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Aircraft for beginners?

Controlling your aircraft, using the autopilot etc.

Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby redneck » Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:19 pm

It seems like the official download page hasn't been updated with the latest F-16. The one I have is at least 6 months old, and is much better than what you're describing.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Kabuki » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:40 am

thatoneguytrying wrote:i'm kinda getting the hang of it...whoever made the f-14 i thank you......and the F-6 is pretty amazing as well...i usually wear headphones when i play so i dont disturb other people and whenever i started the F-6 i like jerked them off because it was so loud


I'm just learning the f-14. NOT a plane I'd recommend for beginners! But a very nice model. F-16 is easier to fly, so's the f-15.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Kabuki » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:41 am

Check out the Storch! It stalls at about 40 kts. I was able to land it in Candlestick park -- the stadium to the north of KSFO. You can drive the thing all over the runways and aprons hopping from one wheel to the other. Very easy plane to fly.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Mogthor » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:51 am

sorry about the off-topic, but i do have an old version of the f16. can someone post a link to the latest version? thanks!!
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby simbabeat » Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:00 am

Mogthor wrote:sorry about the off-topic, but i do have an old version of the f16. can someone post a link to the latest version? thanks!!


Ummm pretty sure it is GIT only. Here it is from my GIT pull 2 days ago: http://www.mediafire.com/?wlifld4qnsaljgj
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Mogthor » Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:11 am

Thankys!!! :mrgreen:
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby sim » Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:17 am

This is a nice one for beginners who just want to learn the basic controls. It is probably the easiest plane to taxi on the ground and drive around the sky. It turns on a penny and is so easy to land ! It is also very very aerobatic ! It is my modified Pc7x. The little x added is a kiss because it is so sweet to fly !!!!


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11151437/pc7x.zip Cheers, sim
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby timjschong » Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:20 pm

Umm.. I don't know. I learnt to fly in the F-14, but for easiest aircraft I would say the 777. That's easy for me anyway. Most jets meant for transport are quite easy, very stable, low stall speed. WWII aircraft tend to be quite hard to fly, it was full time just keeping the A6M2 flying straight for me. I suppose you could start with the Citation X, that's fairly easy.
Or if you just want to fly around, have a look at the scenery, try the UFO :) . Simplest aircraft to fly.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Kabuki » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:52 pm

timjschong wrote:Umm.. I don't know. I learnt to fly in the F-14, but for easiest aircraft I would say the 777. That's easy for me anyway. Most jets meant for transport are quite easy, very stable, low stall speed. WWII aircraft tend to be quite hard to fly, it was full time just keeping the A6M2 flying straight for me. I suppose you could start with the Citation X, that's fairly easy.
Or if you just want to fly around, have a look at the scenery, try the UFO :) . Simplest aircraft to fly.


Wow. Moral of the story is "mileage varies", I guess. For me, the Tomcat is extremely difficult to stabilize. It just rolls left, rolls right, it's very difficult not to overcorrect. I'm basically out of control when I'm flying it. But I love the cockpit! It's a cool plane, and it's slow speed handling is impressive. I'm going to have to wait until I get a better computer to really practice on it.

As for the A6M2, my experience is the same as the pilot of a real one in a video on YouTube: "Your nose is the nose of the plane. Your fingertips are the wings". I've been able to stabilize it and let it fly itself for minutes on end, either flying straight or circling.

The thing about WWII aircraft is that they're high powered tail-draggers, so they're really touchy on the runway. With the Zero, you have to be ready for it to swing to the left as you're gaining speed for takeoff. You only have an instant to correct with a dab of the brakes, and then steer with the rudder until you lift off. Once in the air, it's a dream until you try and land on a carrier. With full flaps at low speed, it gets very sloppy. The handling changes a lot depending on the speed you're going.

I'm learning how to maneuver it on the ground lately, and that's a lot of fun in itself. Controlled ground loops, crabbing and stuff are a blast.

The 777 is indeed easy to fly, if you're patient. It seems like the heavy jets are all about planning and navigation. You can't just slop into a landing on a whim. Which is what I like to do...

And then I discovered the pa7 in this thread, and agree that is a sweeeet plane to fly.

Someday, I'm going to manage to get the Corsair off the ground..
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby timjschong » Wed Sep 29, 2010 5:54 am

Kabuki wrote:
The thing about WWII aircraft is that they're high powered tail-draggers, so they're really touchy on the runway. With the Zero, you have to be ready for it to swing to the left as you're gaining speed for takeoff. You only have an instant to correct with a dab of the brakes, and then steer with the rudder until you lift off. Once in the air, it's a dream until you try and land on a carrier. With full flaps at low speed, it gets very sloppy. The handling changes a lot depending on the speed you're going


Yup that's right. I just learnt to takeoff in a Junkers Ju 87. Man, I wish I'd read that first. Took me a while to figure out how not to go skidding all over the airport. :oops:
And yep, I slowed down to try and land, put out the flaps, and the plane went into a crazy roll.

For me, the Tomcat is extremely difficult to stabilize. It just rolls left, rolls right, it's very difficult not to overcorrect. I'm basically out of control when I'm flying it.


Kind of. The trick is not to go to extremes with the controls, a single tap is often more than enough to right the plane.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Algernon » Wed Sep 29, 2010 11:29 am

I've heard some pretty good things about the BAE Systems Hawk, which one of my fellow FGUK members is continuing development on - it's the jet trainer used by the Royal Air Force, and I think it's pretty stable and predictable, making it a good candidate to start flying FGFS fast jets. If you're interested, you can get the very latest updates on this aircraft here.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby timjschong » Sun Oct 03, 2010 6:27 am

Another trainer jet, maybe the T-38 Talon? I dunno. It's a trainer in real life.
For jets though, the main bit is that they're more responsive, and of course, much faster. When coming in for landing, if you've only ever flown the C172P before, check your speed. I landed at over 300 kts before, didn't really notice till the next time I tried. (I don't think that's supposed to happen in RL)
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby someguy » Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:43 pm

Dave's Hangar is back online, in a minimalist way: http://members.cox.net/davidculp/hangar-temp.htm

For learning on something faster than a Cessna, I recommend the A-29B and the T-2C. Both are highly responsive and predictable; nearly every real-life U.S. Navy pilot since Korea trained on the T-2. If you download these planes, you'll also need the DavePack.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby Kabuki » Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:29 pm

timjschong wrote:Another trainer jet, maybe the T-38 Talon? I dunno. It's a trainer in real life.
For jets though, the main bit is that they're more responsive, and of course, much faster. When coming in for landing, if you've only ever flown the C172P before, check your speed. I landed at over 300 kts before, didn't really notice till the next time I tried. (I don't think that's supposed to happen in RL)


In my experience, jets are much less responsive than piston engine planes. Their main advantage in ease of flying is that there's no torque to pull you off the runway when taking off. Turbo props seem to be more responsive than pure jets, but not as responsive as a piston engine.
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Re: Aircraft for beginners?

Postby timjschong » Fri Oct 08, 2010 12:46 pm

Yes, perhaps I'm wrong. It could maybe be something to do with the speed maybe? For let's say, a plane turns 90 degrees in five seconds. In five seconds, just say a jet travels 10 metres, and a piston engine only flies 5 metres. This would mean that the jet turns 90 degrees over 10 metres, and a prop over 5 metres. Idk, maybe its the reverse, as the faster you travel, the faster the airflow over the ailerons and whatnot, so the more control. (All the numbers are just examples of course, 1 metre every 2 seconds is ridiculously slow for a jet)
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