Crosswinds and happiness

[Death1111]

Well I have to say that I am very impressed with the alpha edition of this new flight simulator. I had to spend the day tediously at work before I could go home to try it for the first time, hoping that the download that I had left running on my computer was successful.

 

I had been reading of various issues throughout the day on the forums regarding frame rates, throttle issues and crashes to desktop and I have to admit that I did not expect the almost perfect experience that was soon to come. Once I logged in I repressed my primitive impulses to immediately satisfy my desire to fly this new sim without setting anything up and instead went through the entire options menu setting graphics options all to max and setting up my controls (taking heed of forum advice in regards to setting the throttle correctly).

 

My goal was to imagine that I was a soviet pilot in training and that I was about to conduct my first solo flight in the Lagg and I was going to treat the experience just like the real thing. Rather than rush the experience and risk crashing several times I wanted to try and complete a successful taxi out, take off, circuit and landing for the first time, just like it was the real thing. In doing so, I do not think I have ever behaved more carefully and frigidly in playing a flight sim in my entire life. I managed to get the engine going and began (very slowly) taxiing out towards the runway and just as I thought I was getting the hang of it some bloody drunk driver (too much Russian Standard Vodka I would think) in a small car careened into my right wing tearing it off. The irony was that I had read of the same thing happening to someone else earlier during the day on the forums.

 

I had another go at taxiing out, this time anticipating for the car and going out in a wider arc towards the runway before coming to a rumbling halt at the start of it. I slowly increased the throttle and found that I could not stop the aircraft from veering right no matter how much left rudder I used and before long I was off the track. I did a u-turn, made my way back to the start of the runway determined to try again and complete my first circuit alive and in one piece. I adjusted the prop pitch after reading of similar issues in the forums and this time applied the power on very gradually and to my great relief found the aircraft to be following a straight (well straight enough) line down the runway and at 170km/h I rotated (well the Lagg rotated for me, seemed like it was trying to do it from 40km/h) and lifted into the sky.

 

Gear went up and first thing I became aware of was how superb the flight model really is. I mean it is on a whole new level to IL2 1946 and COD. I found I had to nurse the Lagg around the circuit and that I was not ready for any extreme manouveres as of yet. There is a strong tendancy for the nose to drop in a left bank and much coordination between stick and rudder is required. I found tighter turning difficult and much practice is definitely required. I did find looping relatively easy with correct rudder inputs and when entering the loop above 400km/h.  My preferred aircraft is the BF 109 (I simply love it) and I wonder how it is going to perform in this game (I cannot wait) because at the moment I cannot imagine how the Lagg is going to compete against the 109. The Lagg's climb rate seems rather inferior.

 

That being said, the Lagg has a certain charm to it, an almost bestial feeling and I enjoyed coasting her about. The sensation of real flight is superb, apart from ROF I have never felt such a close resemblance to real flight in any other flight simulator.

 

I managed to land the Lagg with no issues and even if I say so myself felt rather satisfied that I had done it first time round in one piece.

 

My main point to make in this post is that I am truly amazed, impressed and full of gratitude towards the developers for the way they have been able to create the crosswind effect in the sim. As a Cessna pilot in real life I know the feeling of a crosswind landing and I have to say that for the first time I felt that the crosswind landing in this sim was so authentic that I could truly use it for practice for real flight. It is a wonderful achievement and a very accrurate representation of the real thing. It is something I always longed for in the early IL2 games.

 

Overall as I first stated I am very impressed, I did not have any of the problems that some people encountered with frame rates, freezing or throttle issues. That being said in regards to performance my computer has very high specs.

 

One thing I did notice is that it seems much easier to blackout than it does in other ww2 flight sims. I found that over 400km/h I could not perform really anything near a tightish turn without blacking out. The question is whether this effect is too extreme and sensitive or actually more realistic.

 

Looking forward to trim being modelled and I simply CANNOT WAIT for the BF-109 to be available and for when the time comes that I can hunt Il2's and send them to their icy graves. I am sure the weapons and damage effects are going to be great.

 

Can't wait to meet you all in the skies for multiplayer, is there a contact email for the Developers so that I can send them a brief thankyou email for their hard work and achievement?

 

 

[SOLIDKREATE]

I just e-mailed Zak and told him to tell the team what superb SIM they have created. I said to him that I actually teared up when flying. The FM is just awesome1 I cant wait to see the finished product.

[Death1111]

What is an email for the developers? I cannot seem to find one on the site.