Simviation Forums

Is it as hard in real-life flying to maintain a close distance & speed to another aircraft as it is in FSX?  I play around with my AI aircraft and the F-16 or P-51 and it's next to impossible to stay close for any period of time without falling behind, overtaking, or (gulp) collisions.

Does FSX exaggerate the inertia/momentum of the aircraft or is formation flying really that hard?

-Jim

I personally think that FSX does a great job of simulating flying in formation.

One thing that makes it a little different (in my opinion) is the time delay between moving the controller and the sim reacting.  Also, low frame rates can make small, precise control inputs difficult.  Still, formation flying is one of the most challenging aspects of flying, so don't expect it to be easy.

I agree...  Formation flying in MSFS, is pretty realistic.

I'll post a link (and accompanying story) to a very short video, when it clears the Simteevee censors  8-)

Thanks for the replies!

I was hoping it really was that hard-that's the challenge.  As long as FSX is getting it right and realistic.  I only have AI to fly with so I don't know what another player would be like.

My dad has FSX and I wonder how hard it would be to set up a link.

-Jim

You can bypass the Gamespy mess, and just do a "LAN" game.. connect to each other by IP address.

Then, you can fly in formation, or even share a cockpit and take turns flying the same airplane, while the other watches

Thanks.

You still both have to have the same plane.. it's no different than GameSpy..

I'm not sure about Nick's list..he'll have to answer that. The only issues I've seen are with routers and firewalls. Dealing with those is a case-by-case thing..  We always just disable all firewalls, and bypass all routers.

[quote]

I'm not going to swear to anything.. regarding YOUR security..

But if it's just you two connected.. no browser opened.. you shouldn't catch a bug..  

As far as hackers searching for IPs ?  Who knows ?  I know that I can't "hack" into my own computers on a home network, unless I set them up to talk to each other...  but i'm no expert, either.

[quote]I'm not going to swear to anything.. regarding YOUR security..

But if it's just you two connected.. no browser opened.. you shouldn't catch a bug..

[quote][quote]I'm not going to swear to anything.. regarding YOUR security..

But if it's just you two connected.. no browser opened.. you shouldn't catch a bug..

(Accurate) Formation flying is extremely challenging in real life as it is in the game, but although flight simulator is as real as it gets unfortunately something such as formation flying cannot be faithfully reproduced in a pc sim as there are things in real life that can't be recreated or substituted;

A quick glace over ones shoulder or watching something out of the corner of your eye while you focus on something else as you would in real life is just something you can

[quote](Accurate) Formation flying is extremely challenging in real life as it is in the game, but although flight simulator is as real as it gets unfortunately something such as formation flying cannot be faithfully reproduced in a pc sim as there are things in real life that can't be recreated or substituted;

A quick glace over ones shoulder or watching something out of the corner of your eye while you focus on something else as you would in real life is just something you can

I do find formation flying in the sim a bit harder than real life, mainly due to the limitations of any simulation.  In real life you can feel what your aircraft is doing better and see more of what is going on at once.  Plus you usually have communication with the leader so you know what to expect him to do.