Bouncing needles

[mattag08]

Apologies if this was asked previously, but I did search through about 5 pages of search results and found nothing like this before.

I was curious about the bouncing needles that we've been seeing in all of the gameplay videos. I know that Oleg responded at one point and said the needles have inertia and so vibrations/maneuvering/etc would cause them to move, but it seems that the amount of movement is excessive.

I'm a flight instructor by trade and fly older aircraft with analog gauges (technology that has not particularly evolved over the last 70 years) and from personal experience I've never seen anything as dramatic as what's shown in the videos.

I will agree that the needs to bounce and move and especially the airspeed indicator will oscillate in turbulent/gusty conditions, but particularly the altimeter is not an instrument that moves a lot due to momentum. I believe the mechanics of it are such that it is much more resistant to movement than say the airspeed indicator.

What is the consensus about this now that there are people out there that are actually playing it? Is the needle movement still violent even in level flight as we saw in some of the videos?

[sod16]

Was it a 1939/40 model of a spit/ bf? Coz in IL-2 they bounce and the cockpit shudders like mad.

[major_setback]

No bouncing needles here.

I think maybe people are damaging their airframes/flaps/control surfaces etc. and that is causing buffetting of the plane, and hence needle vibration.

Or maybe it's turbulence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnADD...layer_embedded

Not my own video.

[Dash 8]

I have just over 10,000 hours IRL flying and I too have never seen gauges jump around like they do in the videos. Airspeed, yes, it does move around alot when flying in turbulence, but everything else is pretty still. Maybe some small fluctuations in RPM, but that is about it.

[svanen]

This happens when your engine starts running rough, it is very nice feature. The needle does not bounce when engine running smooth in a stable flight.

[mattag08]

Originally Posted by sod16

Was it a 1939/40 model of a spit/ bf? Coz in IL-2 they bounce and the cockpit shudders like mad.

Every piston aircraft shudders and shakes at certain combinations of engine RPM and airspeed. I've also endured some extremely heavy turbulence when flying through cold fronts and had my altitude change as much as 30-50ft in a single gust, but I've never seen the altimeter constantly oscillate like I see in the videos.

[mattag08]

Originally Posted by svanen

This happens when your engine starts running rough, it is very nice feature. The needle does not bounce when engine running smooth in a stable flight.

Good to hear, I'm glad they've refined it.

[White Owl]

Granted I've never been in the cockpit of a Hurricane, Bf-109, or Spitfire...

I used to fix airplanes for a living. Some of them were old airplanes. Many many times, I have been in the cockpit of a plane with an engine "running rough" because I was figuring out what was wrong with it. I have never seen a tachometer needle spaz out, twitch and shake like I'm seeing in some of these videos. It doesn't happen like that.

[bongodriver]

My first post......I am also a professional pilot and flight instructor, I fly a Learjet 45 for my day job but I have about 270 hours in Tiger Moths and another 200 in The Stearman, and I have never seen the needles bounce quite this much on those aircraft.

[SAFMoby]

ATPL holder here on airbus types.

The airspeed can jiggle a bit but the altimeter and vert speed should not.

the alt and v/s are measured by static pressure so less susceptible to gusts whereas speed measured by combo of static and pitot pressure.

RPM obviously the prop is a big flywheel so should not be big fluctuations and the connection from prop to gauge is mechanical

But i never flew spits........sigh