Advice for aviators switching to Simulation Mode

[bobbysocks]

let me throw a spin on this...or ask a simple question. how many of you have actually been up in an aircraft? taken it off...landed? had it under your control? if you have then i wont have to tell you that the ONLY thing about sim that SIMULATOR and remotely close to real life, is target acquisition ( providing you dont use the map feature!). air combat was predominately all about the bounce! if you saw the enemy ac without them seeing you could sneak up on his 6 nice and close or make a diving pass and smoke them! in this game the guys here who have learned the tricks of sim play use that to their advantage and do exceedingly well. its a different difficulty and takes time to learn..but dont think that "sim" makes you more of an expert or its more to true life than realistic mode by any stretch of the imagination. without something like TRACKIR ( that is actually a HUGE factor), blackouts, redouts, stall shaking, compressibility, the heaviness of flight controls real and sim are virtually the equal in being devoid of real flight characteristics. the difference is the settings to begin with. fly real...no hud...no map...no target camera or tracking....and depending on the ac adjust the sensitivities and its just as hard as any sim game...but you dont have flaps ( they arent used correctly in sim anyway). fly sim NO map ( or any other way to detect EAs if you want "hard")... that levels he playing field. you may fly for weeks..months without a kill or even a shot that would be truer to life...many a high scoring ace has been shot down by more rookie pilots who bounced them. your kills would be worth something. each mode of this "game" has its limits and confines. different people due to their nature gravitate to one of the 3. it is not an issue of which 1 is better or harder...or more closer to actual flight...its just more enjoyable for you and that reason YOU bought this game was to enjoy it. challenge yourself and be triumphant. but lets not bash OTHERS who plays different modes or try to make ourselves better for playing one. lets let people experience this great "game" and enjoy it in the manner which they choose without laying on them some guilt trip or bash rap on them .... or online play for this "game" will cease to be. make it unpleasant, gentlemen, and they will leave....and then who will you fly with?