Sense of speed..?
 

I was just wondering if the 'physics' of the game are portraying speed realistically?

I've been playing sim online and sometimes it looks like everyone's doing about 20 mph about 20 feet off the ground.

There's a few boffins on here :confused:, so I wondered if anyone could explain why this happens.. or is it just me.

There was a discussion about the scale of ground objects, so maybe that has something to do with it? I haven't noticed myself - feels pretty fast at tree top level in a spitfire...

I was thinking that myself, but we decided the scale of ground objects was smaller, so that would actually make you look faster (things go by quicker), just a bit higher maybe..
It might be the same effect of riding a bicycle at 30 km/h and driving a car at 30 km/h: doing the first you're like: omg, fast!, while during the second, you're: hit the gas already!

yes it does feel faster the lower you go
i just go full throttle tree top level and think about the hikers who walk what i fly in 20 secs in 1 day

Speed is quite realistic in this game I think. Playing in sim the other day online dogfight with SEE (evangeluse) I was paying around flying with WEP following roads and touching down with the undercaridge at 280mph feels crazy fast.

I've been spending more time in sim which means that I've been spending more time closer to the ground (sometimes I think I'm playing a Tank game!). And It does get a lot quicker, I'm thinking it's more to do with the scale of the ground objects than anything else.
Ta boffins!

:)

I've noticed this as well a bit but what is really wrong is the speed with which your plane plows into the ground after you bailed 30 seconds before. I have to assume any plane in this game would dropping nearly vertically, unmanned from 5000ft or so would be moving in the 500-600mph range by the time the hit the ground no? Maybe the issue is the gravity model in this case...

Not sure about this.. No idea what the terminal velocity is for one of those things, and if they get into a spin or similar it might decrease their speed. And even without a pilot a plane produces lift etc. In 1946 your plane could continue flying up, stall, down, up again due to speed if you bailed with full power still on.
And I'm guessing the gravity model won't be too off.. this would affect the flight models waay too much, and it seems quite easy to just get it right.

I haven't noticed problems with the gravity model myself. Just the other day I was messing about in a jet (trying to get a screen shot for that other thread) and I accidently clipped my belly on the ground trying to pull out of a dive. It was the most gentle of collisions but it made the camera move out with the "Crashed. X to continue text".

But the jet was just gliding along at an altitude of about 20m. I just had to sit and watch and wait for it to hit the ground. 35 seconds it lasted in that unmanned glide :)

I did something similar in a 262 I was flying at a pretty high speed don't remember how fast though, and got down really close to the water and set it down, my engines and wings went under water and then I pulled back up I did this several times without crashing. I did take screen shots but I deleted them to make space.