Boring? Really? How is faster simulated flight any less boring than slower simulated flight? How can realistic flight dynamics that accurately models the intricacies of the interaction between wing and air in takeoff, landing, and all aspects of flight be "boring"? Why would anyone who feels that way like flight swimming in the first place? Boring!!  Hah!!

At no time did I say the Cub bored me. I said I was underwhelmed, I had perhaps expected a real quantum leap in flying experience -that I didn't get. I like low, I like slow, I love dropping planes down onto gravel bars and beaches and tiny clearings in woodlands. I am a great fan of A2As approach, too. I just couldn't put my finger on it. I can fly the AirCreations Trike, and I don't find that boring either ;

 

Plunking your A to B speed machine on autopilot and watching it follow a magenta line for 2 hours is not exactly instinctual flying.  If flying 70kts @ 1000' AGL a J-3 is 'boring', then 220kts at FL120 locked on a magenta line must be too.  In this impatient gadget dependent society we live in, sometimes going back to low and slow while just relying on the ol grey matter and instincts is just what the doctor ordered.

If I fly a prop plane, I don 't use the autopilot, or the GPS, I fly by trimming out and compensating for wind drift, and I love it. I am a fly by hand type of guy. Before Christmas I recreated Amy Johnson's solo flight from London to Australia, I navigated in real time in a Gipsey Moth purely by map and compass and ded reckoning. Please don't conflate me 'not getting the Cub' with being an unskilled magenta line jockey.

At no time did I say the Cub bored me.

 

You're not the only one participating in the thread.  I didn't say you called it boring; but others have, repeatedly.  I was responding to that.  

Just out of curiosity, did you get it with the accusim addon pack or without?  That might make a big difference.  The A2A J-3, like earlier A2A releases, had the base plane, and accusim pack separate. 

 

The J-3 without accusim would indeed be a bit underwhelming.  Because the Cub is such a simple airplane, there is every reason to enjoy it with as much realism as possible.  All the little tiny details make a difference, especially in a simple bird like the Cub.

 

Some the leaps in flight simming technology are present in the J-3 for sure.  I think it is still one of the only addon with an interactive passenger in the VC, who not only points out traffic, but comments on your flying skills.  Lol, who here hasn't taken up 'nervous' Heidi, opened the door/window and done a few loops and spins.  

 

You can paddle the float version to and from the dock, and it's water physics are also the most realistic around, as is it's taildragger ground handling IMHO.  

 

Then flying it of course, you can fly it with your ears, not only from Heidi's reactions, but the sound of the airstream against the airframe,   Just basic instinctual flying at it's most detailed in FS, and to enjoy that kind of stuff, it really helps to have a simple slow plane like the Cub.

 

IMHO if you want to master a taildragger, learn the Cub, then wait for the upcomming A2A AT-6.  J-3 -> AT-6 -> Warbird would be an excellent progression of training experience....juust need a nice accusim open cockpit biplane like a Stearman, N3N, Tiger Moth, WACO....etc somewhere in there LOL.

 

Cheers

TJ

 

 

Before Christmas I recreated Amy Johnson's solo flight from London to Australia

 

I remember it - one of the best-ever FS adventures.

My flight instructor years ago had a Cub and I went with him out to Las Vegas in it from KSNA and remember always looking down and seeing this red pickup truck on the freeway below us who evidently was also going to Vegas. We could never out run him, so it's a lot like driving a car at 3,000ft :rolleyes: But I still love the A2A Cub, just wish they would do a Super Cup!!!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pt2qbUNo1ao

 

I bought CRM, but although Pistol Creek isnt on there, all the other strips are, and they are just as. Tough to approach, often needing a winding canyon approach. After that I looked on You Tube for anything marked 'Idaho bush flying' and was impressed by the incredibly flying, incredible airstrips and beautiful videos.

 

Of massive influence was a series of professional flight videos of stunning quality which break down bush flying into its constituent parts:

 

Backcountry Aviation: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CrPJac80W9Y

 

I've been wanting to tell someone about these videos for weeks!

Thanks for these links Mithras, and thanks to Griphos for the PNW flight suggestions - I might have myself a nice little 'Cub appreciation' session this weekend inspired by some great posts on this thread.

Happy flying!

A few years ago, I put together a tour for the DTP guys that I called the Sawtooth achievement.  It winds its way across Idaho, with most of the nice, challenging Salmon river strips on the route.  It was 11 legs.  I've posted a link to pics of the legs, and a text file with http addresses for the plan on Skyvector (just copy and paste to see the route for each leg).

 

You might find some of the legs interesting.  

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7983151/Sawtooth.zip

 

A link to the achievement flight description:

 

http://digitalthemepark.blogspot.com/p/achievement-idaho-sawtooth.html

I saw that Griphos, it was one of the posts that got me interested in the area - though I thought I needed to tackle some of them one by one first, to sharpen up my STOL skills....

Just out of curiosity, did you get it with the accusim addon pack or without?  

TJ

I got it with Accusim, I absolutely love A2As Accusim, you certainly feel like you are flying the real thing. Since I mentioned the Gipsy Moth, that can't have been much faster than a J-3 and it is just as basic on the instrument and control side, yet I spent two and a half months of my freetime flying the thing to Australia day in day out. And I enjoyed it, made a break from complex twins and VOR navigation. Like the Cub, it had no radio either. It was made by Golden Simulations I think and so I only had Accufeel, and no in depth flight or engine modelling.

 

What I'm saying is, primitive and slow though the Moth was, I 'got' that plane, and would probably snap up a Gipsy Moth or Tiger Moth if A2A ever did one. That tells me something, I've seen Moths at airshows in the UK and of course most Spitfire pilots were trained on them before the war... So flying such a basic aircraft brings with it an era and atmosphere that Cessnas and Pipers probably struggle with.

It's apparent that you enjoy that kind of flying, and your favorite plane for that is a Moth.   That's awesome, the Moth is a great plane, I got a lot of enjoyment out of Ant's Tiger Moth.  I would buy an Accusim Tiger Moth in a heartbeat.  The Cub is simply A2A's accusim choice to represent that kind of flying.  Remember accusim projects require a lot of time, R&D, flight testing and accessibility to a real example.  I bet if you ask Lewis, he might tell you a Tiger Moth was probably considered for an Accusim project, it would go great with the Spitfire.  However, easier access to Cubs might have factored into that choice as well.

 

Kind of like for the warbirds, the Spitfire and P-40 are from the same era.  I enjoy both a lot but am a little more drawn to the P-40, I imagine you are drawn more to the Spitfire.  It's wonderful having choices like that eh?  Hopefully A2A will revisit simple flying again and consider the Tiger Moth, but right now I think they are going to steadily more complex machines.  Think of Accusim itself like a student pilot who progresses with experience.   Starting out with simple airplanes, gradually moving to more complex.

 

Cheers

TJ

My flight instructor years ago had a Cub and I went with him out to Las Vegas in it from KSNA and remember always looking down and seeing this red pickup truck on the freeway below us who evidently was also going to Vegas. We could never out run him, so it's a lot like driving a car at 3,000ft :rolleyes: But I still love the A2A Cub, just wish they would do a Super Cup!!!!!

Your flight in the Cub, pacing a truck, reminds me of something that happened about 20 years ago.  I was riding my Harley motorcycle north up Hwy 101 in the vicinity of King City, CA.  This is a rural area, mostly farm fields.  Two Piper Cubs descended down next to the highway, adjacent to me.  They were very close. Occasionally they'd ascend in order to fly over phone lines, then they'd descend back down.  I matched their speed (around 70 mph) and we traveled together for about 10-15 minutes.  Strange - I've traveled in formation with planes, but I wasn't in a plane, it was on my motorcycle!

I love the A2A Cub too, but I only use it for occasional low-and-slow sightseeing or practicing landing in tight places. It's perfect for when you haven't got long and you just want to get up in the air quick or fancy a back-to-basics refresher. 

 

Other fun things you can do in the Cub are your own "drunk farmer" routine, or hovering into a high wind, or (more challenging) rev up the engine while holding down the brakes and pushing forward on the stick. The prop wash will cause the tail to lift, and you can balance the aircraft on the wheels while stationary. I don't believe you can do that with any non-A2A taildragger in FSX. Then see how long you can keep that up before you banjax the prop. 

 

 I remember reading a thread somewhere by a guy who went around the (FSX) world in his. I wouldn't try it myself...

One thing the A2A cub does really good is spins! They modeled that aspect very well, It just takes you awhile to get to attitude to do a spin :rolleyes:

 

Computerflyer.....yes, I can sure visualize that! To bad Go-Pro heads cams weren't around then B)

...or hovering into a high wind...

 

That reminds me...on one of my first flights in it, I was using real weather and the wind picked up to about 30 kts.  I landed okay, real short, but okay.  Then I taxied off the runway and tried to pull up to a hangar that happened to be right into the wind.  I could not, for the life of me, make it to that hangar!  The slightest forward movement, and the plane would lift off.  I could pull back on the throttle and it would settle back down, all the while making no forward progress, and often going backward.  I finally flew it to the hangar!  

 

Who needs rotors!  

 

 

 I finally flew it to the hangar!  

 

Hover taxi!  Gotta love it...