A few advanced questions

[Lymark]

AH was one of the very first flight sims I've gotten into when I was younger, It's been a long while so I thought I'd be smart to run the offical version and practice a bit offline before the steam release.

1) Can I change the unit of speed? It seems like everything is based on MPH, It'd be nice If I could read 109's speed indicator in KPH.

2)Is structural stress damage modeled? For instance, will I able to rip the wings off of a spit for doing a vertical dive above 650km/h and pull it out at high Gs?

3) For the 109s, It doesn't seem like stabilizer trim is modeled? I think the trim setting indicator is missing, and the elevator trim is the only vertical trim I could find in keybinding.

4)Engine management, will I able to switch between auto and manual RPM in the aicraft that historically have such features? Same goes for oil&air radiator?

Thanks!

[HiTech]

1. No.
2. Yes
3. Stabilize trim and vertical trim are the same thing.
4. There are both throttle and rpm controls on all planes that have them.

[maddogjoe]

MPH is all there is, most of us dumb Americans can't figure out that metric stuff

Stress is modeled and wings, flaps ,and Greg are easily damaged if over stressed.

I believe all trims are modeled in all aircraft that had it.

You can adjust RPM, but not any cooling details. Having extra buttons and switches to throw just for the sake of having them and not really adding any fun to the game seems to have been avoided.

The point of this game is to fly and fight, NOT manage all the little details it takes to pilot an aircraft.

[Lymark]

Originally posted by HiTech:

1. No.
1. No.
3. Stabilize trim and vertical trim are the same thing.

1) I hope you guys would add an option for us to change between the both units in the future. A lot of real life data materials(for metric aircraft),which can be used to learn & get familiar with the aircraft in game, are based in such measurement. If new players are going to learn with that, It's going to blow their minds having to do the conversion math. :P

3) Technically, It's the same thing accomplished in a different way. But without going into details, stabilizer is more effective in recovering from high speed dive. IRL, 109s didn't have elevator trim nor rudder trim, just a stabilizer. :)

Tho, as what @maddogjoe said regarding 'fly and fight', I guess ''elevator trim'' and ''auto cooling'' will definitely do the job for now! Thanks guys for the time :)

[Markster]

Originally posted by maddogjoe:

I believe all trims are modeled in all aircraft that had it.

You can adjust RPM, but not any cooling details. Having extra buttons and switches to throw just for the sake of having them and not really adding any fun to the game seems to have been avoided.

The point of this game is to fly and fight, NOT manage all the little details it takes to pilot an aircraft.

Quite right! That's one of the philosophies shared by the game devs. Make the game as realistic as possible with regards to the physics and the limits they historically had, but don't make arbitrary button presses -- no need to press 2 buttons when 1 would do, because pressing 2 buttons isn't any more realistic than pressing 1 when you compare it to reality.

As for the trim: With our desk-mounted, spring-to-center joysticks, often with center detents or dead spots, we have a very different experience with our stick and centering the forces on it than you would find in real flight. In reality, you could hold the stick just a hair to the left and that could be your new center (rough example, not perfect, but you get my point). In this game what we're doing is trimming your flight controls, not just adjusting trim. So if you trim your stick in Aces High to the left, you can actually see your ailerons move position slightly, as if you were holding the stick to the left.

Real craft trim the forces on the ailerons with trim tabs (fixed or variable) and other means of countering out forces so that you get a new "resting center" on your stick in-flight. In aces high we don't do that, but rather it's a combination of effects with a limited degree range on all 3 axis.

This has led to some issues... Say you get your elevators shot off in a Bf109 or some plane where the entire stabilizer was trimmed. In Aces High you can't even maintain minimal control using trim in that case. However, some planes didn't have aileron or rudder trims in reality would be worse off if you didn't get basic flight-sim stick centering options to accommodate the hardware limitations we fly with at our PC desks.

[Fork [509th]]

Keep in mind, most German aircraft had auto fuel management systems that kept the engine running at optimum performance (especially the Fw190), while American and British fighter pilots were required to constantly manipulate their fuel, RPM, and mixtures controls.

In Aces High, fuel mixtures and engine management are all designed off the 190.Take-off, fly, shoot, pray, and land. :)

[Markster]

I don't think I agree in that regard. Most US planes just rammed the throttle forward and didn't think about pulling it back until they had to land afterwards (based on P-51 and P-47 pilot reports). This game does model fuel consumption based on throttle and RPM, and has cruise and max cruise settings posted for all players on the clipboard. That alone is a great step up in fuel management from a large number of WW2 pilots.

My tip to new players: Don't think you need the throttle at full all the time. That's a great general place, but throttle back in dives or to pull off a maneuver is a good thing. And, if you're low on gas, throttle back to make it home to land. E6B is your friend.