A few questions that I now got a new rig...

[GiftGruen]

In my opinion, you should build the rig in a way that at least the stick is centered.

Flying WW2 birds with sidesticks is weird and feels wrong.

 

To be honest I dont really understand your setup, since I'm a VR pilot. Somehow I have the impression that you try to somehow 'simulate' VR immersion by big screens. While I'm quite sure that this doesn't work - I must admit that I never tried it 😉

Edited April 10 by GiftGruen

[Aapje]

On 4/9/2026 at 12:15 AM, Doctor_Ramble said:

For those who don't have an Android cellphone there is another option.

Smoothtrack works both with Apple and Android.

On 4/9/2026 at 12:15 AM, Doctor_Ramble said:

Opentrack, a free and open-source head tracking programme, allows you to use a webcam to track your face.

Smoothtrack also uses Opentrack. The phone works as a face-tracking camera and then connects to Opentrack that manages what the effect is of turning your head and sends the correct information to the game.

[daiphan]

2 hours ago, GiftGruen said:

In my opinion, you should build the rig in a way that at least the stick is centered.

Flying WW2 birds with sidesticks is weird and feels wrong.

 

To be honest I dont really understand your setup, since I'm a VR pilot. Somehow I have the impression that you try to somehow 'simulate' VR immersion by big screens. While I'm quite sure that this doesn't work - I must admit that I never tried it 😉

I think VR gives you the total immersion although I have never tried one. I stood in front of the 98" for at least 15 minutes and watch the game demo on it. I say the level of immersion is very good. People online also reported the same while playing game on this massive TV. Regarding the gig, the base can be rotated so the stick is almost in the center. I do not want to spend too much at this time so I start out with basic gear and update as needed. Dai 

[GiftGruen]

43 minutes ago, daiphan said:

Regarding the gig, the base can be rotated so the stick is almost in the center. I do not want to spend too much at this time so I start out with basic gear and update as needed. 

Yes, I saw from the picture that you can rotate, this is why I wrote that you should for sure do so.

Makes absolute sense to no spent thousands of bucks for the beginning. Stick, Hotas - ( the TM16000 you have (?) is totally okay - I also started with this one ) and something to mount so you can fly conviniently.

The big TV, well, probably the price for a Quest3 is not much higher. But this is also a matter of taste if you prefer Flatscreen or VR.

[SCG_Tzigy]

Quick search on Amazon - wow! quite the variety of flight sim stands rigs, what a change compared to few years ago! I have been extremely happy with Wheel Stand Pro,  I have 2 sets and the components quality is excellent,  and the design is superb.

[Dash,Polder]

On the bright side if you do decide to change over to another system like VR you still got one heck of a TV for in between flying sessions.  There are some people who have no problems putting themselves mentally and spatially inside a cockpit in the game using a quality screen, and can knife fight and shoot just as good as the next guy is doing it in VR who's using really good artificial depth perception directly inside a cockpit.  

Two of the best knife fighters I've ever encountered over the past years used hat switches for views, I still can't understand that one to this day.  I could never fly more than a basic pattern using a hat switch for views.  

[daiphan]

The only concern I have about the 98 " is the instruments will be larger than life. Will that kill immersion? Dai 

[Shinobimono]

10 часов назад, daiphan сказал:

I think VR gives you the total immersion

Moreover it makes your life easier. You turn your head and look around just like in normal life. It’s simply more convenient when maneuvering.

For example, yesterday I tried playing IL-2 again for the first time in a year and a half in multiplayer. Without tuning TrackIR didn’t feel quite the same as in DCS, and my zoom wasn’t set up at all. Long story short, I couldn’t even shoot down a simple unaware target - and I got shot down myself while trying to find my airfield.

I gave up, put on my VR headset, and the situation completely turned around. Combat became comfortable, dogfighting I killed two guys in a row in few minutes.

 

[daiphan]

Ok gang,

The rig is here. Next Friday will be the delivery of the 98" TV. I am concerned about the size but the only way to know is to test it out. Dai 

Edited April 10 by daiphan

[Shinobimono]

Guinness is fine, but I would recommend to get rudder pedals instead. 😌 

[daiphan]

2 hours ago, Shinobimono said:

Guinness is fine, but I would recommend to get rudder pedals instead. 😌 

Yes already ordered. For now I want a simple rig and get into more complex rig/gear as needed as I plan to get into Microsoft FS as well as racing. Dai 

Edited Saturday at 10:41 AM by daiphan

[MajorMagee]

I went through a detailed visual calibration exercise for the Tank Crew gunsights. See Calibration Discussion Here

As far as controlling the apparent size of your instruments the key will be determining your view distance from the monitor and setting the cockpit FOV (Field Of View) that displays them "life sized".

[daiphan]

1 hour ago, MajorMagee said:

I went through a detailed visual calibration exercise for the Tank Crew gunsights. See Calibration Discussion Here

As far as controlling the apparent size of your instruments the key will be determining your view distance from the monitor and setting the cockpit FOV (Field Of View) that displays them "life sized".

Wow, I did not know there is a command that display the instruments to be life sized. Where can I find this command? Thanks Dai 

Greetings,

Added a keyboard tray and it looks much better now. The pedals will arrive tomorrow. Dai 

Edited Saturday at 01:12 PM by daiphan

[Gutholz]

Since you plan to go into racing too:

Make sure the stand is not too wobbly. That rig looks like it might move side to side when using FFB wheels.

There are differences between flying and racing regarding screens. In racing you are mostly looking forward with quick glances to the side.

In flying you are looking all around you, including up&down and only looking straight forward when shooting or during cruise.

For racing many people prefer 3 screens over one big one because it gives better vision to the side. Live for Speed ( www.lfs.net ) has good tripple screen support with all nessecary options, if you ever want to try that. There is a free demo. LFS is also good for testing VR because you can switch between 2D and 3D instantly. Other games, like IL2, require restarting and have long loading times...super annoying if you are just testing VR. From what I have read, tripple screen support in IL2 is not good. (?)

In racing is also more focus on getting the correct distances between eyes/screen/wheel and correct FOV ("zoom") ingame. If you google "sim racing fov calculator" you will find some results.

But for now I think your setup is more than good enough. Try to fly as much as possible, it will be more helpful in figuring what you need than online reviews. Also for start I found it useful to label every new button with some tape.

[daiphan]

1 hour ago, Gutholz said:

Since you plan to go into racing too:

Make sure the stand is not too wobbly. That rig looks like it might move side to side when using FFB wheels.

There are differences between flying and racing regarding screens. In racing you are mostly looking forward with quick glances to the side.

In flying you are looking all around you, including up&down and only looking straight forward when shooting or during cruise.

For racing many people prefer 3 screens over one big one because it gives better vision to the side. Live for Speed ( www.lfs.net ) has good tripple screen support with all nessecary options, if you ever want to try that. There is a free demo. LFS is also good for testing VR because you can switch between 2D and 3D instantly. Other games, like IL2, require restarting and have long loading times...super annoying if you are just testing VR. From what I have read, tripple screen support in IL2 is not good. (?)

In racing is also more focus on getting the correct distances between eyes/screen/wheel and correct FOV ("zoom") ingame. If you google "sim racing fov calculator" you will find some results.

But for now I think your setup is more than good enough. Try to fly as much as possible, it will be more helpful in figuring what you need than online reviews. Also for start I found it useful to label every new button with some tape.

Thank you so much and let's take one step at a time as racing set up is another ball game. No doubt as I get more into flight sims, the rig will be more complicated but it is good enough for IL2 and Korea at this time. Next Friday the 98" will be here. Also ordered a simple quadrant to assign gears, flaps, etc... commands. Do you know of a command that sets the instrument dials to life size display? Dai 

Edited Saturday at 07:43 PM by daiphan

[BlitzPig_EL]

There is no specific command for setting instrument size, it's just down to adjusting the field of view zoom level.

I have never messed with it as I used the default standard view, and have an intermediate and full zoom level mapped to one of the hat switches on my throttle.

Don't ask me how I did it, it was so long ago I cannot remember how I did it exactly. 

Edited Saturday at 07:47 PM by BlitzPig_EL

[MajorMagee]

Pressing the backspace key will let you see a live readout of the FPS and FOV values.  The FOV is controlled with the mouse wheel, and when you get to the value that you want you can save it as the default by pressing F10 to lock it in as a custom snapview. This can be done for each aircraft type.

The list of svc files where this data is stored are located in 1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles\data\LuaScripts\snapviews. The files themselves are text based you can edit them by hand if desired. FOV Value Curves

Here's the calculation for 1x magnification. (The calculation can be in metric or english units)

Distance to Screen x Width of Real Instrument (3-1/8 inch std inst panel opening) / Distance to Instrument in Real Cockpit (28-30 inches typical in WW2) = Width of Instrument Displayed on Screen

For example.

48 in x 3-1/8 in / 29 in = 5.2 in 

So you would adjust your FOV until the instrument measured 5.2 inches across on the Screen Display. (Increased FOV Decreases Size) 

Increase the measured size proportionally if your face is more than 4 ft from the screen.

 

Edited Saturday at 10:20 PM by MajorMagee

[daiphan]

1 hour ago, MajorMagee said:

Pressing the backspace key will let you see a live readout of the FPS and FOV values.  The FOV is controlled with the mouse wheel, and when you get to the value that you want you can save it as the default by pressing F10 to lock it in as a custom snapview. This can be done for each aircraft type.

The list of svc files where this data is stored are located in 1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles\data\LuaScripts\snapviews. The files themselves are text based you can edit them by hand if desired. FOV Value Curves

Here's the calculation for 1x magnification. (The calculation can be in metric or english units)

Distance to Screen x Width of Real Instrument / Distance to Instrument in Real Cockpit (28-30 inches typical in WW2) = Width of Instrument Displayed on Screen

For example.

48 in x 3-1/8 in / 29 in = 5.2 in 

So you would adjust your FOV until the instrument measured 5.2 inches across on the Screen Display.

Bigger if your face is more than 4 ft from the screen.

 

I will have to wait till the 98" TV gets here Friday to do what you advised. To my understanding use the mouse wheel to get the dial to life size by using the equation you posted based on the distance of the seat to the screen. Cannot wait to test it out. I was concerned about the instruments get so big that it destroys realism. Thank you very much. Dai 

Edited Saturday at 10:15 PM by daiphan

[Shinobimono]

First, second and tenth steps are the learning to fly and navigate. The size of the instruments doesn’t matter if you keep losing your target after every maneuver. That’s what you should focus on.

[daiphan]

2 hours ago, Shinobimono said:

First, second and tenth steps are the learning to fly and navigate. The size of the instruments doesn’t matter if you keep losing your target after every maneuver. That’s what you should focus on.

I think getting track IR will help me a lot. The collie hat I feel is very limited you think? Dai 

[AndreiTomescu]

TrackIR changed everything for me. Of course it's not VR, but i hope to get there when I will be able to buy a new computer. 

As I've said on the old forum, I have tried (about 5 yrs ago) several devices, some freeware,some build by other enthusiasts (I've borrowed), and due to my inability to set them right, I was disappointed.

I don't say that devices weren't good, they weren't good for me.

So I got (from Germany, since in Romania was no longer available) a trackIR 5 device, with both hat and headphones leds, and that was perfect for me. Both variants are working as good as the other.

After setting those curves (downloaded a preset made by a great guy from the old forum) and tuning them as fit for my distance to monitor and monitor size, tracking a target is sooo very natural and easy.

I can't imagine flying now without a tracking device.

IMHO being able to turn the virtual head as in real life (approx) is the most needed function to be able to get closer to a simulation dogfight.

 

[daiphan]

1 hour ago, AndreiTomescu said:

TrackIR changed everything for me. Of course it's not VR, but i hope to get there when I will be able to buy a new computer. 

As I've said on the old forum, I have tried (about 5 yrs ago) several devices, some freeware,some build by other enthusiasts (I've borrowed), and due to my inability to set them right, I was disappointed.

I don't say that devices weren't good, they weren't good for me.

So I got (from Germany, since in Romania was no longer available) a trackIR 5 device, with both hat and headphones leds, and that was perfect for me. Both variants are working as good as the other.

After setting those curves (downloaded a preset made by a great guy from the old forum) and tuning them as fit for my distance to monitor and monitor size, tracking a target is sooo very natural and easy.

I can't imagine flying now without a tracking device.

IMHO being able to turn the virtual head as in real life (approx) is the most needed function to be able to get closer to a simulation dogfight.

 

That is why I am ordering it. I remember 16 years ago I had some issues with Track IR likely due to my own fault. I hope it is much better now. Cannot wait to see how the 98" TV turns out. It is designed for games with Gaming Mode at 144 Hz refresh. In case you wonder this is the TV. Dai 

TCL 98" Class QM6K Series 4K UHD HDR QD Mini LED Smart TV with Google TV (2025) 98QM6K - Best Buy

Edited Sunday at 04:14 PM by daiphan

[AndreiTomescu]

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/3625-air-combat-tutorialstir-profile-angle-off-charts-updated-8-feb-2023/#comment-76216

Check this. Also contains trackir settings presets.

[MajorMagee]

Buying a triple screen adapter (3 x 1024x768 and yes, it was that long ago) along with my first TrackIR ended my frustration with combat flight sims. Before that I would quickly die and never have any idea where the kill shot came from. The wider view and TrackIR at least gave me a fighting chance to know what was going on around me!

[daiphan]

The pedals are here and the throttle levers will be tomorrow. It is a simple set up but will do for now. In the future once I get into MFS and racing, I will buy a more complex rig and controls. Dai