Jump to content

How do you learn to fly new aircraft?


surfcandy

Recommended Posts

I just write kneeboard checklists for everything — classic learning through input-digestion/internalisation-output. :P

 

+1

 

I do the same, does wonders for memory retention .. and its easy to return to an aircraft after a hiatus.

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

1) Learn To Fly

2) Learn To Navigate

3) Learn To Communicate

4) Learn To Fight

 

These four apply to every module...

 

5) Learn To Be The Best In The <insert aircraft here> You Can Be!

 

 

That's my "religion" too. And for every step, I first use Chuck's guides, a must have, and I only get to the full .pdf guides if I need more indepth information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been away from sims for 10 years, got the chance to fly a two seat plane IRL recently. It was a Vans RV-10, 210mph cruise speed 300hp, center joystick HOTAS style. Very nice plane.

 

I just bought a game machine primarily for DCS. While I loved flying the complex fighter jets in the past... "Hornet Korea" appears to be "arcade simple" compared to the DCS Hornet, from what i've seen of the videos from Wags and Grim Reapers, and the official manual and Chuck's Guides.

 

I'll be buying the Hornet, no doubt. But I think I'll be starting with Warbirds and maybe Korean era jets, build up in complexity through the F-5 Tiger, before getting super deep into the Hornet, Harrier and Bombcat!

 

That said, I do suspect I'll be wanting to fly the Hornet on simple free flight to try CASE I landings as soon as I get the sim running!

 

I get the feeling though, that the A-10C, Mig-21 and Mi-8 Hip may be quite the challenge to learn, maybe mores than the Hornet and Tomcat... what do you guys think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you do it? Do you REALLY read 300+ pages of the PDF (F-14)? How can you absorb all that information? Or do most people just view a few videos and off they go.

 

How I do my first few flights.

 

1) Set aircraft in editor for take-off from airfield.

2) Jump to aircraft and configure all the basic settings (axis) and what settings in HOTAS (or Stick/Cyclic / Throttle/Collective has).

3) Perform the basic take-off by looking the instruments and get the feeling of the speed etc.

4) Get some feeling to aircraft in the turns, rolls, climb etc.

5) Put the aircraft to more serious testing by just trying its limits, until either you crash or you start to feel uncomfortable in the controllability.

6) Then take some tryouts for the landing by the feeling.

7) Now go to open up the manual and read the specs, write down notes (on paper, with pencil etc) for all the basics like the speeds for take-off and landing, the proper HOTAS bindings (set the most accurate location for what the HOTAS would have, as everything else is done with the Touch Controllers in VR, no cheating by binding to HOTAS things that is not suppose to be there, that is huge immersion creator when you need to actually move your hands around the cockpit to correct locations).

 

I prefer this way more than the previous my custom way what was that I first read the manual. Then I studied the manual and wrote down the key specs. And then I did took the aircraft on the flight following the specs.

 

The result is that in my previous way I was always "Do not exceed this roll rate" without ever knowing why or what would happen. While now I find it myself that what is comfortable by the feeling and when I follow the specs I know that how much I can push the limits.

And then when something goes wrong, I know how to blame myself, instead try to interpret the data and then check what I did wrong. So it is now "Damn I did roll too fast in too slow speed" instead "What was my roll rate? What was my speed?"

 

And this is why I love the simulator, as I can fly it unlike a real aircraft where I would have only a single try for anything crazy. (And why you shouldn't give a real pilot a simulator....).

 

And these days I love far more all the specs and rules in each aircraft how to do it "properly" after I have "broken" the aircraft to million pieces too many times. As I am to learn, not to follow procedures. To experience, instead limiting.

 

In real world I don't exceed the speed limit on the roads while I drive unless I really need for safety reasons (like passing other car and someone suddenly appears on next line coming forward) and I happily drop speed depending the weather and road conditions for safety reasons, as that feels far more nicer to be on safe side than dangerously trying the limits of the vehicle, my skills or someone else skills and their vehicle on the road.

 

With simulator, I can just try, try, try, try and try....

i7-8700k, 32GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 2x 2080S SLI 8GB, Oculus Rift S.

i7-8700k, 16GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 1080Ti 11GB, 27" 4K, 65" HDR 4K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll be buying the Hornet, no doubt. But I think I'll be starting with Warbirds and maybe Korean era jets, build up in complexity through the F-5 Tiger, before getting super deep into the Hornet, Harrier and Bombcat!

...

I get the feeling though, that the A-10C, Mig-21 and Mi-8 Hip may be quite the challenge to learn, maybe mores than the Hornet and Tomcat... what do you guys think?

 

At least for me, the hardest modules are the helos and the warbirds .. in part because I dont own a pair of rudder pedals.

 

The easiest to fly, again in my opinion, is the F-18 .. it has an easy start-up, easy taxi and take-off, easy shore landing once you learn to use the "E-bracket" thingy on the HUD ... even the case 1 carrier landing is quite easy (again, using the e-bracket) ... of course, learning the sensors, countermeasures and weapons delivery is a long affair, as it has so many different weapons and sensors to choose.

 

The A-10C is about the same difficulty as the F-18, but with a longer startup and a much less legible HUD,

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Pikey made a very important point, different people learn differently. You need to find out first what kind of learning works best for you. For myself, only tutorial videos don't really work. I need it best written out in a picture guide or checklist.

 

 

 

The manual is usually too dry and long winded for me, but I never really do completely without. IMHO if you are like me just use it to look up very specific things, it suddenly is way less intimidating. If you are currently learning something, watched tutorials, read a guide etc. but just want to know what 'this small thing here' means, manual is your go to and almost never let's you down. :)

 

 

 

If this question is about learning technique then I can't disagree with an iterative approach, taking parts out and learning each, light skims turning into deep dives.

 

 

If the question is about effectiveness in learning, you need to know your own mind and how you work. A kinaesthetic learner will jump right in, the visual ones look at videos and the readers read. and most of us do the combinations. There is also social learning, which helps, jumping on with a friend and teaching each other and working through it faster. There is no one size fits all. The most important tool I personally have is experience of simulators, oddly enough and I fall back on that every time and have no issues picking planes up fast.

 

 

...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I got DCS A-10C it was on a Steam sale. I didn’t know anything about modern aircraft at all, my only experience was in a WWI sim. So I didn’t understand any modern instruments or anything. I did own a HOTAS. Which really helped.

I read the whole manual on an iPhone. :lol:

 

There’s a benefit to combining active and passive learning. Reading the manual is essential, there’s just no substitute for that. But it’s passive. So is watching videos. Combine sessions of passive reading with active practice and that’s the ticket. The training missions are ok but repeating them is sorta time consuming because there may be only certain parts you need a refresher on.

i9-13900K @ 6.2GHz oc | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | 64GB DDR5 5600MHz | iCUE H150i Liquid CPU Cooler | 24GB GeForce RTX 4090 | Windows 11 Home | 2TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe | Corsair RM1000x | LG 48GQ900-B 4K OLED Monitor | CH Fighterstick | Ch Pro Throttle | CH Pro Pedals | TrackIR 5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like many others here... Download the Chuck guide for the aircraft. Then read one chapter - do it a couple of times. Then the next...

 

I rather early learned the basics of the editor to set up a simple single player scenario where I start in the air and change the loadout to whatever I want to try out. Have two Shilkas and a radar beside the runway of a field in front of me and two tankers with a destroyer in the water off the coast. They have all died a thousand deaths...

 

After that you can dive into one of the threads here about "how do I use the TGP with the Mav E" and actually understand what people are talking about :) And the two Shilkas will not know what hit them (again) if everything goes according to plan... Many times they naturally wonder why that plane fired a missile into the forest 2 miles away, but they are used to it by now ;) And then I take them out with my guns if everything else fails...

 

It's a matter of principle.

Ryzen 7800X3D | Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX MB | 32GB 6000Mhz DDR5 | RTX 3080 GPU | Sound BlasterX AE-5 | Windows 11 Pro x64 | Virpil T-50 Throttle | T50 CM2 Grip + WarBRD | VKB T-rudder MK IV | Asus PG279Q 1440p | Valve Index VR | Samsung 980 Pro as system disk and DCS on separate Intel 665P NVME SSD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

learning to fly

 

I think a great approach is to do what the military does. Start in a trainer w/no weapons. Master that. Move to a warbird. Master basic navigation and weapons. Move to the F5 or F86. Master that. Then start using the very complicated but rewarding F18 or F14---you will never master those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The real world has to contend with costs for training that we don't need to concern ourselves with, and that is why they start on cheaper aircraft to learn the basics.

 

As for 'never mastering' the 14 or 18, maybe speak for yourself? There's rhyme and reason for everything, and ways to prepare for missions.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Reminder: SAM = Speed Bump :D

I used to play flight sims like you, but then I took a slammer to the knee - Yoda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I thought I'd revive this thread considering a new aircraft just released (and I bought it :thumbup:) and am now... in real time... going through the process of "learning to fly a new aircraft"

 

 

1. Install

2. Download Early Access Manual

3. Download RL Flight Manual

4. Clear all default control bindings

5. Bind joystick axis... free flight.. check control directions... exit

6. Bind HOTAS controls using Manual

7. Free Flight - Cold Start... Manual in hand.. time to start reading :book:

next will likely be:

8. Cockpit Orientation

9. Cold Start, taxi, takeoff, circuit, landing, shut down.

10. Navigation and combat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone here has covered just about every angle; however, I do one thing slightly different that really seems to help.

 

 

Specifically with the A-10C as the manual is pretty ginormous. After using many of the methods mentioned above, there are days, where I have no specific item in mind, and I randomly pick subjects in the A-10 manual and read them after I have done several flights, training flights, missions etc.

 

I find that going back and hitting topics you think you have mastered, with a good review of a specific tech from the manual will really cement some of the functionality in your mind, and even add some "aha!!" moments.

 

For me, one of those "AHA!" moments was how to activate the different EW Jammer settings, manually (don't like the auto one). Another "AHA!!" moment was reading up on how to focus the TGP.

 

The manual answered these obscure (for me) items that many YouTube videos did not - but only after I had mastered about 80% of the material, and then the manual made much more sense for some nitty gritty detail.

Pointy end hurt! Fire burn!!
JTF-191 25th Draggins - Hawg Main. Black Shark 2, A10C, A10CII, F-16, F/A-18, F-86, Mig-15, Mig-19, Mig-21, P-51, F-15, Su-27, Su-33, Mig-29, FW-190 Dora, Anton, BF 109, Mossie, Normandy, Caucasus, NTTR, Persian Gulf, Channel, Syria, Marianas, WWII Assets, CA. (WWII backer picked aircraft ME-262, P-47D).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Free flight is your friend. For me with the F18 that I'm studying at the moment, if I want to learn a new system or weapon ill look at youtube videos, read chucks guide or other online guides, load in and then put auto speed, heading and height on and just play with it. Ill then move on to training missions if there available. Breaking it into chunks like this makes it easier.

 

I always practise the basics first and get them down before anything. At a basic standard you should be able to turn the plane on using auto start for some stuff if needs be, taxi, takeoff, turn on and operate the radar on a basic level and land. Once you can basically "fly" the airplane, you can learn everything else at your leisure.

Modules- F15, F18, Spitfire, Mirage F1, Persian Gulf, Normandy 2.0, Syria, WW2 assets.

"Try to have the same number of landings as you have takeoffs"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got to weigh in here...The Grimreapers and spudknocker utube videos are a godsend.If it wasn't for them ,I probably wouldn't have continued buying modules.It's wayyyy to much to remember all those different set ups as I have most of the modules purchased. Start up procedures????...faagetaboutit. Auto start for me.

 

IMO this needs to be addressed somehow in terms of consistency in the control set up interface.But then again that's what the new lock on is all about (I think??)unless that not the case?I wish they would give us a better way to keep things organised for hotas setups.In all fairness I have no idea what that would be.I think most people know what I'm getting at here.I pity the coder that has to deal with control stuff.


Edited by Raven434th

MODUALS OWNED       AH-64D APACHE, Ka-50, UH-1H, Mi-8MTV2, Mi-24,Gazelle, FC3, A-10C, A-10CII, Mirage 2000C, F-14 TOMCAT, F/A-18C HORNET, F-16C VIPER, AV-8B/NA, F-15 E, F-4 Phantom, MiG-21Bis, L-39, F-5E, AJS 37 Viggen, MiG-19, F-86, MiG-15Bis, Spitfire IX, Bf-109K, Fw-190D, P-51D, CA, SYRIA, NEVADA, NORMANDY, PERSIAN GULF, MARIANA ISLANDS,SUPER CARRIER, WORLD WAR II ASSETS PACK, HAWK T1

SYSTEM SPECS            AMD  7600X 4.7 Ghz CPU , MSI RX 6750 12 gig GPU ,32 gig ram on Win11 64bit.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...