Cliffs of Dover

I've also been using this mini-mod:

http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2580

Because where I come from you call a spade grip a spade grip.   

That Blenheim's a bit of a beast to get off the ground, but surprisingly pleasant to fly once it's up in the air. Navigation is a bit of a pain, and I'm not sure finding a bridge or whatever in Northern France with snappers and flak about would be an easy proposition!

Saying that, I'm assuming from all the bomb arming options you can set your bombs with a delayed fuse and drop them low level, which sounds like jolly good fun!

I'm away next week on a well deserved break from work which has been a nightmare this last few months, but I reckon I should be back up and flying online come end of April.  

Righto Skipper, I'm in end of year assignments, and Final Year Project month this month, so I'll have quite a flap on until the end of April as well.

As for finding a Bridge, I think that's the Bomb Aimer's job - you just fly the Aeroplane and not get shot down.   

It looks like they have multiplayer campaigns of some sort on Sunday evenings, so they might be worth a look if we get into the game.

Watching some of the videos it seems that some of the Germans are actually German as well, which makes a change.  

Speedy was playing around in a Tiger Moth last night, so I decided to hop across the Channel to try to improve my terrible bouncing skills.   

Nice MJ

I can see my problem in this game is going to be spotting the damn EA, just like in ROF. On the plus side it looks like the mgs actually do some damage unlike in WWIIOL.   

you can also zoom a little bit like in rof.
mj got shot down Tuesday cause I did not set it up and could not id his follower from that distance I was in.

I've actually found it easier to spot aircraft at long range in Cliffs of Dover than it is in RoF (and I suppose WW2OL as the visibility range is probably longer), however identifying what aircraft they are is a bit trickier.

And as much as the thought of blaming everyone else when I get shot down appeals to me, Hink - I should have done a better job of checking my own six.   

I reckon I'm pretty well set up for Cliffs of Dover now, anyway:   

nice set up mj.

MJDixon wrote:I've actually found it easier to spot aircraft at long range in Cliffs of Dover than it is in RoF (and I suppose WW2OL as the visibility range is probably longer), however identifying what aircraft they are is a bit trickier.

And as much as the thought of blaming everyone else when I get shot down appeals to me, Hink - I should have done a better job of checking my own six.   

I reckon I'm pretty well set up for Cliffs of Dover now, anyway:   

Wow that is a set-up!

I'm having real trouble getting my controls mapped in this game. Is is just me or is the in game mapping really awkward? Even clicking in the cockpit on the magnetos, fuel cock is hit and miss for me.

Therefore I haven't manage to taxi to a runway, let alone take off, without my radiator getting punctured. In the first solo training, with the hurri this is what a do:

chocks in
radiator closed
mixture full ( I think, thats one thing I can't adjust whatever key I map it to, and clicking in the cockpit dosen't do anything)
fuel cock on
magnetos 1 & 2 one
engine start
let the engine warm
chocks out
increase throttle till I begin to move (after a good deal of shaking)
use rudder and brakes to control plane to taxi way
move a few yards
water Rad temp rockets up
open radiator, decrease throttle
water rad is punctured. game over   

I wouldn't really know about starting up a Hurricane, Speedy - but as far as the Spitfire Ia (100 octane) goes, what I do is:

Chocks in
Canopy open (helps for taxi visibility)
Mixture full (It's set at full as default, and it's either completely full or completely lean, rather than being an axis with incremental values, also it doesn't seem to work on the ground most of the time, but I don't suppose it would need to, it probably depends between different types however.)
Prop pitch fine (fully forward, depends on the type of prop you have I guess.)
Radiator fully open (fully forward/down)
Throttle 1/2 inch forward
Fuel Cock on
Mag 1 & 2 on
Contact!
Wait for Radiator temp of about 35 - 40 degrees (not really sure about Oil at that stage as I just go by the Radiator temp)
(Very) Slowly increase the throttle until you can get to stable 0 boost
Back down to low RPM again
Wait for the Radiator to get to 60 degrees and the Oil to get to 40 degrees (Close your Radiator if you're in a rush, or go through the pre-flight stuff like setting your directional gyro, gunsight, set altimeter with these handy maps, make sure your controls are clear, test the brakes, etc.)
Chocks away!
Taxi at about 1800 RPM.
Take off with gradual increase to full power and full right aileron to keep it level

There's technical documentation on the ATAG Wiki, or just get the Pilot's notes (Note the Spit II and Blen IV notes on the right side of my desk.)   

Keep your radiator open the whole time. I wouldn't have it closed during takeoff.

So start up in a hurri is

Cockpit Open
Fuel cock on
Mixture Lean
Prop pitch fine

Radiator Open
Trim full right rudder
Magnetos
Ignition
Brakes on while warm up and a little rudder to hold it still
As you increase the throttle during warm up, the engine tells you when it's not quite ready with that horrible screeching noise.

When you can get a good amount of throttle up without the aircraft shaking, taxi to the runway and hold. Remember the yellow placards show you the correct runway alignment.

Smoothly throttle to full power over about 5 or 6 seconds, as the aircraft starts to life centre trim rudder (I've got Z, X and C mapped to trim left, trim right and cancel trim) and lift, gear up, fly off into the blue!

Version 4.312 has been released:

Link

Notes wrote:Explosive ammo shrapnel
Fixed typo that was making the shrapnel more deadly than normal. After the fix, it will behave like in 4.0.

Clearly the only possible reason why I got shot down on tuesday, Hink - we woz robbed!   

i destroyed my engine many times after lifting

make sure it is at a good temperature before attempting to lift
make sure radiator is open
after lifting change prop pitch to descrease rpm

I will have another crack tonight. I've got to get the hang of it before I venture in the multiplayer madness.

Well I'll be on from 8pm tonight, so if you fancy some more hands on training we can log in to the ATAG server and do some circuits and bumps at a rear aerodrome (as rear as the Battle of Britain allows that is.   )

I promise I'll go easy on you.

Hink logged for the night, Speedy - so I'm AFK, post here if you want to do some flying though.

There were 110 - 120 people online on the ATAG Server tonight, which is nice - but laggy.   

MJDixon wrote:Hink logged for the night, Speedy - so I'm AFK, post here if you want to do some flying though.

I had a good go offline last night.

I managed to get the hang of taxing without blowing up. Take off is still rather hairy I tend to snake my way down the runway, still trying to find the correct input on the rudder to keep her straight. Lifted successfully a few times, but also pranged a couple of hurris in the process    Landing is fine. Bagged a few Ju88s in the offline missions. Jolly good fun all round.

I'll take up your offer of some 'spring chicken to shite hawk' training on Tuesday if that's ok with you?

full right trim and gentle corrections is the key speedy.

I still use my old school x45 throttle with rocker switch for the rudder, it's not the best for gentle corrections. However, I'd forgotten the rudder trim so I shall give that a whirl.

speedy77 wrote:I'll take up your offer of some 'spring chicken to shite hawk' training on Tuesday if that's ok with you?

Righto, Speedy - I'll be on at the usual time - on the WW2OL TeamSpeak (though we should probably get around to using the ATAG one.   )

I noticed that Skip uses rudder trim on take off, where as I prefer to just keep it neutral and use rudder input to keep her steady, that way I don't have to reset the trim back to neutral after takeoff, as ther's no rudder trim indicator (even though there is a button for that.     )

I suppose everyone has their own way of getting off the ground, just so long as you get off the ground and don't prang anything that'll do!



I've made a new sub-forum for Cliffs of Dover stuff, as this single Off Topic thread is getting a bit cramped.

I popped into the forums to see how things are going , as I do from time to time when I noticed the CLOD addition to the site. Must say it looks bloody complicated like ROF ! How goes WWIIOL ? Are you still giving them hell ? And how is everyone ? Im sure Hinkel didnt have a daughter last time I played and did I see a post from MJ mentioning a final year project ? I think he was still in his first year last time i was here. I'd pay good money to see him playing CLOD/ROF on that setup he posted wearing his flying helmet and silk scarf.

What ho, Dezey! Nice to hear from you.

Aye CloD is pretty complicated, but it's good fun once you know what you're doing - and aye, we still play WW2OL, though we haven't been on for a bit while we've been getting CloD sorted out properly.

Not sure how that Hinkel thing happened, something about Bees or the like - and yes I've just about finished my degree, so long as I don't fail.   

But don't be daft, Dezey - I'd wear a cravat if it was Cliffs of Dover, the silk scarf is just for RoF!

How are things in Dezeyland?

Dezey wrote:
I popped into the forums to see how things are going , as I do from time to time when I noticed the CLOD addition to the site. Must say it looks bloody complicated like ROF ! How goes WWIIOL ? Are you still giving them hell ? And how is everyone ? Im sure Hinkel didnt have a daughter last time I played and did I see a post from MJ mentioning a final year project ? I think he was still in his first year last time i was here. I'd pay good money to see him playing CLOD/ROF on that setup he posted wearing his flying helmet and silk scarf.

Hi Dezey. Good to hear from you again. I hope all is well?

Its hasn't been the same without our resident stuka chaser! As MJ said CloD is a little tricky to master, I still prang plenty of spits on take off, but once your up it's fine. Still can't beat the total war concept of WW2OL though.