EmerlistDavjack

This looks awesome, thanks for posting! I never would have seen it otherwise.

That's pretty great, Pfeil. I'll have to check out dArtagnan. It's too bad that proper metal festivals don't really happen in the USA. I did see Jethro Tull a few years back and I gotta say, Ian Anderson still has it. That guy will be 90 and somehow still playing flute while hopping on one leg like a madman. Here's a band from the 70s Southern USA that I really wish made more albums.

Do you use TrackIR? I've found that if I am using TIR as a pilot, then turn it off when I land/crash, then spawn as a gunner, I can get that problem, or another problem where my head is immovable with the mouse. Solution in those cases is to restart TIR while in the gunner position, Re-center it, then disable it again. Probably not your problem, but maybe!

Congrats especially to my flight leader, Luftritter! *raises his new goblet in salute*

I'm going to submit about the contrail view distance. As a new player it's the thing that really pops out at me as immersion breaking in an otherwise beautiful game. Also, has anybody here suffered through this, maybe fixed it? https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/39702-blackwhite-flickering-pixel-artifacts-at-distance-and-on-horizon/?tab=comments#comment-668856

Klaiber. Banquet. So much skill in that band. Halloween edition...well, not really spooky but they use a lot of organ:

Oh man, I love me some Lucifer's Friend. Every album is different! My favorite is Banquet. I always considered Krautrock to be a specific type of instrumental/experimental stuff, but I dunno. Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, stuff like that. When I was younger I went on a cross country motorcycle ride (I have a BMW airhead, of course), and a couple park rangers in Yosemite recommended I check out NEU!

Thanks for reminding me to check out TVAL, it's been some time. They have so many more planes than 3-4 years ago!

Scandinavian is interesting in that the later 70s stuff incorporates funk and disco in a subtle way that makes it work. If you go back down the album list, it makes sense. I dunno why that youtube thing calls it Krautrock. This is NOT Krautrock. But it is still a smooth groove. I'm into the Flying Colours album. EDIT ( I guess it is just another case of Germany wanting to own Norway lol) 1974's "Ranshart" (hahah hah hah AH HAH) is more of an earlier prog rock album: Basically, the year of the album gives you a good clue what is going on with Ruphus. Sorta like how Camel changed drastically between 1975 and 1980.

Sampling in general is interesting, but I never like it as much as the original thing. Ten years ago I worked in an office, and a coworker was playing some local San Francisco DJ's mixes, and I caught a flute arpeggio from Jethro Tull repeating. On the Aqualung album, I can't remember which song. And I said, "Hey, I know that flute bit, you like that? I'll send you the song." She loved it. Young people today don't seem to grasp that "old music" was written by young folks, groovin out. I think I realized I joined the right Squadron when I saw this thread and all the cool old music yall are into. Scandinavia has been a music hotspot for decades, so...Ruphus!

Change the first lyrics to: "So you fly, up above angels 3, and you kill all who come neeearrrrr yoouuuuu." Now it's about DVIIF aces.

Welcome back! Or er, hey, I joined your squad. Looking forward to flying with you. RoF may not be life, but it does enhance life a bit.

For a one-stop system, I gotta say that the Virpil system looks far better than the Thrustmaster stuff. Meant to mount on desks and the throttle is a lot denser. Currently for my commission, I have changed the rear row of buttons to Encoder/Button, with the right three labelled R1, R2, and NAV for a modern radio. I think that is the last piece of the puzzle. EDIT: Likely the final changes. You can't really see em, but I added a row of three Encoder buttons at the back of the unit labeled R1, R2, and NAV. Apart from the lack of a NAV2, that will function for most modern radio/navigation operations in a sim. I also finally decided to create a "bombing cluster" so that all my labeled toggles for IL2 are all about combat and flying. All the random little things like "Sun Filter" can be a keyboard reach.

I've been looking at the Virpil stuff as a possible grip for a long-handle FFB mod, and I found a video on that throttle Luftritter posted that is very interesting. It has a lot more going on than I thought! Subtle differences in design, for instance, the wheel on the front of the throttle is an Axis, not an encoder. I really like the little encoder-dial/buttons on the bottom right, though. Those would be great for radio bindings (I'm going to ask if Vitaly can source these). And of course the Virpil has hat switches. My commission has 8 Axes, the Virpil has 6, but the Virpil has twice the amount of buttons on a remarkably small area. If DCS were my going to be my primary game, I would take a harder look at having a crapton (80!) of buttons. One part of the "dilemma" is that IL2 doesn't allow separate keybindings for planes, DCS does. If it did, then I wouldn't feel any need to have the forward Pot-wheel on the right side for Inlet Cowl Flaps, I could have another axis instead, but since my primary game will be RoF/FC/IL2, I want almost every control bound on this one thing. I'll admit the Cowl Flap wheels are probably the silliest quirk I want on this build. Last bit I want to say on custom stuff vs price vs A Quality Brand etc etc: I have confidence that I can modify/repair a build by Vitaly, since he is using parts sold to hobbyists, and the wiring will be done in a relatively large case, wired from Poles to PCB. A professionally designed piece like the Virpil likely has a lot more...complexity? Logic? Design? Whatever you'd call it, I doubt the connections in such a unit would be easily modifiable by a guy with a soldering-iron, some crimp connectors, and no real electrical engineering experience.

See you there! With Hrafn's FC give-away competition, this weekend should be very RoF-tastic.

It is a fun and complex subject! For instance, ROF/FC will need...10% of this throttle. DCS will need some keyboard bindings still. IL2 will be juuusstttt right. Elite Dangerous will...uh, I don't play a lot of that these days so this isn't *for* Elite, and TBH all I do in that game is explore in an Anaconda, so I use mouse control like a dirty heathen. I am not sure what you mean by the Physical Offset for the main throttle. The "Prop Pitch" handle is nestled up to the main throttle on the left, like a secondary throttle. Do you mean that you would have the Main throttle on the Left and the Prop Pitch/RPM handle on the right side? So that if I were to use them for two separate engines, engine 1 would be my left hand? That would make the throttle thumbwheel super awkward to use. My plan for two-engine management in IL2 (for instance, on the A20) is to use the three buttons on the throttle to cycle engines as needed. DCS is the game where I would want to have "Prop Pitch" be Engine 1 and Throttle be Engine 2. The Wheel potentiometers that he uses are said to be "very accurate" by other purchasers. I forget the exact travel of the Wheel potentiometers, but he told me something around 300degrees, which sounds about right. And yes, I have thought about the labeling and layout quite a bit. I like making little things myself, so it wouldn't be a big deal to print up/stamp-out a set of stock-cards that slip over the controls to re-label them. One thing that attracted me to this design is the size, nothing too cramped, and is therefore re-label-able compared to a very compact design that uses A1/A2/E1/E2/E3 nomenclature. Yes, labels aren't really necessary for the owner, but they are something I want so that if I have a friend over and say, "Hey, want to hop in a TIR/ForceFeedback/HOTAS/Pedals WWII simpit and try it out?" they can look at the body if they forget a control. The most important, for me, are the physical levers. That Virpil thing is alright, and it has the adjustable Detentes for AB that I am kludging together on this build, but it doesn't have the wheels and levers that I want. Tl;dr: At the end of the day, I really like custom stuff, physical levers, and might be a bit of a control freak, so working with Vitaly to design this gets me far more excited than a store-bought item. EDIT: Attached changes to "cluster" controls around flight phase.

Edit: I thought about it, and no reason to make this all about my one build I am commissioning. Why not talk about all manner of custom setups? For instance, has anybody here attempted a long-handle/Modern Grip conversion for a MSFFB2? What type of gear do y'all have? --- Some of you may be aware of the Ukrainian custom builder GVL224, but I was not until recently when I fell in love with the idea of a throttle-body that does what I want it to, not what Thrustmaster says. I saw the "IL2: Sturmovik" body commissioned by Jason for some sim convention, and I thought, "Perfect! I can do better!" Some of the button placement makes no sense on the original from a human factors / design standpoint, and the throttle handle could have so, so much more. https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/23758-iron-mechanic-throttle-motor-control-axes/?page=6 So after some back and forth with Vitaly, I have come up with my version of the design. If the build quality is as good as people say, this thing will absolutely destroy the corporate competition for only $305 shipped. He does have many highly functional bodies for much cheaper, in the $70 range, but I want something where I can sit a friend down and say: Just read the labels. The only thing Vitaly does not do is Hat Switches for some reason, I don't think he has a quality source for the part, but that would have been really nice on the throttle for DCS MFDs. So I put it to you, experienced pilots of JG1: anything that you would do different? Any binding that a more experienced IL2 pilot would put instead of "Sun Filter" on a toggle? I feel like I am missing something critical but I haven't played every plane enough to know what. I'm already thinking as I type all this that I should move the Radiator Oil dial to the right edge and the Trim Switches over so that all the Cooling is even more tightly clustered... Thoughts?

You know what I love about the flight sim community? The fact I can find people who listen to the same groovy old music. Organ Trio +5. Seriously, try to find that in the FPS crowd. Well, apart from all the usual 70s Prog/Psych/Funk I listen to, check out Nigerian Psychedelic Rock. Obscure, and gettin it. EDIT: Also, I didn't know about this until recently, but downloading from youtube has become very simple. Lots of stuff I couldn't otherwise get without a lot of effort on Youtube. https://y2mate.com/youtube/

I think the name fits. Five_Bridges wouldn't make as much sense. My friends and I used to play FPS games (like Battlefield 2142, 12 years ago) as [PF] or "Polite Force." That's an Egg album (1971).

What is your Timezone? Pacific Time, USA (California) Do you have a joystick or HOTAS? Yes, Yes. Do you have TeamSpeak installed, as well as a working microphone? Yes Do you have TrackIR, or a FreeTrack system for view control? Yes, and a big ole screen for the simpit What sims are you currently flying? RoF, FC, IL2:BoX, DCS How did you hear about JG1? Flying with some excellent fellows named Loopy, Hook, and Luftritter in the Black September 2018 campaign for RoF. Is there anything else that you'd like us to know? I have always been hesitant to join squads online, in general, because I cannot always commit the time to squad events or training. But I am looking for mature, skilled simmers to fly with. So far, I have really enjoyed flying RoF on TS with those JG1ers I mentioned above, and I think the squadron could be a good fit for my playstyle. Our Kette of four scored half of all the aerial victories for Central, last Saturday. I would like to play with such skilled pilots who will push me to be better. I am a veteran of WWI combat, I am learning WWII combat, and boy could I use an instructor for modern DCS combat (F-15c mainly).