than you. Instead set up some "target drones" in QMB. Pick a squad of big juicy HE 111 as targets and take away their ammo so they don't shoot back while you slowly move into position. Later move onto smaller targets and give them back their bullets. Then go up against AI fighters, and by then you'lll be fast enough on the controls to jump into MP.

I can't believe I didn't think of this. Thanks for the tip!

[Finkeren]

I can't believe I didn't think of this. Thanks for the tip!

Just be aware of one thing: currently the AI is incomplete so bombers that don't carry bombs behave like fighters and try to outmaneuver you.

[Easy_Target]

Anyone who would like to buy me the $2,000 joystick and throttle combination recommended here, please let me know!!! 

Edited August 31, 2014 by Easy_Target

[II./JG53Lutzow_z06z33]

Anyone who would like to buy me the $2,000 joystick and throttle combination recommended here, please let me know!!! 

I fly the 109 exclusively so here is what I've learned.

Have the altitude advantage at all times, make smooth control movements don't jerk it kills your airspeed. Trim is your friend use it to pull tighter turns to get behind your enemy but don't let your speed bleed below 400km as your a sitting duck. A 109 can out run but not out turn a yak-1 or Lagg-3, but a la-5 will always catch you, but he can't climb with you and he's easy to out turn just an FYI best climb in the 109 G2 is 275km(From the 109 flight manual). Don't get dragged into low altitude turning fights, if the situation is looking bad firewall it and head for the dirt and fly low, low as in your looking up at the trees. Eailer today I had a Yak-1 chasing me I couldn't shake him, so I flew low, low enough to be looking up at the houses as I flew down the streets of Stalingrad and guess what I made it home. The most important skill a fighter pilot has is judgment if it looks like you've lost the advantage plain and simple run! Enemies who are chasing someone make for easy kills dive at them and hit them before they know what happens and again don't try to turn with them if you miss pull up and try again. One final thing don't fire till your close. Good luck.

Edited September 1, 2014 by OCTz06z33

[Mikey]

most precise stick for budget is t16.000m thrustmaster-$45 hall sensors i use one myself and very high precision, 

my old thrustmaster something was a $30 joystick it had huge input for small amount of movement was very difficult to aim let alone fly in a straight line. the t16000 brought my flying experience to a much higher level even though its not a high end stick