Formation Movement

[Igo kyu]

Originally Posted by Scat

Greetings and apologies if this is a question that's been "done and dusted" before... but...

Is there a mod that randomises aircraft movement to reflect normal variations in flight path and formation position? By this I'm referring to the way aircraft in IL-2 stay rock solid in their relative formation position, whereas there is always some positional variation in real world formation flying due to turbulence, pilot, etc.

I always see the AI planes randomly moving a bit relative to each other. Not a huge distance perhaps, but there's always some on my machine.

[K_Freddie]

This is true to RL flying

Think of driving a car..
- if you have other cars close to you, you have to watch them like a hawk and keep exact distances. This is a lot of work.
- if you have larger distances between cars, it gives you time to look around and enjoy the scenery (detect other cars trying to 'bounce' you). In looking around you cannot keep exact position

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by Igo kyu

I always see the AI planes randomly moving a bit relative to each other. Not a huge distance perhaps, but there's always some on my machine.

I concur. On my machine the aircraft flown by the AI in a formation always bob and weave back and forth largely like those flown by real pilots with formation training. So I'm not sure what more could be done to make it a more realistic experience aside from more direct control in the FMB over what type of formation was being used and what the distances involved are.

[MadCat242]

Something which would add to immersion would be that "cross-over turn" in schwarms (finger-four) when the schwarm is turning into a new direction. But I guess that won't happen, since the ai can't read the player's thoughts. (30 degree turn? 90 degree turn?)

[K_Freddie]

Originally Posted by MadCat242

..since the ai can't read the player's thoughts..

It's bad enough trying to read the AIs 'thoughts'.. the damn thing is always yoyo'ing and fiddling with the throttle incessantly..