New Players Flying Circus FAQ, by JGr2/J5_Baeumer

[LukeFF]

For information about getting started with Flying Circus, please see the following topic created by JGr2/J5_Baeumer on our old forums: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/55853-new-players-flying-circus-faq/

[Hellbender]

FYI I’ve deleted the old aircraft guide by Larner, Trupo and myself. It’s a living document and wouldn’t be much good in an archived way on a read-only forum.

We hope to post it here as soon as the Albatros flight model update is released.

See:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/89917-nieuport-28-fm-review-impressions/

 

[AndreiTomescu]

Hello, gentlemen!

I have approx 3k hrs into GB, SP only, and now, finally owning all FC modules (but never used them) I am tempted to make a forray into those moments when it all began.

Read all the above, no doubt, and much more, and still i have a couple of questions i would really appreciate your expert opinion upon.

1. If i'm eager to start the earliest possible, with the earliest plane available, would the DH2 be the best choice?

2. Besides Against the Tide, Gallant Green & Cambrai (and those are late war) are there any scripted campaigns for ww1?

3. What career options do i have? Meaning stock career vs pwcg, which one would you recommend?

4. Why, not necessarily how, is the rudder much more relevant for an early bird?

5. Does the Po-2 experience resembles late ww1 aircrafts?

Thank you for your patience and help.

Edited April 29 by AndreiTomescu

[jokash]

I know only that careers in FC all start on January 1st...so its always winter.Didnt play it since i realized that.

[GrumpyGnome]

Careers in FC start early September for 1916. 1917 and 1918 do start 1 January. The DH2 is fun plane and not hard to master. Not having a throttle takes a little getting used to. In career taking off can be a little hazardous. When you hit "unpause" all the AC in the flight takeoff at once. (this mass scramble/demolishen derby only happens with AC that don't have throttles) It's best to press the "blip" and allow everyone to get ahead of you. You may want to try the Nieuport 11, a little harder to land but easier to fly.

Yes, the rudder is much more relevant, can't just roll and pull back on the stick. 

Yes, on the Po-2 question.

Have fun with FC, it's a whole new brave world compared to GB.

[GiftGruen]

To add: Especially landing with a engine that needs blips is a special ( but funny ) thing to master. Also, since you have no wheel brakes, rudder usage to avoid circles is a topic.

FC is a funny thing ( and I indeed started with IL2 because of FC ). But it‘s very unbalanced also in some aspects - and in the end has too much ‚faults‘ to me so I seldom fly it in the meanwhile.

Edited April 29 by GiftGruen

[Catch]

19 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

I have approx 3k hrs into GB, SP only, and now, finally owning all FC modules (but never used them) I am tempted to make a forray into those moments when it all began.

Well done lad, and if I may be so bold, it's about time. WWII's ok but WW1 is where it's at for those with impeccable taste and a love for the finer things. Not just in flight sims mind, but in general. A class above if you will. And it'll learn you stuff.

19 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

1. If i'm eager to start the earliest possible, with the earliest plane available, would the DH2 be the best choice?

2. Besides Against the Tide, Gallant Green & Cambrai (and those are late war) are there any scripted campaigns for ww1?

The DH2 is an excellent choice. A rotary with excellent all round vision except the rear of course. Just be aware ammo is limited between drum reloads (unlike the Vickers/Spandau types) so make sure every shot counts. Each drum contains 47 rounds. One finds the reloading animation takes vital seconds which one finds rather inconvenient in a scrap. So get close and aim true bro.

Try this scripted sortie.

 

19 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

3. What career options do i have? Meaning stock career vs pwcg, which one would you recommend?

The stock career is awful, boring and completely lacking in imagination. Go PWCG.

 

15 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Have fun with FC, it's a whole new brave world compared to GB.

13 hours ago, GiftGruen said:

FC is a funny thing ( and I indeed started with IL2 because of FC ). But it‘s very unbalanced also in some aspects - and in the end has too much ‚faults‘ to me so I seldom fly it in the meanwhile.

True on both counts. It is what it is. But perhaps it's better to have FC with its faults than never to have had FC at all. 😉

 

[AndreiTomescu]

3 hours ago, Catch said:

it's better to have FC with its faults than never to have had FC at all.

it's better to have love and lost than never to have loved at all.

Very true.

Last night, tried an accustomary mission, like the first given by career (just a test while pending for your advice, thx, guys) with a Bebe. Just because it's early war and maybe because it's the first (and only) true fighter the Romanians had in WW1.

Oh, my, GOD ! It's a different game. Different skills. Different everything. My nose woobled all the time. Managed to get a E III by obiviously shooting its ocupant .....in the back. Saw him die. guess the range was "huge", like 30 meters.... 🙂 

Afterwards, got hit by groung fire, oh! oh! Red Barron! Heavily injured, i discovered that my plane has only one goal: to go up. Too much love will kill you, too much lift? All the same. Blip! Blip! cutting a bit of engine makes me descend. Also made a swarm of vengefull E IIIs to come after me like flies at....me.

Hey! Guys! i'm a newbie ! just testing here! Lacking the propper signs to transmit that, and probably turned on by my neck scarf, threy properly finnished the job. 

Ok.... no problem. Have to search for the excitment given by new stuff.

My only question now is: Why did they put that wing so far front? Or the pilot so far back? Clearly a E III os a DH2 are smarter....and better to start with, as not to add blindness to my several other impedimets. 

P.S. PWCG has a dedicated version for ww1, right? and it's not made for early war, right?

Anyhow, it's a brave new world, true. Searching for Pocahontas , now.  Although local gals are fine, also.

Never lacked perseverance, so i have a loong journey ahead. Really need a good book WW1 air related, to get me into the mood.

Thank you, gentleman for taking the time to help. Also future help is really appreciated. I ain't meaning to be taken by the hand, but you really can't take me by the hair. It's missing. 🙂 

Edited April 30 by AndreiTomescu

[AndreiTomescu]

Might just add that while visiting the science museum in London, took like 1 hr with my boys to understand what's a rotary engine and how it works. Plenty of specimens there. WHAT an invention! What a crazy idea! Good thing they didn't put that on my car, thou..... 🙂

[GrumpyGnome]

2 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

Really need a good book WW1 air related, to get me into the mood.

@AndreiTomescu

Horses Don't Fly by Frederick Libby.

[GiftGruen]

8 hours ago, Catch said:

True on both counts. It is what it is. But perhaps it's better to have FC with its faults than never to have had FC at all. 😉

 

That‘s true, yes.

It‘s just sometimes sooo sad to see, what a jewel it could be, if only a little more love had been put in. 

Flying these old crazy birds is so much fun and really a totally different world.

[Catch]

5 hours ago, GiftGruen said:

It‘s just sometimes sooo sad to see, what a jewel it could be, if only a little more love had been put in. 

It is sad yes. And wadda they want .... another 109? Huh. Gimme a Be2c or Morane Parasol anytime. 🙂

 

10 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

I ain't meaning to be taken by the hand, but you really can't take me by the hair. It's missing. 🙂 

They say inhabiting a closet leads to hair loss due to a lack of ambient light but I don't believe them. In fact about 99.9% of what one reads on the internet is absolute garbage and a blight on society.

That aside, Andrei, I would suggest ANY book on the WW1 air war would get you in the mood for some FC fun. And by the way, the Bebe is in my view the cutest warplane ever created. Pure plane porn.

[AndreiTomescu]

8 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Horses Don't Fly by Frederick Libby

got it today on kindle. i'm at pg 48, and it's wonderful. thx.

31 minutes ago, Catch said:

They say inhabiting a closet leads to hair loss due to a lack of ambient light but I don't believe them.

that's why i lost it before closeting. guess you've seen that movie, The Descent. the creature from the deep cave were also bald, due to lack of ambient light. no resemblance, thou. Sadly, since they've ....eaten those young chicks.

Still, hope Luke&Baeumer won't cut us off for off-topic. I just feel it's coming. 🙂 

Still, the morale of a ww1 newbie is of a real matter, right?

Edited April 30 by AndreiTomescu

[Catch]

3 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

Still, hope Luke&Baeumer won't cut us off for off-topic. Still, the morale of a ww1 newbie is of a real matter, right?

Of course. To encourage a newbie to enjoy the magic and majesty of WW1 flight should not be thwarted. I hope Messrs Baeumer & Luke understand this. It is mere banter after all designed for enjoyment. Is that not the point of a forum such as this?

[GiftGruen]

54 minutes ago, Catch said:

It is sad yes. And wadda they want .... another 109? Huh. Gimme a Be2c or Morane Parasol anytime. 🙂

Oh yeah. I could even dream of hunting a Voisin in a Fokker EIII …..

My plane porn always was the Albatros. Yes, this is inGame. But modelled as a turnfighter instead of a powerful butcher bird. What an ugly mistake. I am always ashamed if I get on a Bebes 6.

[Catch]

5 minutes ago, GiftGruen said:

My plane porn always was the Albatros. Yes, this is inGame. But modelled as a turnfighter instead of a powerful butcher bird. What an ugly mistake. I am always ashamed if I get on a Bebes 6.

Agreed.

Spoiler

Don't get me started on the Se5a. 🙂

 

[Catch]

45 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

9 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Horses Don't Fly by Frederick Libby

got it today on kindle. i'm at pg 48, and it's wonderful. thx.

As a boy a long time ago in a different world my father gave me as birthday presents 'Heroes and Aeroplanes of the Great War 1914-1918' by Joseph Phelan and 'No Parachute' by Arthur Gould Lee. I still have them. Those books were my first foray into the WW1 air war and those magnificent men in their flying machines. I have many more now but those two started it all. 🙂

[AndreiTomescu]

So, ww1 planes are also different, as some are sort of boom&zoom and some are heavy turners, like those triplanes ? Like fw190 vs Spitfire.

The gpt is stupid & unreliable regarding this.

Should I watch those cockpit notes as to know which is which? Or just test and learn ?

I'll try to get a list of this from the AI. Still, I'm starting to learn the ropes with the DH2. By the way, the Bebe is a turner, right?

12 hours ago, Catch said:

those magnificent men in their flying machines

That is, IMHO, one of the best movies ever made. Watched it with my kids several times. Still, they loved most the german officer 🙂 . For me, Patricia was the best. Especially when she lost the dress.

[AndreiTomescu]

12 hours ago, Catch said:

long time ago in a different world

In that world I read a book about some air pioneers: Wright, Vlaicu, Bleirot. That's how it started for me. Along with some Soviet books about Gagarin and stuff. In was in the early '90. But romania in the '90 was the west in the '50, mind that. So yes, a different world.

[LukeFF]

18 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

Still, hope Luke&Baeumer won't cut us off for off-topic. I just feel it's coming. 🙂 

And it is, right now, thank you. 🙂