Flying (almost) Padre

[=CfC=Father Ted]

Father Ted here chaps.  This is a bit late in the day, but I thought I'd better give you a bit more gen (may or may not be pukka).  Nearly all my hours on this and other sims (anyone play Chuck Yeager?) have been of the solo variety.  A couple of years ago I enlisted in the infantry* (I was going to put Brown jobs, but that seemed a slang too far) and was sold on the whole playing against real people idea.  Some infantry pals also had wings which inspired me to get 1946 off Steam.  Dipped my toe into Hyperlobby and got it burnt, but I didn't want to just give the idea up.  Combed the forums for info, read all the guides (thanks for the tip Fitz) and practised.

Realising I needed some realtime advice, I looked for squadrons and found you chaps through M4T.  Contacted Fitz, and as some of you know have joined a few sessions.  I won't dodge the fact that I've struggled, but last night (2/11) saw signs of improvement, and encouraged me to keep at it.  I won't be able to make all sessions and will keep out of the campaign stuff for the foreseeable future.  Despite the soubriquet I have a family, and while Mrs Ted and the Tedlets view my disappearing off of an evening with faint amusement, three nights every week might remove that.

Back to the flying:  I don't want to blame bad tools, but...ATM I'm using quite a basic stick, no pedals and no TrackIR.  Christmas is coming
and I may be able to rectify the stick situation.  I'm experimenting with FreeTrack, so any guidance on that would be most helpful.  Also any help with Xfire would be great.  Some seem to hear me and some don't, so I don't understand what's going on, but it's frustrating no to be able to socialise!

Ted

*Red Orchestra/Darkest Hour, for those who are interested.  It's also where I adopted the name - the idea of a comedy priest running around Normandy tickled me and it stuck

[Gizmo]

What ho Ted, it's good to have you flying with us but unfortunately I'm one of those that can't hear you. Hopefully that can be sorted out soon but I'm afraid what I know about X-fire might just cover a postage stamp if painted on with a 6" brush.

As long as your stick works properly and is accurate that is all that's needed, does it have a throttle? Everything else on a stick is luxury really. Some form of head tracking is a must for me and most people but I believe Conky still waggles his thumb about on a hat switch. Rudder pedals, normally last on peoples list and although I have them I don't have room under my desk to actually use them.

Everybody gets their toes scorched the first time on HL and usually quite a few times after that as well. Flying against other people is completely different to flying against the AI. Keep at it though and learn to use your planes strengths and you will soon be a force to be reckoned with. Don't be nervous of the campaigns on Sundays, it's all in fun and until you've shot down your wingman on a mission you can't call yourself a true Chuffolite.

Pip pip

[Treiber]

Father Ted, if you're having difficulty dogfighting in HL, may I suggest you try ground attack first?  It worked for me.

[CFC_Conky]

Tally Ho Ted!

Welcome to the squadron. As Gizmo said, online flying can be a bit overwhelming at first but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon.

What type of stick are you using? You certainly don't have to have all the bells and whistles, I have a stick, throttle and pedals but a stick with a throttle, a few extra buttons and twist axis for rudder is plenty for now. I don't use a head tracking device but my stick is from Saitek and I am able to configure the hat switch to act like a mouse, which makes view panning more effective than the game's default settings (45 deg per key press).

xFire is also akin to alchemy for me. The only thing I can suggest is that you enable microphone boost in your sound settings. If xFire starts up normally, you should be all set, but as I said, it's all a mystery to me.

Pip, pip,
Conky

P.S. Yes, I emember Chuck Yeager's Air Combat very well, one of my all-time favourites and the first sim I 'flew' where real life tactics, i.e., energy flying vs angles flying actually worked.

[=CfC=Father Ted]

Thanks guys, sorry, chaps, for the welcome.  Conky: I have a Saitek 3D Force and it does have a throttle.  I will look into mapping the hat to mouse - never thought of that!  The stick itself is fine, I just want some sliders to control flaps and trim...and perhaps pitch and mixture and, etc.  Keyboard presses I find terrible for trim as you get no feedback as to how far you've gone. til you're looking at the ground or the sky.

People have suggested mic boost to solve the XFire prob, but I have a Soundblaster card and that isn't in the options.  I can hear myself in Xfire and my mic is OK in Windows speech to text test, plus Dragon speech to text plus other games' VOIP, so I'm at a loss

[=CfC= Silverback]

Ted I also have a SB card and I have mic boost so I am sure that we can sort this small problem out. We'll talk on Thursday. See you then and again welcome to the Squadron.

[Gizmo]

To find mic boost (in XP)

Go to

Start
Control Panel
Sounds and Audio Devices
Volume and then click Advanced
Under Microphone slider click Advanced again
Tick the Microphone Boost box

Pip pip

[=CfC=Father Ted]

Gizmo and Silverback, I have delved deep into Control Panel (deeper than I first thought existed) and located a mic boost.  It is now ticked,  Awaiting results...

[CFC_Conky]

Hi Ted,

Are you using the twist function of your stick for rudder control? I have my flaps and trims mapped to buttons on my stick and throttle. Except for the Spitfire and Hurricane, the three default flap positions are enough. Having your flaps on a slider will definitely help with those two aircraft when it comes to turning, although some consider this an exploit of the program. I'm not sure if Spit and Hurri pilots used partial flaps to help them turn better and in any case I'm not one of those who object to using flaps on a slider.

Trim is a different matter, if my setup had rotaries, I would certainly map trim to them. With buttons or the keyboard, the important thing is to not keep the key pressed, use short key presses only, you'll soon get a feel for it.

Pip, pip,
Conky

[=CfC= Binks]

Hello Ted,

I use a Saitek force feedback thingy, and I mapped the trims to the hat switch, up, down, sideways etc. Works a treat if you can get a head track doodah to work for looking around.

Cheers,

[5./JG27Farber]

*Red Orchestra/Darkest Hour, for those who are interested.  It's also where I adopted the name - the idea of a comedy priest running around Normandy tickled me and it stuck

I know you... I was 2SS.Pzgren.Farber-SS from 2SS.  Weve fought Cromwells on the raids map together.

[=CfC=Palmtree]

Tally Ho Father Ted,

Welcome to the squadron!

I know the others have chimed in but I am often on Hyperlobby so happy to go through a few things if you need to.

Anyway, time to celebrate your addition to the squadron with some Holy Water!!!!!!!   


Cheers

Pt

[=CfC=BlueDog]

Jolly good show, Father Ted.   Now we have a doctor and a God Botherer on the squadron!

The Chuffolites are a fine bunch of chaps but there is a great deal of silliness in this squadron.   I, however, am looked upon as a beacon of maturity and sensibility and can be approached to give sage advice on any matter at any time.

I trust you have been made aware of the morris dancing lessons on Wednesday evenings?   Attendance is compulsory for Chuffolites; however, realising the nature of morris dance (a pre-Christian Celtic or Druidic fertility dance) may be in conflict with your "calling" we may need to make an exception.   To be excused you will need a note from Bishop "Len" Brennan.

You will not, however, be excused from the annual Squadron Gurning contest (I am the proud holder of this years trophy).

I should also caution you about Matron.   Spinsters seem to have a "thing" about men of the cloth and she may well approach you in your little chapel ...... seeking "succour".    Just be aware she has little regard for vows of chastity!

[=CfC=Fitz]

Hi Ted,

Don't worry about joining all the sessions, we'll still be here whenever you want to join in. We completely understand the Chuffy's Widow Syndrome (CWS for short) situation. Doc is still working on a cure but there are regular bouts of it going round the spouses of pretty much all Chuffy's Flyers!!

Please feel free to join in the Sunday co-ops, they're great fun. We've got one more competitive one against JG27 this sunday before we go back to our in-house co-ops vs. the AI but don't let that put you off. If it makes you feel any better, and this was in a mission against JG27, I shot Palmtree, Gizmo shot me and Bounder finished off Gizmo!! Not our finest hour, but we had a good laugh about it.

pip pip,

Fitz

[=CfC=Bounder]

Well met Father....and welcome to our house of fun.

You will find some of these Squad members trying their best to prevent you meeting Matron as they have a yearning for her and hate to have new blood oggling her buttocks....so be warned. No names...but it will be apparent by the number of times her anatomy comes up in their posts

And now for the serious stuff.......sorry there isn't any! But some of the chaps are already pointing you in the right direction re equipment.

Join us whenever you can.........bye for now....got to rush off to Confession.

Bounder