A Sort-Of-Newbie Check Flight of the Nieuport 28

[TheSaxman]

Bit of background, I'm not exactly a Newbie to flight sims. I've been playing them for a LOOOONG time. Way back to the original Red Baron, Aces of the Pacific, and even the early editions of Microsoft Flight Simulator (back when it still had the "combat" mode for the Sopwith Camel). I generally prefer WWII sims, especially the PTO (Corsair pilot. Chicks. Dig. Gull wings) and ran a squadron for a while on Aces High. I did develop a minor interest in Rise of Flight, but didn't play it much (microtransactions...microtransactions everywhere). Now, with VR, I decided to give Flying Circus a try. I've actually had it for a while, but seldom have had time to fly, though I was immediately struck by the fact this may be THE most immersive VR experience I've had thus far. Recently I added on Volume 2 because maybe I may actually try playing career mode. And here is where I'm a bit more of a neophyte. I've not tried online play yet, and have been spending most of my time flying quick missions to get a feel for the aircraft and physics.

 

Knowing the...controversy over the Nieuport 28 flight model, I wanted to give my thoughts after a brief check ride and a few skirmishes, and I'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on my conclusions, and whether you agree with my impression.

 

The Cockpit

 

The default head position is VERY far aft. In fact, TOO far. This is especially noticeable in VR, where you're practically positioned behind the rear cockpit bulkhead. This makes using the Aldis sight troublesome since the outer ring is lost in the tube. Maybe it's a relic of the original model for RoF. Maybe the view was set there because of the limited FOV when playing on a monitor dictated it. But I'm playing with the big boy (PIMAX 8KX) with a big FOV, so that had to change to approximately where the head should actually be. Ultimately, I had to move forward until the windscreen practically filled my monitor (32" 3840x2160, for reference) and raised the head slightly, until at default position the ring of the Aldis sight was about centered in the sight tube. Once this was set I reentered VR mode, and the view is MUCH better. Especially with that 200 degrees horizontal with the PIMAX (I can't WAIT for the 12K Reality to be available...)

 

Visibility from the cockpit, after the adjusted head position, is fantastic. There's very little obstruction, especially with the ability to lean around. The sight angles to the rear are clear, and because of the narrow aft fuselage you also have a pretty decent sightline to your low 5 and 7 o'clock, and partially to your low 6. The weakest view is actually straight ahead, though I feel this improves after adjusting the head position forward. This is mainly because of the large cowling, windscreen, and the top wing all cluttering it up. So being able to predict an enemy's flight path as he transitions from the forward-up view to the gunsight would be a big help. Though it's not nearly as bad as the view in the SPAD. In VR I needed to shift my head slightly to the right to bring the Aldis into focus, but it's not a big move, and otherwise not distracting or even tiring to hold that position. Despite the size of the front end you've actually got a pretty good deflection shot over the nose.

 

The gauges, assuming you take them, are rather poorly placed, though the revometer and airspeed indicator are more or less legible. The altimeter especially is tiny and hard to read, even with the view adjusted forward. I think this is as much due to the limitations of the display technology (once again, I can't wait for the 12K Reality). Really, you just have to pick up the red numbers and estimate from there, or at least have zoom mapped to your controls.

 

Armament and Gunnery

 

The N.28 carries the same Vickers .303s in its default load as most of the other Entente scouts. So nothing really to say about that. However, one of the biggest weaknesses is the light ammunition load, carrying only half the ammunition of the Camel, and just over half that of the SPAD XIII. The offset guns take some getting used to when shooting, but honestly I felt it was a quick adjustment and didn't disrupt my windage too badly.

 

While I've thus far not cared much for the Balloon Guns in the SPAD, I've actually found I prefer them on the Nieuport under the current damage model. Although you're losing 100 rounds per gun, that's actually better than the SPAD, where you give up half your ammunition load (mathematically, the N.28's ammunition load is reduced by roughly a 1/3 by comparison) and is nearly equal to the Nieuport. This added weight of fire makes MUCH more of a difference since the Nieuport already has to be conservative when you pull the trigger, so you may as well take the higher lethality to make the most of it.

 

Aside from accommodating the offset mounting on the second gun, gunnery in the N.28 is quite nice. The sight picture is excellent, so deflection shooting isn't too much of a chore, and the machine is a very stable gunnery platform, especially compared to the much bouncier Camel. This is important because of the light clip, so you have to make each trigger pull count and can't spare the ammunition to "walk" your shots in.

 

Fuel/Engine Management

 

After taking the N.28 up to around 10,000 feet, I'm honestly finding very little need for adjusting mixture in-flight. RPMs are stable in a fairly broad band in the middle of the axis. I have not tried above 10,000, but this holds true all the way down to the deck, so the Nieuport should not require considerable management of the mixture in combat. I honestly wasn't able to over-rev the engine in a steep, power-on dive, either.

 

Handling

 

And now we get to everyone's favorite part of the Nieuport...

 

The N.28 is not a bad plane to fly under the current model in of itself. Although she uses a rotary engine, she's much less of a handful than the Camel and fairly easy to keep level. Rudder authority is quite strong both to the left and the right. Rate of roll is good in both directions as well, though it feels like the Nieuport rolls slightly better going to the left. This is significantly improved with inside rudder. In fact she'll practically snap right over if you roll left with full inside rudder. However the Nieuport will lose altitude quickly once she's on her back, so beware of aileron rolls at low altitude. This, again, is where liberal use of inside rudder when rolling is of benefit. Barrel rolls suffer because of the machine's complete lack of elevator authority, though she's capable of a pretty quick hammerhead at the top of a vertical extension (having primarily flown Corsairs with that big barn door on the tail swinging the nose around, I've really come to love a machine with excellent rudder authority).

 

As others have noted, the Nieuport loses speed quickly when elevator is applied. Especially when pulling up. At speeds of less than about 180 on the dial (I honestly don't know if the airspeed indicator is in km/h, mph, or kts) you're not going to get to the top of a loop before stalling out. Sustained nose-high turns are right out unless you're very gentle applying back stick and keep a close eye on your airspeed. This means any opponent can escape with a simple climbing turn. Nose-down seems to be another matter. Using a Low Yo-Yo can help cut corners on an opponent, but you HAVE to make it count before the nose comes back up too far, or they're just going to climb or turn away from you. This also creates the very real danger of shedding too much altitude, which leaves you low and out of options. Lag turns seem to help somewhat by keeping your airspeed up, but any sort of sustained turning contest is going to put the Nieuport in trouble without help.

 

The tendency is for the N.28 to depart towards the left wing, but this is a rather gentle slump rather than a sudden dip, and she accelerates well enough in the dive that recovery is pretty much a matter of just letting the plane pick up speed. She'll maintain a nose-up attitude with little need for correction down to around 110, and begins to lose control authority around 100 on the dial. At that point she'll start trying to roll over unless you correct with opposite (usually right) rudder. Full stall sets in around 80, but she'll usually recover quickly once the nose is down. Despite her poor elevator authority, I've found the Nieuport is actually pretty tolerant of rough handling on the stick, so there's very little possibility an accelerated stall. I've only managed to spin her once — I had to make a conscious effort to do so, in fact — and the recovery is quick and prompt with full forward elevator, neutral aileron, and opposite rudder.

 

Handling in the Nieuport appears to improve with speed. In fact that seems to be the one time she does have good elevator authority. Roll and yaw response is also solid even after diving past 220. It's just unfortunate that the Nieuport currently lacks any sort of energy retention whatsoever; once the nose hits the horizon again she bleeds E like a stuck pig when the elevator is deflected. She'll creak a bit at high speeds, but thus far I've not shed a wing when pulling out even well after the needle stopped. Dive acceleration is excellent, and she can very quickly max out the air speed indicator once the nose is pointed down.

 

This lack of elevator authority is what really lets the Nieuport down. There's been plenty of times against the AI if I could JUST pull a few more degrees of lead I could get guns on target, but the N.28 just doesn't have any more to give even as a last-ditch desperation pull on the stick. As a result, I've often been falling just short and nipping a LOT of tail feathers rather than landing shots into the cockpit or engine.

 

Given the other virtues I've found during my check rides, (though the dive performance is questionable. Then again, some of the USAS squadrons reported they never experienced wing failures during dives at all) this is really a shame. The N.28 could be absolutely be a fantastic machine if the flight model were corrected.

[Guest deleted@83466]

That’s a long read.  Given the thoroughness of the review, I’m surprised you only appear to own one module, FC2.

[TheSaxman]

5 hours ago, SeaSerpent said:

That’s a long read.  Given the thoroughness of the review, I’m surprised you only appear to own one module, FC2.

I own BoS and Volume 1, as well, but that's through Steam, so doesn't show up on my profile. I only bought V2 direct because it's not available in the Steam store yet.

Edited October 22, 2022 by TheSaxman

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

On 10/22/2022 at 1:45 AM, TheSaxman said:

 

 

The N.28 could be absolutely be a fantastic machine if the flight model were corrected.

 

Put in your pre-order for the upcoming IL2 book (with no pages)

 

   Flying Circus DM and FM Fixes.

[=IRFC=kotori87]

Don't forget the engine noise. Leaving aside its terrifying lawnmower sound, the sound does NOT change with engine RPM. it only changes with your throttle setting. So you could reduce mixture until you're under 600RPM but the engine will sound the same as your takeoff roll. There's also no audible indication you can use to judge if you're over-revving the engine and about to blow it in a dive.

[TheSaxman]

10 hours ago, kotori87 said:

Don't forget the engine noise. Leaving aside its terrifying lawnmower sound, the sound does NOT change with engine RPM. it only changes with your throttle setting. So you could reduce mixture until you're under 600RPM but the engine will sound the same as your takeoff roll. There's also no audible indication you can use to judge if you're over-revving the engine and about to blow it in a dive.

As far as the fuel mixture setting, I wasn't relying on engine sound. I did this test while doing a solo flight with no combat, and was able to watch the gauges. I noted no changes to the RPM across a very wide band as I adjusted the mixture. The needle only started to wobble when the engine was running very lean or very rich. This contrasts with the SPAD where you very much need to set your mixture setting properly for your altitude or else you start to lose RPMs and power.

 

I don't know if this is just because engine management in the Nieuport is poorly implemented, or if that engine just isn't picky about the mixture.

 

As far as dive speed, you're right, that's a bit harder to detect. But I did several high-speed, power-on dives at full throttle, and noted no loss of RPMs upon recovering to level flight to indicate engine damage. Nor any other visual indicators (smoke, etc.) for that matter.