B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!

[Buddahaid]

So I bit and purchased a modern FCS from Saitek, the X-56 Rhino, and it looks like it will work well using the profile software it comes with. In any case, using vJoy stops the Saitek driver from loading again even when vJoy is disabled. vJoy also will not recognize any of the three hat controls.

[Buddahaid]

Well I have no idea why, but I'm unable to do the bombing run tutorial due to the aircraft not maintaining altitude. The bomb sight is set for 8000 ft and the bomb sight is flying the plane but I'll be at 4000 ft by the time I'm over target.

Also the drift adjustment will be controllable but the aircraft is no longer heading the autopilot so nothing changes. Very strange.

Well I know what happens now but not why. I loose control of being able to choose manual, or AI control, and it's stuck in a bad AI mode and it happened when I went to manual to adjust the intervalometer.

[Buddahaid]

OK, it's fixed. I purged all other joystick software first and the problem persisted so I then uninstalled the game, purged again, and reinstalled. It works fine now.

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

OK, it's fixed. I purged all other joystick software first and the problem persisted so I then uninstalled the game, purged again, and reinstalled. It works fine now.

That's fantastic news and really great to know. I've toyed with the idea of buying a Saitek X-56 Rhino myself but can't justify the cost just now. Maybe I'll upgrade from my HOTAS X next year.

What are you impressions of the joystick so far?

[ikrananka]

The eleventh video in this series is now live on YouTube. In this video I focus on Quickstart Mission #2: Attack of the Axis. In this mission we use the gun stations of our B-17 to defend against a vicious attack by enemy fighters including Bf 109s, FW 190s and the jet propelled Me 262s.

Sorry for the delay in getting this video published. My recording software took a flaky and I was left with a video that had lots of dropped frames and audio out of sync. Took me a while to edit it into something presentable.

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by ikrananka

That's fantastic news and really great to know. I've toyed with the idea of buying a Saitek X-56 Rhino myself but can't justify the cost just now. Maybe I'll upgrade from my HOTAS X next year.

What are you impressions of the joystick so far?

It's been quite a few years since I've had a HOTAS system so I love that aspect of the Rhino. In particular, being able to split the throttle into port and starboard controls for supported multi-engine sims is nice. Good in B-17 for when an engine is feathered.

The overall quality is good so far and I've no complaints there. There is, however, no detailed instructions for programming profiles. The link to that manual is dead, or not set up yet, but it's the same as the X-55 so you can use that manual. That said, the level of programming options is very generous and I've been able to get everything working in all my sims but Red Baron 3D which just won't calibrate, or perhaps find the X,Y axis. I can get to the calibrations and work them, but there is just no flight control in sim. It did allow me to get the other old Sierra titles to run with full flight controls and an old DOS favorite called Strike Commander also.

So overall I love it but there are programming concepts that could use tutorials to better understand.

In B-17 today I ran my first historical mission, Bremen, and let the AI do it all but the bomb run. First screw up was not understanding how to start the mission so I just started the engines, took off and watched the AI insist the landing gear be lowered and the plane fly into the ground. After that I went to the radio operator and chose start mission which worked great up until the taxi job after landing. The AI just drove me way out into a cow pasture and left me wondering how to complete the mission. Sorted that by heading over to a hard point and manually shutting down the engines. The split throttle made that possible with engine four feathered, otherwise I couldn't stop the plane from going in circles.

Still a ways to go before I'm comfortable with everything but at least it's making a lot more sense now. Thanks for the tutorials.

[Buddahaid]

Now that I'm getting a lot more comfortable with this sim, I'm finding that the quick start mission number three "Where are the Little Friends" a good mission for practicing both gunnery and bomb aiming. You can start as a gunner for the few minutes it takes to turn onto the bomb run, then assume the bombardier's position for the bomb run, and return to gunnery for several more minutes with ME-262's finishing off the defensive attacks.

I'm also finding the tail gunner is the easiest gun position to get up to speed with because it allows you more time to track targets that are attacking from the rear. Nice to watch one explode when you nail it.

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Now that I'm getting a lot more comfortable with this sim, I'm finding that the quick start mission number three "Where are the Little Friends" a good mission for practicing both gunnery and bomb aiming. You can start as a gunner for the few minutes it takes to turn onto the bomb run, then assume the bombardier's position for the bomb run, and return to gunnery for several more minutes with ME-262's finishing off the defensive attacks.

I'm also finding the tail gunner is the easiest gun position to get up to speed with because it allows you more time to track targets that are attacking from the rear. Nice to watch one explode when you nail it.

Yes indeed. I'm working on a video for that Quickstart mission right now and will hopefully have it up on YouTube in a day or two.

What I like about this mission is that it let's you practice against three different Axis fighters, i.e. Bf109, FW190 and the jet propelled Me262.

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

So I bit and purchased a modern FCS from Saitek, the X-56 Rhino, and it looks like it will work well using the profile software it comes with. In any case, using vJoy stops the Saitek driver from loading again even when vJoy is disabled. vJoy also will not recognize any of the three hat controls.

Well I guess vJoy has its limitations. I suppose that if your joystick already comes with profile software that allows you to adjust sensitivity then there is no need for vJoy and Joystick Curves.