L-39 an early look

[Dominique_K 10,137]

Ron kindly asked me what I thought of my brand new  Albatros on the bargain channel forum.

Download and installation went well.  

Still in the process of mapping my Warthog (I hate that). One thing that may help others. My throttle was inactive because the axis was assigned somewhere else in the game. Found the conflct after 45 minutes. I was in excellent mood then 😠. 

I've had countless hours in the Lotus Simulations bird that I love. So I did make of fool of myself in the small Caucasus airfield where I flew two circuits but, at least, I didn't kill myself. Landed right in the middle with a moderate to loud thump but nothing broken, either me or the Albatros.. I know the girl. Slippery is her middle name.

First impressions (in bulk). To take with a grain of salt as I did only two circuits.

She is obviouly a nice lady. The cockpit feels good.

Annoyed by the speedometer in knots. It should in km/h. Why ? Because, all the markers I know for the 39 are in kph as is the DCS manual ! Thre is a mod that I have to try.

The flight model is on the twitchy side. I suspect the real plane is more stable than that. It is a trainer after all. II suppose one has to modify the Thrustmaster joystick curve to flatten it. Something I never did. We'll see... Anyone to help ?

The 39 has no A/P. Trimming is important. The DCS FDE works well here.

Like with the 51 she seems to never stop on the runway after landing. The DCS friction mode is very "greasy".

The aerobrake is weird. No way to select an intermediate position and you have to keep your finger on the button  to keep it deployed. Maybe a lack of knwoledge on my side on how to map the HOTAS.

Global impression : none. Too early. But I certainly will fly her a lot to  know her better. Slippery girls, you gotta love them.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by domkle

[pedrotrindade 335]

1 hour ago, domkle said:

Still, In the process of mapping my Warthog (I hate that). One thing that may help others. My throttle was inactive because the axis was assigned somewhere else in the game. Found the conflct after 45 minutes. I was in excellent mood then 😠.

 

Hi Dominique, I don't own the L-39 but is always a good thing to clear all the default assignments in DCS before start mapping to your taste just to avoid surprises later on. Regarding controls input try a curve of 10 or 20 in your DCS controls.

[Dominique_K 10,137]

8 minutes ago, pedrotrindade said:

 

Thank you Pedro, appreciate the return. This is my first DCS payware so I've  a lot to learn.

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

5 hours ago, domkle said:

Ron kindly asked me what I thought of my brand new  Albatros on the bargain channel forum.

Download and installation went well.  

Still in the process of mapping my Warthog (I hate that). One thing that may help others. My throttle was inactive because the axis was assigned somewhere else in the game. Found the conflct after 45 minutes. I was in excellent mood then 😠.

My tip for assigning controls: Clear the lot and start with a clean sheet! That way you only assign what you need/want

I've had countless hours in the Lotus Simulations bird that I love. So I did make of fool of myself in the small Caucasus airfield where I flew two circuits but, at least, I didn't kill myself. Landed right in the middle with a moderate to loud thump but nothing broken, either me or the Albatros.. I know the girl. Slippery is her middle name.

First impressions (in bulk). To take with a grain of salt as I did only two circuits.

She is obviously a nice lady. The cockpit feels good.

Annoyed by the speedometer in knots. It should in km/h. Why ? Because, all the markers I know for the 39 are in kph as is the DCS manual ! There is a mod that I have to try.

If I recall correctly, you can change the panel from Knots to Kilometres. But my recall isn't too reliable these days!

The flight model is on the twitchy side. I suspect the real plane is more stable than that. It is a trainer after all. II suppose one has to modify the Thrustmaster joystick curve to flatten it. Something I never did. We'll see... Anyone to help ?

The 39 has no A/P. Trimming is important. The DCS FDE works well here.

Like with the 51 she seems to never stop on the runway after landing. The DCS friction mode is very "greasy".

Approach too fast? Just sayin'

The aerobrake is weird. No way to select an intermediate position and you have to keep your finger on the button  to keep it deployed. Maybe a lack of knwoledge on my side on how to map the HOTAS.

Controller assignment needs looking at. Mine is one switch for airbrakes ON and another for OFF (middle rocker switch on the right side of the throttle, it'll be under your thumb)

Global impression : none. Too early. But I certainly will fly her a lot to  know her better. Slippery girls, you gotta love them.

 

 

I've taken the liberty of putting my comments in red.

EDIT: I just noticed Pedro's comment about clearing the controls.

[Dominique_K 10,137]

6 minutes ago, Ron Attwood said:

I've taken the liberty of putting my comments in red.

Thanks for that.

Aerobrake ; on the Lotus Albatros you can map it to an axis (the slider for me). No way in DCS . Should it be on an ON/OFF switch, I don't know.  I'lll try to remap it.

Edited June 28, 2019 by domkle

[Dominique_K 10,137]

I don't know whether my exploration could help others to save time ? 

Airbrakes : you actually need two buttons to be mapped . One On/Off switch (I used the TM flaps lever) for permanent extension/retraction and another one that you have to keep pressed for short time extension (used the pinky button on the stick). Shoudl be handy on final approach.

Wheel brakes : No surpise that I found that I couldn't stop the aircraft. Bad mapping ! You program the paddle behind the joystick (keyboard W). Pull the paddle to brake and differential braking by pulling the paddle and moving the pedals (no toe brakes). That is better implemented than in the Lotus 39. 

Twitchy FDE : Thanks Pedro I didn't know one could input a curve within DCS without going to the dreaded TARGET. More stable ( a bit too stable actually I will fine tune that.)

My last circuits leave me the impression that sloppy complacency is maybe not the way to go with this aircraft.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by domkle

[Dominique_K 10,137]

Good news .No need for a mod to move to a metric speedometer. There is an in-game option. It  makes the life easier for those who flew the Lotus ! I don't bust my middle flaps no mo' !

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Take another look at the bits I highlighted in red on your post.

[Dominique_K 10,137]

3 minutes ago, Ron Attwood said:

Take another look at the bits I highlighted in red on your post.

I did and that was helpful. I cleaned the slate and started over he mapping which was an absolute mess.

 I read the rather well done manual too, That is where I found that there is a double command for the airbrake. That makes sense. When you descend you keep it extended with the ON button for a few minutes. Dropping the gear and TO flaps on DW, you retract it with OFF.  But you may need it back for a few seconds on final. Thats why there is another push-only button on the joystick. Smart enough.

The swicthes on the WH throttle are one-button only, so you need one for ON and one for OFF. I went to another solution, the flaps two-button lever, to keep some leeway for the weapon systems if needed. I always control the flaps  from the joystick anyway

About the fast approach speed,you were right. Having my kph markers  back helped to fly at the proper speeds. Having brakes working too for the rollout 😉. Differential braking is something on that plane. Ouch...

The feeling I have is that this aircraft is more difficult to master than the Lotus. It is a compliment. I like that. Should it prepare me for the I-16  (no trim...) or the F-18 I don't know 😄. I 'll se that in 6 monts maybe.

On a side note, it is a whiff heavier on framerate than the TF-51 on my older machine (slight stutters). I will put some scenery sliders a little to the left.

Do you have the Kursant campaign ? 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2019 by domkle

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

1 hour ago, domkle said:

Should it prepare me for the I-16  (no trim...)

Nothing will prepare you for the I-16! Trim? What's that?

[Dominique_K 10,137]

Just now, Ron Attwood said:

Nothing will prepare you for the I-16! Trim? What's that?

The idea of having a no-trim aircraft has a moderate appeal, the Thrustmaster is a beast to keep a pitch up without trimming.

[Dominique_K 10,137]

Starting the Persian Gulf map with Zula Alpha 

Tears of joy running down my cheeks. ZA doesn't know the HOTAS mapping of Charlie . And I suspect that it'd be a bad idea to cut and paste the confi file. So mapping again. <sigh>

[Ezra 29]

I chose to pass on the L-39 as trainer for the F-18, etc. A good trainer for the F-18, strangely enough, is the AV-8B Harrier by RAZBAM for DCS. The avionics suite and some weapon delivery procedures are similar in a limited way. The cockpit load in the AV-8B alone will also get one ready for the F-18. The latest version of the AV-8B is actually pretty good since the last updates. She fly's beautifully for a strike aircraft. Navigation is pretty well done as well. ADF, TACAN, DME, etc. Still a work in progress though like most DCS aircraft. The model and cockpit lighting is also a thing of beauty.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Ezra

[Dominique_K 10,137]

4 hours ago, Ezra said:

I chose to pass on the L-39 as trainer for the F-18, etc. A good trainer for the F-18, strangely enough, is the AV-8B Harrier by RAZBAM for DCS. The avionics suite and some weapon delivery procedures are similar in a limited way. The cockpit load in the AV-8B alone will also get one ready for the F-18. The latest version of the AV-8B is actually pretty good since the last updates. She fly's beautifully for a strike aircraft. Navigation is pretty well done as well. ADF, TACAN, DME, etc. Still a work in progress though like most DCS aircraft. The model and cockpit lighting is also a thing of beauty.

Good to know, Ezra. I chose the Albatros because I knew the plane of P3D which is a very bad reason ! But I was not in the mood of learning the complexities of the avionics of a modern jet fighter and I am interested more by flying than by fighting.  I may come to the F18 (for the carrier landings !)  after a while and will keep in mind your suggestion. 

[Ezra 29]

7 hours ago, domkle said:

Good to know, Ezra. I chose the Albatros because I knew the plane of P3D which is a very bad reason ! But I was not in the mood of learning the complexities of the avionics of a modern jet fighter and I am interested more by flying than by fighting.  I may come to the F18 (for the carrier landings !)  after a while and will keep in mind your suggestion. 

Yup. I come from P3Dv4 as well. I don`t fly the Harrier (DCS) for the combat either. The flight experience in terms of smoothness is far better in DCS in my opinion with the same rig. I know the regions are limited but they are still real good if one want`s to learn the basics of flight and navigation with limited ATC. If you are just into VFR then any other aircraft is no more difficult than the L-39. Furthermore, the complexities of the avionics are easily tamed down with (auto start---Win+Home), easy comms, etc. The F-18 is no slouch when it comes to cockpit load if one cares about semi-pro-typical procedures like approaches and landing, etc. Anyway, have at her. 😉 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Ezra