chase@olympus.Berkeley.EDU (Chris Chase) (10/20/90)
I have FALCON v2.2 for my SE/30. I have a difficult time flying. I am at the point where I can shoot migs down at the second level, but I have only landed successfully once or twice at that level. Does anyone have any tips on landing and flying the plane? I use the MouseII configuration. Does the mentioned joystick help very much? How much does it cost? My problem seems to be that I can't line up the plane exactly where it should be. Also, when I am dogfighting, I don't do much else except turn and decelerate until the mig is in my sights. Any tips there? Has anyone tried dogfighting over a Ethernet network? I haven't been able to get it to work on a cluster of MacIIx's here that uses ethernet. The documentation says that Falcon should work over Appletalk. In the new fixed range radar mode the is a number readout in the lower lefthand corner that is like: 352o 20 the "o" being a degree sign. There is no explanation of what that reading is. Thanks for your help, Chris Chase chase@ee.princeton.edu
earl@squid.cognet.ucla.edu (Earl Williams) (10/23/90)
In article <3471@idunno.Princeton.EDU> chase@olympus.Berkeley.EDU (Chris Chase) writes: >I have FALCON v2.2 for my SE/30. I have a difficult time flying. I am >at the point where I can shoot migs down at the second level, but I have >only landed successfully once or twice at that level. Does anyone have any >tips on landing and flying the plane? I use the MouseII configuration. >Does the mentioned joystick help very much? How much does it cost? >My problem seems to be that I can't line up the plane exactly where it should >be. Also, when I am dogfighting, I don't do much else except turn and decelerate >until the mig is in my sights. Any tips there? > Landing requires the simultaneous juggling of four flight characteristics, not all of which are well explained in the manual. 1) Land on the runway. Due (presumably) to round-off errors, the plane drifts right on approach (this goes for lining up Maverick missiles too) compared to the radar sight image. Line up on the left hand edge of the runway, or even a little off it, while approaching. I find it useful to carry an extra Maverick and use its video image to sight the runway better. Just don't fire it! 8-) 2) Reduce airspeed appropriately. You will stall and crash if you go under 100 knots or so, but don't hit the runway at over 150 knots. 120 is ideal. 3) Have an appropriate angle of attack (AOA). This is pretty well described in the manual (how to see what your current AOA is), but what isn't explained that well (IMHO) is that AOA is a direct function of airspeed. If you're going slowly, your AOA will _automatically_ increase to an appropriate level (8-13 degrees for landing, I think). Use the trim adjustment only at the last minute, as a last resort. Try to control AOA entirely via airspeed. 4) Not described that well in the manual is that you have to set the plane down very gently. This means _vertical_ speed, which you have no direct measure of. All you have to go on is the digital altimeter and 'feet per update'. 1-3 feet per update will not crash you, but anything more than that and the bizarre Falcon crash decision criteria may judge your perfectly good landing as a crash. Other landing notes: I don't find the landing angle beacon to be that helpful, and you _can_ legally land on any runway and in any direction at your airport. I often come in from the north, and if I don't like the approach (or mess it up), I can just fly past, bank left into a 270 degree turn, and land to the west. Take the manual's advice to _not force a landing_. If everything isn't just right, pull up, kick in your afterburners, and try again on a different pass. Just don't expect the guy in the tower to appreciate the noise. Mouse vs. keyboard opinion: there is no way I could fly Falcon with the mouse. I use the keyboard, which works fine. Dogfighting tips: spinning around may be effective, but it doesn't work too well when fighting more than one MiG. When spinning around chasing tails, try a vertical loop (up or down). While the MiG stays in the horizontal loop, you may be able to roll right in behind it for an easy kill. Other than that, try the maneuvers in the manual; they work. ----------------------------------------------------------- Earl M. Williams ?8-) UCLA Psychology Department earl@cognet.ucla.edu 2344B Franz Hall "No matter where you go, there you are." -Buckaroo Banzai