Greetings and application for Gwen

[Gabi]

• What is your Timezone?- GMT-8 (Northern Washington)
• Do you have a joystick or HOTAS?- Pedals, Stick, Throttle
• Do you have TeamSpeak and Discord installed, as well as a working microphone?- Discord, will install TS, mic 
• Do you have VR, TrackIR, or a FreeTrack system for view control?- VR
• What sims are you currently flying? - IL-2 Sturmovik/Flying Circus, DCS F-16, X-Plane
• How did you hear about JG1?- online search for online squadrons
• Is there anything else that you'd like us to know?-  I am female, former USAF.   I have been a private pilot since 1979 and I built and fly my own replica Fokker DVIII which I completed in 2007.  I was the CO of an online F-16 squadron flying Falcon4 BMS back in the early 2000's.

Here are a couple photos of my plane "Kleine 42".  The first is me with my plane at the USAF Museum in Dayton OH for the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous (with a Nieuport flying over behind me).  The last two are me coming in for landing.

 

[Klaiber]

13 hours ago, Gwen said:

• What is your Timezone?- GMT-8 (Northern Washington)
• Do you have a joystick or HOTAS?- Pedals, Stick, Throttle
• Do you have TeamSpeak and Discord installed, as well as a working microphone?- Discord, will install TS, mic 
• Do you have VR, TrackIR, or a FreeTrack system for view control?- VR
• What sims are you currently flying? - DCS F-16, X-Plane
• How did you hear about JG1?- online search for online squadrons
• Is there anything else that you'd like us to know?-  I am female, former USAF.   I have been a private pilot since 1979 and I built and fly my own replica Fokker DVIII which I completed in 2007.  I was the CO of an online F-16 squadron flying Falcon4 BMS back in the early 2000's.

Here are a couple photos of my plane "Kleine 42".  The first is me with my plane at the USAF Museum in Dayton OH for the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous (with a Nieuport flying over behind me).  The last two are me coming in for landing.

 

Welcome @Gwen, thanks for checking us out.

That's an amazing looking Fokker D.VIII!  Do you fly IL-2 Flying Circus?  If so, I think we'd all love to hear what you think of the in-game version of the aircraft.

Either way, I'll send you an email to the address you registered with.

In the meantime, feel free to join our Discord: https://discord.gg/SM6Uk5XuJ2

Looking forward to talking with you more soon!

[Gabi]

Thanks for the kind words.  Yes, of course I fly flying circus.  That is my primary focus sim-wise these days.  And yes, I do have thoughts on the handling of the aircraft in the sim vs reality.  I will say right now that the real thing is a lot more challenging.

[Gabi]

I probably should have mentioned that I am interested (for now) in flying with JG1 in the WWI setting.  I may want to do WWII later but for now I'm focused on WWI.

[Flyboy]

22 hours ago, Gwen said:

The first is me with my plane at the USAF Museum in Dayton OH for the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous (with a Nieuport flying over behind me).

My friend Hawg and I were at the last Dawn Patrol and recall it was a windy day. 

[Gabi]

Ah cool.  That was the 2007 DPR when the photo of me and the plane was taken.  I sprained my ankle badly stepping in a gopher hole at the flying field there that year.  I also have a photo of my plane parked right next to an active duty F-22 and near the Memphis Belle inside the restoration hangar.

[Klaiber]

4 hours ago, Gwen said:

Thanks for the kind words.  Yes, of course I fly flying circus.  That is my primary focus sim-wise these days.  And yes, I do have thoughts on the handling of the aircraft in the sim vs reality.  I will say right now that the real thing is a lot more challenging.

Yeah, I can definitely imagine.  I know its always a balance in IL-2 between game and sim.  But I think we always hope for more sim.

[Gabi]

Well, things like G-forces are difficult to model in a simulation.  But the three primary areas where I think the sim needs improvement relate to P-Factor, adverse yaw, and propensity for ground-loops.  In my DVIII I have to stomp on the rudder nearly all the way left before the takeoff roll to compensate for the P-factor of that big 7 foot long propeller producing gyroscopic precession.  And with ailerons that are not differential (the descending aileron travels less than the ascending one in a differential/modern system) there is a HUGE adverse yaw with my airplane.  It is absolutely necessary to kick in the rudder in the direction I want to roll prior to moving the stick left or right.  If I don't do that I end up in a stomach-churning skid and in very uncoordinated flight.  You have to fly with the rudder the entire time you are in the air or you will very quickly not be flying at all.  Basically WWI aircraft are not beginner airplanes.

As for the ground-looping issue.  All tailwheel aircraft naturally want to swap ends when they are rolling on the ground.  This is because of the higher amount of friction between the main wheels and the ground than between the tailwheel or skid and the ground (though skids are better for this).  So during takeoff and landing the airplane is constantly behaving like a rickety shopping cart and trying to spin itself around backwards.  I have ground looped my plane once during landing and damaged the right wing badly in the process.  This was NOT a fun experience I can assure you.  The sim doesn't seem to model this behavior of tailwheel aircraft nearly to the extent that it is experienced in most tailwheel/skid aircraft.

Oh, I forgot one more thing because it isn't something I have to deal with in my DVIII - and that is massively magnified gyroscopic precession caused by a big heavy rotary engine spinning on the front end of the airplane.  It isn't really possible to fly a rotary engine plane without constantly stepping on the rudder.  Basically all the rotary aircraft in the sim should turn much more quickly to the left than to the right because of this.

[Klaiber]

16 minutes ago, Gwen said:

Well, things like G-forces are difficult to model in a simulation.  But the three primary areas where I think the sim needs improvement relate to P-Factor, adverse yaw, and propensity for ground-loops.  In my DVIII I have to stomp on the rudder nearly all the way left before the takeoff roll to compensate for the P-factor of that big 7 foot long propeller producing gyroscopic precession.  And with ailerons that are not differential (the descending aileron travels less than the ascending one in a differential/modern system) there is a HUGE adverse yaw with my airplane.  It is absolutely necessary to kick in the rudder in the direction I want to roll prior to moving the stick left or right.  If I don't do that I end up in a stomach-churning skid and in very uncoordinated flight.  You have to fly with the rudder the entire time you are in the air or you will very quickly not be flying at all.  Basically WWI aircraft are not beginner airplanes.

As for the ground-looping issue.  All tailwheel aircraft naturally want to swap ends when they are rolling on the ground.  This is because of the higher amount of friction between the main wheels and the ground than between the tailwheel or skid and the ground (though skids are better for this).  So during takeoff and landing the airplane is constantly behaving like a rickety shopping cart and trying to spin itself around backwards.  I have ground looped my plane once during landing and damaged the right wing badly in the process.  This was NOT a fun experience I can assure you.  The sim doesn't seem to model this behavior of tailwheel aircraft nearly to the extent that it is experienced in a real aircraft... at least with most tailwheel/skid aircraft.

Oh, I forgot one more thing because it isn't something I have to deal with in my DVIII - and that is massively magnified gyroscopic precession caused by a big heavy rotary engine spinning on the front end of the airplane.  It isn't really possible to fly a rotary engine plane without constantly stepping on the rudder.  Basically all the rotary aircraft in the sim should turn much more quickly to the left than to the right because of this.

Wow, this information regarding the handling of the real aircraft is gold.

Is your replica a full scale?  Or 7/8ths? 

[Gabi]

4 minutes ago, Klaiber said:

Wow, this information regarding the handling of the real aircraft is gold.

Is your replica a full scale?  Or 7/8ths? 

It is actually 3/4 scale.  It has a 26 foot wingspan and is about 13 feet long.  Empty weight is 534 pounds.  The engine is a Volkswagen 4 cylinder 1915cc, and Cruise speed is around 80mph with Vne at 110.  Stall is around 40mph.

[Flyboy]

4 hours ago, Gwen said:

That was the 2007 DPR when the photo of me and the plane was taken. 

Ahh ok. We were at the last one over a year ago and I remembered seeing a DVIII.

[Gabi]

1 minute ago, Flyboy said:

Ahh ok. We were at the last one over a year ago and I remembered seeing a DVIII.

Ah nice.  I know a bunch of guys with replica WWI planes, so Imagine there's a fair chance I know the owner of the one you saw.

[Flyboy]

Where in Washington are you? I grew up in Portland. Were you based at McChord? I did a few years in the Reserves there after active duty.

[Gabi]

6 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

Where in Washington are you? I grew up in Portland. Were you based at McChord? I did a few years in the Reserves there after active duty.

I'm kind of out in the country about 2 hours drive north of Seattle (about 20 minutes from the Canadian border)  near a town called Ferndale.  Actually I was based at Wright Patterson and later Rickenbacker AFB in Columbus.  I was in Aeromedical Evacuation.

[Vonrd]

31 minutes ago, Gwen said:

ailerons that are not differential

Yeah, I see why the adverse yaw... 

33 minutes ago, Gwen said:

This is because of the higher amount of friction between the main wheels and the ground than between the tailwheel or skid

Yes but I always understood that the principle reason for taildragger's propensity for ground looping is due to the main wheels being forward of the CG... like rolling a shopping cart backwards or a tricycle in reverse.

BTW, have you ever flown a Pitts? That is the most skittish landing plane that I've flown and add that you have Zero fwd visibility in the flare. How is your's in the vis department?

Anyway, very impressive and I do hope to (virtually) fly with you.

[Gabi]

4 minutes ago, Vonrd said:

Yeah, I see why the adverse yaw... 

Yes but I always understood that the principle reason for taildragger's propensity for ground looping is due to the main wheels being forward of the CG... like rolling a shopping cart backwards or a tricycle in reverse.

BTW, have you ever flown a Pitts? That is the most skittish landing plane that I've flown and add that you have Zero fwd visibility in the flare. How is your's in the vis department?

Anyway, very impressive and I do hope to (virtually) fly with you.

Actually you are correct about the CG... sorry I should have mentioned that.  IF the CG is behind the mains it will tend to ground loop unless the tailwheel or skid produces more friction (like say... braking tailwheel).  No, I've never flown a Pitts.  I learned to fly tailwheel airplanes in an all original equipment 1947 Aeronca Champ and later flew a Pietenpol air camper for a while though   As for visibility - absolutely zero fwd vis during flare or when sitting on the ground.  I have to lean out the side of the cockpit to see ahead.

[Flyboy]

8 minutes ago, Gwen said:

Actually I was based at Wright Patterson and later Rickenbacker AFB in Columbus.

I live in Wilmington now and only about 45 min from Wright Patt. We were talking about doing a possible get together for JG1 in June here for the Dayton Air Show and tour the museum.

[Gabi]

1 minute ago, Flyboy said:

I live in Wilmington now and only about 45 min from Wright Patt. We were talking about doing a possible get together for JG1 in June here for the Dayton Air Show and tour the museum.

Sounds like fun.  I used to hang out in the museum there a lot.  One of the restoration people there gave me lozenge fabric color samples to scan so I could match the colors on my plane.

[Gabi]

11 minutes ago, Gwen said:

Sounds like fun.  I used to hang out in the museum there a lot.  One of the restoration people there gave me lozenge fabric color samples to scan so I could match the colors on my plane.

OH, forgot to mention - I grew up in Newark, OH.  That's where I learned to fly.

[Etzel]

Hi Gwen, thanks for sharing all your experience, thats very, very interesting 4 me.

Well, for me the D.VIII is already now one of the most challenging german planes in FC (as it was in RoF too), I rarely  manage to land it without breaking the wing...  And also sharp turns in dogfights are leading to uncotrolled many times, so u see me very impressed that you fly that bird IRL

Hope to fly with u soon in FC.

Best

Etzel

[Gabi]

On 12/5/2024 at 1:00 AM, Etzel said:

Hi Gwen, thanks for sharing all your experience, thats very, very interesting 4 me.

Well, for me the D.VIII is already now one of the most challenging german planes in FC (as it was in RoF too), I rarely  manage to land it without breaking the wing...  And also sharp turns in dogfights are leading to uncotrolled many times, so u see me very impressed that you fly that bird IRL

Hope to fly with u soon in FC.

Best

Etzel

Thanks Etzel.  I look forward to flying with you soon