Best DCS Aircraft to train a beginner

Hi all,

I have a friend who want's to start flying DCS, and was wondering what aircraft would be best for that. He has no simulator experience, but scores high on the enthusiasm scale. I don't want to start him with something which overwhelms him, and thinking a prop with torque and visibility might not be such a good idea to start with. I considered MS Flight sim or X plane with a Cessna, but I think there should be something suitable in DCS.

Cheers.

I would recommend the L-39 Albatros. It's a easy to learn jet with some unguided rockets, IR-missiles and bombs.

And if you both have the module, you can fly multiplayer in the same plane as student/instructor.

F-15C, the stand alone is only 14.99 usd, he can play solo or in multiplayer and would cover all the basics.

Or if he prefer A2G the free SU-25T.

Edit

Also, there are literary thousands of videos to learn

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DCS+F-15C

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DCS+SU-25T

The F-15 is considered as a beginner aircraft. I think it has been discussed here some time ago.

Coming from BMS I also went this way, and I can proove it was not wrong... :thumbup:

I concur with Nirvi, go with the L-39 Albatros. It is a beautiful yet simple aircraft to learn the basics in flight handling, navigation, basic weapons employment. You can't go wrong with this module.

One of the FC3 aircraft - perhaps the F-15, or if money isn't a problem, have him get the whole bunch. Comparatively the L-39 is underpowered, departs easily and violently at high AoA, has no HUD and you can't blow stuff up in it as easily. IMHO it's an aircraft that rewards good flying and punishes sloppiness - I can see it being very frustrating for a beginner for that reason.

To me a easy one to start with is the Saber for NATO countries.

F/A-18C. Very easy to fly and control.

At the current stage, it doesn't have lots of features that overwhelm the mind. So he will be forced to focus on the basics and nothing else.

But definitely, if he learn it, he will stay up all night waiting for Wednesdays update to learn / to do / to try new things with it.

FC3.

Mirage, hear me out. Difficulty comes from taking on too much too quickly. If he wants a rewarding experience without having to buy multiple jets the mirage should be his choice. It has good, radar a2a, and a2g. There is also tons of tutorials for the mirage. Just look up mirage 1 minute tutorial. They are quick and to the point.

I've flown the f15 the su27. The mirage can teach you everything you need to learn about flight and combat.The mirage is easy to fly, has a forgiving landing and really difficult to stall.

I was also thinking of the fc3 aircraft since they are simplified models and not in-depth models

Just let him use the free Su-25T ( and in fact the TF-51D with easy take-off set).

That way he gets to see both a full fidelity and FC level plane and can decide what suits him best, plus it costs him nothing if he doesn't like it.

Isn't that the whole point of the "free" part of DCS World?

Hi all,

I have a friend who want's to start flying DCS, and was wondering what aircraft would be best for that. He has no simulator experience, but scores high on the enthusiasm scale. I don't want to start him with something which overwhelms him, and thinking a prop with torque and visibility might not be such a good idea to start with. I considered MS Flight sim or X plane with a Cessna, but I think there should be something suitable in DCS.

 

Cheers.

Whichever one fascinates him the most. That will provide the greatest motivation to learn what he’ll need to know to excel.

Whichever one fascinates him the most. That will provide the greatest motivation to learn what he’ll need to know to excel.

This is true, for me it is the Harrier simply because i like it, I have plenty of others but this is the module i'm learning first.

The Viggen is what made this game click for me. It is forgiving with speed, had some give with AoA but makes it clear when the pilot pushes that too far. The tutorials are very good for someone with minimal flight sim knowledge, and flying low made it much easier to acquire targets when I was learning, although I think target spotting should be better now with everything.

I do think JohnathanWinters has a point too with the Mirage, I was about ready to quit DCS because the Su-25T was so tough to fly. The Mirage gave me hope because the act of flight itself was so easy. Ultimately I moved on to the Viggen because I struggled learning the cockpit due to it being in French, and the manual at the time wasn't as informative as I needed, but the manual has been updated since so that might be different now, and maybe OP's friend's memory is better than mine.

Hi all,

I have a friend who want's to start flying DCS, and was wondering what aircraft would be best for that. He has no simulator experience, but scores high on the enthusiasm scale. I don't want to start him with something which overwhelms him, and thinking a prop with torque and visibility might not be such a good idea to start with. I considered MS Flight sim or X plane with a Cessna, but I think there should be something suitable in DCS.

Cheers.

I'm not sure to understand you correctly and especially why a prop aircraft is not suitable.

If you can wait for 2 more weeks, the Yak-52, a prop trainer, might be released.

My vote for A-10A as mud mover and F-15C for fighter experience. They are stable, not much trim needed and easy to learn. Any russian (esp. 25T) or warbird would be terrible choice for beginner and a cause of frustration.

....Any russian (esp. 25T) or warbird would be terrible choice for beginner and a cause of frustration.

It’s a matter of interest. The Su-27 was my first ED aircraft....way back when men were men and women were women... :) Not frustrating at all.

Hi all,

I have a friend who want's to start flying DCS, and was wondering what aircraft would be best for that. He has no simulator experience, but scores high on the enthusiasm scale. I don't want to start him with something which overwhelms him, and thinking a prop with torque and visibility might not be such a good idea to start with. I considered MS Flight sim or X plane with a Cessna, but I think there should be something suitable in DCS.

 

Cheers.

Just ask him which plane he likes in reality and start with it but DO NOT take any of FC planes. Take a full fidelity module where its possible to do some basics of radio navigation, ILS. My vote would be L-39 and the Kursant campaign but this campaign is actually quite tough.

For my .02, the L-39 is the way to go if he's receptive. Unless he's the type of person that's bored if he doesn't have the hottest, deadliest toy in the toybox you can't beat the practicality of having working student/instructor slots. You can demonstrate maneuvers then hand him the controls and observe and correct him. It encourages good airmanship, good communication, and gives you the same toolset the real guys use to teach people how to fly and fight.

If he's not the patient type, the F-15C offers the most lethality for the least effort, and is incredibly forgiving of pilot error. It's a great jet to learn in, though it does allow you to develop some bad habits.

Fish,

When you and your friend make a decision, please let us know what it is.

I'm curious ;)

I'm going to go with the SU27/F15 or F18 bandwagon.

The F18 is dead simple to start from cold, is very simple to use right now, will expand with new functionality at a decent pace for someone to learn each system and keep them interested and is absolutely amazing from a sim standpoint.

The F15/SU27 choice would give them a "very capable" weapon to start with and remove the cockpit and mostly even HOTAS as a concern. With those you can mostly map a few things to a less expensive controller and still not have too much to know on the keyboard. When they start looking into trying to shoot someone else down they'll have everything they need.

Thanks for all the comments.

Considering everything, and throwing out my own favourite aircraft, I'm going to recommend the L-39 Albatros for the following reasons.

1. Its a basic jet training aircraft in RL.

2. Its got the dual seat, so simulates a training environment (and I can help him get started)

3. Avionics are basic (not simple), so focus is on flying.

4. No HUD (by dismounting the gunsight), so focus is on VFR, and instrument flying, without aids.

5. He is more interested in learning flying, and not combat at the moment.

6. Got fairly good clickable cockpit, simulating realism.

7. Its a Jet and not fighter prop, so no complex engine management.

8. Advanced FM for realism.

9. VFR hood for pilot in training.

10. Excellent aircraft and cockpit modelling.

Very good decision making process! Clear vote for that L-39 until the Hawk has been updated, that is. The Hawk update should be just around the corner.

L-39 is the ultimate module to provide newbies with basic, advance and operational training by using multicrew.