Classic British Flight Sim

DispatchDragon wrote: what IS impressive is to see a cub flown backwards in real life -- Im not sure if the A2A model with
its advanced physics can achieve that -- if it does -0then I'm impressed.

The A2A Cub will indeed fly backwards in a strong headwind Leif and I did it several times during beta testing.

I got bored with trying to break it one evening and just out of curiosity (and for a bit of fun) I dialled in Courchevel in the French Alps. I have the freeware scenery for this location and also the freeware Alps mesh so it is a very nice area to fly in on my machine. What I failed to do was note the time of day and the fact I was running REX2 real weather at the time so I was a bit surprised when I dropped into the sim to discover it was the middle of the night and there was a 27 knot wind blowing at 90° to the runway!

I turned the nose into the wind and wondered if I could actually take off in the width of the runway so I throttled up and the tail lifted immediately and within 10 feet or so I was airborne and moving slowly forward. I pulled back slightly on the throttle and she drifted backwards across the runway and I was then able to land in the width of the runway. I repeated this several times just to convince myself that it wasn't a fluke and it really was doing what a real Cub can do.

My curiosity was now running wild so I drifted down to the helipads to see if I could take off and land on those and after a couple of attempts I managed to do both by going from corner to corner diagonally across the pad.

A2A have totally rewritten the code for the FSX airflow physics (and the water physics for the float plane version) and we have several real world Cub pilots on the beta team and they all say the FM on the Cub is as close to real as you can get in FSX. We even have stalls, spins and side-slips working as they should and not the feeble attempt at side-slipping that the stock FSX code provides.

Hey Leif,

Whats up? You didn't like my joke? or did you have a FAA dude over your shoulder when you made your last post?

........................................

The A2A cub can be flown backwards ? well in truth, it's not flying backwards, the plane is flying forward at the required
airspeed or it would stall, it's just in a air mass thats moving in direction opposite to the cubs. at speed faster then the cubs
but you all know that, soo , is it a function that would make me buy it?

I can fly the stock 172 backards and land it on a building in FSX... have done it several times in gamespy.
I've even done it

I'd buy a highly crafted turboprop like a beech or piper twin
I'll keep my eye out , and when I get the things done that need to be done I'll do it.

Joe

The answer to your first question -- YES all bloody day .

Leif

Newest development (aka the first patch) has some neat stuff they got worked out that didn't make the initial release date due to technical issues -

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 23&t=19636

Some really clever stuff there. Thanks for the update Chris

That clip sort of epitomises why I really don't like FSX. I wouldn't be surprised if we see it released on the Wii next

ATB

DaveB

In a strange way i know what you mean Dave. I've been in FS9 this week for the VA 146 flights, using the Aerosoft model and really enjoying it. The only bits I hate are that I can't run FS9 windowed on this machine without it looking like shite, and as I've only one monitor at the minute, longish sections on the AP mean that I can't do anything else on the PC while FS9 is running. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer FSX, but its become so real that a lot of real periferal stuff makes it a bit "games console" The only "periferal" bit I do like in FSX is the AI shipping and carriers.

I hear that Ben.. I hear that

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that many of the 'X' fans will be out there paddling their Cubs downstream and loving every minute of it but what next?? A virtual 'mate' onshore with a piece of rope. Click on a part of the screen to 'grab' the rope and get yourself tied up?? No doubting the skill of the software developers but is this really flightsim
An alternative would be a nice FSX Vickers Viking VC1 and being able to watch the hostie climb over the wing spar but I guess that makes me a perve. Still.. a viable alternative to paddling a piece of sh1te up/downstream

Now.. if CoD had a Cub and you had to sneak to a mooring without being discovered/shot at.. I think I'd go for that

ATB

DaveB

I don't own the Cub and the paddling bit is a bit extreme. I do own the P47 however and the engine sounds, well they are as close, if not exactly what I would expect from a big radial engine. From the pop and farting during warm up to the thump, thump throb during cruise. It's simply amazing. One takeoff I was sloppy with the u/c lever and had a leg protruding causing a red lamp on the retract lights, so had to cycle the gear again. Although I agree maybe a paddle is a bit extreme it does show a level of commitment, level of immersion of the sim that's exciting. BTW I'm not an FS9 `knocker`. I just happen to have migrated from fs2000 to fsx.

DTR2..

ANYONE would be happy to go from FS2000 to FSX mate. Unlike other sims from the same stable, as soon as a sniff of FS2002 came out.. we were all prepared to jump

Level of commitment..
Well.. one could easily say.. level of overkill. Fact of the matter is, there is very little to a Cub when pitted against everything else A2A have released so they've had to 'beef it up' in other areas. The screaming wench in the front and the paddle are 2 such examples. When you're asking good money for a model of which there are already examples, one has to try and justify the price. I suppose the Cub was/is a good example of how far the sim can go and has let the programmers stretch their legs a bit

ATB

DaveB