The P-51 Mustang Purist Club / Simulator / PS3

[MACADEMIC]

About the grading of Club games:

Since a major challenge of flying under Club Rules is to keep control of the aircraft and not crash, it makes sense not to rely on the (in my opinion already flawed) counting system the game provides. As a general rule: who dies less, wins. equal number of deaths results in a draw. This rule applies to all Club games in the nature of aerial battles, be it 1 vs 1 games or team battles, in whatever mode they are played. Excepted are true Capture Airfield and Strike Missions, where the party with the higher amount of remaining tickets wins. In these cases deaths are accounted for by a reduction of tickets, therefore stay true to the guiding principle of Club Rules.

Happy Flying!

MACADEMIC

[MACADEMIC]

Dear Friends,

A few days ago, I posted a discovery regarding an incorrect calibration of the PS3 controller leading to the highly unstable handling of our beloved Mustangs at high angles of attack. To summarize, I found that the flightstick (in the cockpit) was 'jumping' right into the stall when the stick on the pad reached a certain point. This behaviour was confirmed on both the aviator and standard pad layouts.

Thanks to a reply by JOED70, who told me that nonlinear calibration might have something to do with this, I started to investigate how this problem might be countered.

I remembered that with the BOP patch for PS3 the option of customising the pad was introduced. I had played with that earlier on but had given up on it since it seemed not possible to achieve the same easy free-view from the cockpit as provided by the standard or aviator layouts.

The good news is that, after renewed playing around with it now, I found a setting that nearly copies all of the functionality of the aviator layout including free view, but with the BIG advantage that all of a sudden it is possible to have full control over the elevator, right up to the stall. No more 'jumping' into the stall, but fine indications of an onset of stall which can be handled much better! For those of you prefering to fly with the standard layout, this should also be possible to configure with the exceptions stated below.*

There are a few drawbacks, due it seems to some bugs in the software. If anyone can come up with solutions for these, please let us know. I'm listing them here:

- throttle control: while in aviatior the throttle automatically snaps back to a comfortable 55% when it is neither advanced nor reduced, in custom layout the throttle just is where you put it. It's not too hard to get used to this I think.

- brakes: while in aviator the brakes are activated by closing the throttle, there are no brakes available here. Must be a bug. It's still possible to land, but the landing roll will be longer. I tested this at the airfield of Catania, where I got to stop half way down the runway, so no biggie.

- zoom: I didn't manage to set up zoom, a known problem according to quite a bit of correspondence on the forum. Nothing that aviator layout users will miss.

- 'feel' of the aircraft and free view: I'm attaching the configuration that I've found best to replicate the aviator layout, and setting. For my taste this setting works well, but might give a bit of a different 'feel' than what we're used to from the aviator or standard layout. I suppose this has something to do with the amount of deadzone and nonlinearity assigned to the different controls under 'Settings'. I'm happy with what I have now, but everyone's can experiment with this and find their own best settings. No one should have any undue advantage because of this, we're still playing at max sensitivity and the other club rules.

Hope we're all going to enjoy our Mustangs much more now! Let me know how you're doing and/or if you need help with customising!

Check six!

MACADEMIC

PS: Check post #55 in this thread for the latest settings!

* Sorry to say that the standard layout is not customisable as the aviator layout is. See post #101 about this.

[MACADEMIC]

http://www.warbirddepot.com/fighter_...erformance.pdf

Very valuable information on the P51's corner speeds and accelerated stall characteristics due to its laminar airfoil.

Best,

MACADEMIC

[MACADEMIC]

Dear friends,

I have experimented further and have been able to solve the problem that the looking around from the cockpit was not as smooth as we knew it from the aviator layout. It's identically smooth now. Also, I find the P-51 now very similar to what we know from aviator/standard layouts, except for the 'jump' into stall. I'm attaching the latest settings.

Please note I have also used the UP command for pause, since the Select+Start Combination doesn't work as well as on aviator. If you need this for flying missions in sim, you should retain these keys, I have removed them, as well as trim, which I never use...however the main functions are all there and are working fine!

Enjoy!

Best,

MACADEMIC

[vdomini]

Originally Posted by MACADEMIC

Dear friends,

I have experimented further and have been able to solve the problem that the looking around from the cockpit was not as smooth as we knew it from the aviator layout. It's identically smooth now. Also, I find the P-51 now very similar to what we know from aviator/standard layouts, except for the 'jump' into stall. I'm attaching the latest settings.

Please note I have also used the UP command for pause, since the Select+Start Combination doesn't work as well as on aviator. If you need this for flying missions in sim, you should retain these keys, I have removed them, as well as trim, which I never use...however the main functions are all there and are working fine!

Enjoy!

Best,

MACADEMIC

I was looking to access at that control customization since the first day i've unlocked realistic mode from training.

How can i reach that panel?

[KAV]

Go
Layouts, choose custom, then back to custom layout and it will open.

[MACADEMIC]

I learned the other day that some players had problems configuring the axes of their pads the way they're used to in the standard or aviator layouts (e.g. reversing the Up/Down on the Y axis).

I found out that the normal Options menu doesn't work in a Custom layout. Instead, you have to change the axis in the Settings Menu under Custom Layout. Then it's all Honkey Dorey.

MAC

[MACADEMIC]

NO MAP GAMES!

Last night we tried a variation of the game that brings us one step closer to the real thing: flying without using the map. We did one game as CTA with one airfield which worked very well, and a team battle in Britain where the mission objective was to defend Dover harbour. This also worked very well.

I found that never looking at the map but scanning the sky adds a lot to the immersive experience of 'being there'. Flying by look and see, and by 'lose the sight, lose the fight' is a thrill and closer to the real thing.

Now I think that games without using the map should remain Special Club games, not become a general rule. Most of the maps are just too large to find one another.

So here's two 'NO MAP' Special Club games that can be played without using the map:

1. ANY CTA WITH ONLY ONE AIRFIELD.

2. 'DEFEND LOCATION XYZ'. Any dogfight or teambattle with the special mission objective to defend a specified airspace. That means that the place of the action has to be clearly defined and easily recognizable, and that all pilots seek to defend the airspace there against the enemy. Suitable locations for a 'Defend location XYZA' Special Club game: Lake Lentini; Catania Airfield; Berlin Tempelhof Airfield; and, any single airfield CTA can be played as a 'Defend location XYZ' teambattle, meaning that no one is supposed to land and all the action is to take place in the sky only.

Before starting such a game, it is important that all players understand and agree that this game is a 'NO MAP' game and will not use their maps during the game. Only exception of course is when in respawning the map is displayed.

Hope we'll all have lots of fun with these new special games!

See you in the skies soon!

MAC

[P-51]

Well. Maybe its time to get back on and join in.

I like the Fox and Hound round. Cant wait to play!

[MACADEMIC]

Originally Posted by P-51

Well. Maybe its time to get back on and join in.

I like the Fox and Hound round. Cant wait to play!

Well you certainly have chosen the right nick on the BOP forum !
Happy to welcome reaper1526 to the Club. Would you mind letting us know what you're using for your flight controls (Pad, Flight Stick,...) and what kind of setting (Standard/Aviator/Custom,...)?

Look forward to flying with you in the Club - FOX AND HOUNDS is plenty of fun, other games too!

MAC