I've found that raising the viewpoint in the Maule cockpit using control-W while on the ground, so that the top of the cowl is level or just under the horizon, makes takeoff, landing and taxiing a lot easier. You can set it in the air by setting the horizon halfway between the top of the cowl and the bottom of the wing root. It's much easier to do a soft landing if you know exactly how high to raise the nose during flare.

 

Another thing I've been experimenting with is zooming in to 1.5. Default zoom for the cockpit is 0.6, and I've had it set to 1.0 for quite a while. You can edit the camera.cfg file to change the default zoom. The 1.5 zoom level is set by hitting backspace to get the default, zooming in as far as possible, then zooming out one level.

 

I've noticed from screen shots that many people seem to prefer a wide angle view from the cockpit. This does give you a good panoramic view, and you can see all the instruments at once. But when I started zooming in to 1.5, what I lost in field of view was more than made up for in detail. The instruments are almost as large as you'd see if you were in a real plane, and especially on landing the exterior view of the runway looks more like what I've seen from a real airplane.

 

Another advantage is that you can easily see what the nose of the aircraft is doing by looking at the horizon. You won't need to use the ball to keep a coordinated turn, for example, just watch the horizon and add rudder as necessary to keep it from moving sideways when you bank. The Maule will hold a bank angle without use of the aileron if you have the proper amount of rudder during the turn. In fact, if you're gentle with the rudder, you can turn the plane without the ailerons and still have a coordinated turn. Also, you can see immediately if the nose is rising or falling.

 

If you set the zoom level higher, be aware that you should probably set the Scenery in options to give the maximum distance to prevent trees and such from being so noticable when they pop up. You may experience a bit of degradation at that zoom, but it's well worth it. This feels more like flying a real plane to me. You may want to reset the viewpoint to normal height during level flight in this case, which will allow you to see the instruments better.

 

I've also found that I'm not so critical about getting the view set straight ahead if I'm zoomed in. You'll have to move your view around the cockpit to see all the instruments, or zoom out a bit if you're changing a lot of things at once. Mouse Look (right mouse button) allows you to look around easily if you don't have TrackIR. In level flight VFR I set the view so I can see halfway down the aitimeter, which is enough. With IFR flight you'll rotate the view down so you can see all the instruments, but you probably aren't looking out the window so much in that case anyway.

 

Oh... there's no zoom level between 1.0 and 1.5, which is a big jump. You can set an intermediate value (I use 1.25) in the camera.cfg file for the cockpit view default zoom. Then, just hit Backspace and you're at 1.25 zoom, but you can't get to it by changing zoom level in the cockpit view.

 

The new zoom is like having a whole new game. Everything looks to be in proper scale, especially the ground. I haven't flown in turbulence this way yet, and for some it may produce some motion sickness. In that case, a zoom of 1.0 is probably better.

 

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Interesting. I used 0.7 for a while but a few weeks ago, when we got Track IR support, I went to 0.8. Although I understand that at 1 or 1.5 things may look more real, it seems to me you lose too much of peripheral view and also the sense of speed. And as you say, the scenery doesn't get much better when zoomed in so much. Did you change the default position too somehow?

I don't change the default eyepoint position, only the zoom. And I only raise the eyepoint for takeoff and landing and when on the ground, at least with 1.5 zoom. When I used 1.0 zoom, I left the eyepoint high all the time.

 

The only things I changed in the cameras.cfg file were:

 

//InitialZoom = 0.6

InitialZoom = 1.25

 

and

 

//xyzrate=0.12

xyzrate=1.00

 

The xyzrate makes the control key movements much quicker, but it's not always the same. Sometimes it takes 4 clicks of control-W to raise the viewpoint, sometimes only 2 or 3.

 

This shouldn't afffect other aircraft too much as you can zoom to the normal zoom levels easily enough.

 

For the Stearman, I use zoom of 1.0, then move the eyepoint back enough to see the instruments. This has the effect of making the instrument panel take up more of the screen (it's wider because of the zoom), but the exterior view looks much better than the default 0.6 zoom.

 

Hook

the scenery doesn't get much better when zoomed in so much.

 

I think the mountains are far more impressive looking when they are viewed with a natural zoom of around 1.0. At the default 0.6 they are like tiny objects in the distance even when you are close to them. 0.8 is a lot better looking, but they are still miniaturized somewhat by the fishbowl effect of zooming out.

 

Peripheral vision on the monitor isn't so important to me now that I can simply glance around with TrackIR. In fact, my situational awareness has greatly improved even though my field of view is narrower.

 

I just use Track IR, when I want to raise the eyepoint and zoom, I just sit up straighter and lean into the monitor a bit.

I just flew Merrill Pass with 1.5 zoom. The size of the mountains is really impressive. This isn't the same as leaning closer to the instrument panel with TrackIR; everything is *bigger*.

 

I think I've used mouse look to look around more in the couple of days since I started using higher zoom than in the whole time I've had Flight. Looks like TrackIR will be a must buy. Only problem is, the top of my monitor is several inches above my eye level.

 

Edit to add: I think the 1.5 zoom in Flight is the same as 1.0 zoom in FSX, judging by the cockpit interior.

 

Hook

I think I've used mouse look to look around more in the couple of days since I started using higher zoom than in the whole time I've had Flight. Looks like TrackIR will be a must buy. Only problem is, the top of my monitor is several inches above my eye level.

 

That's not a problem. My TIR sits several inches above eye level.

I gave it a try, did some flights with zoom at 1.0 but I can't get used to it. My main problem is that I get a too good view on where the autogen ends. When I zoom out back to 0.8 that border becomes less clear. Setting autogen to max isn't an option because then performance drops too much.

I gave it a try, did some flights with zoom at 1.0 but I can't get used to it. My main problem is that I get a too good view on where the autogen ends. When I zoom out back to 0.8 that border becomes less clear. Setting autogen to max isn't an option because then performance drops too much.

 

I have had my zoom set at 0.8 almost since I got flight. With track IR I think it looks pretty realistic.

I gave it a try, did some flights with zoom at 1.0 but I can't get used to it.

 

Odd, I seldom flew at less than 1.0 zoom level. With scenery at high I did notice where the trees appeared.

 

This is gonna sound weird, but it's possible that 1.5 zoom will actually give better performance, at least when you're not panning the view around, because the narrower angle of view means fewer trees that have to be rendered.

 

I have had my zoom set at 0.8 almost since I got flight. With track IR I think it looks pretty realistic.

 

Check out 1.5 zoom and let me know if the scale of the ground looks more like what you see from a real plane.

 

For example, the last time I was up in a 172, during final approach I was amazed at how big the runway looked compared to what I was seeing in FSX. The higher zoom level in Flight duplicates this effect.

 

Hook

I just did a long flight through Merrill Pass with 1.5 zoom and was sorry when I had to land after only 2 hours.

 

I've found that ground handling is a lot easier with that zoom. For example, at 1.0 zoom I can't judge my ground speed well at all. With higher zoom, it's easy. Also, turn rate looks much faster with the high zoom, so I'm turning slower and not getting passenger complains.

 

Judging height above ground during the flare is much improved as well.

 

It's just something about the scale of the outside looking right.

 

Hook

I just did a comparison. Flight cockpit zoom 1.5 is the same as FSX zoom 0.7. Interesting.

 

Hook

Well... that's a little... odd, I guess. Now the question becomes, what is actually the real "1.0" zoom in Flight, meaning a person's normal field of view?

I just did a comparison. Flight cockpit zoom 1.5 is the same as FSX zoom 0.7. Interesting.

 

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I never liked the zoom in FS, so I am thinking that the Flight one is more accurate, I could never judge touch and go traffic patterns in FS, like I can in Flight.

I never liked the zoom in FS, so I am thinking that the Flight one is more accurate, I could never judge touch and go traffic patterns in FS, like I can in Flight.

 

What was your typical zoom in FSX?

 

My default zoom in FSX was 0.7. I couldn't figure out why I was able to grease perfect 3 point landings in the FSX Goose and couldn't land worth a darn in a taildragger in Flight. I could do gentle landings in the Icon no problem, but the Stearman and Maule escaped me somehow. I think a lot had to do with the zoom being different in Flight.

 

Now the question becomes, what is actually the real "1.0" zoom in Flight, meaning a person's normal field of view?

 

I guess first of all, forget the idea that 1.0 is "normal" zoom. It looks like 1.0 in Flight would be 0.5 in FSX. In the end it's just a number. Some people like wide angle views, some like more narrow views.

 

One way to measure the "real" zoom is to determine your field of view in degrees while looking at your monitor, then determining which zoom gives the same number of degrees in Flight. I won't guarantee this will be your preferred zoom level.

 

For example, I sit 26 inches from my eye to my monitor. My monitor is 16 inches wide.

Arctan (8/26) is 17 degrees for each half of the monitor, so 34 degree field of view total horizontally.

 

No idea what FOV Flight uses for 1.0 zoom, but it's usually specified in degrees or radians. There should be a way to calculate it. If I can figure one out, I'll post it here. I'm hoping someone can beat me to it. :)

 

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