Improved AI Directional Control for Carrier Takeoffs

[JacksonsGhost]

Thanks for your thoughts guys,

Takeoff into wind does make a difference to the results, as would speeding up the ships, though maybe more because the takeoff distance can be shortened and aircraft can be in the air before reaching the obstacles, rather than actually improving directional control. However, they’re still just work around solutions to an issue that maybe shouldn’t exist at all. And those work arounds can each have their own negative effects on a mission design.

For sure, taking off into wind and increasing ship speed will increase airflow over the wing and improve take off distance and (to a lesser extent) directional response, but should a low headwind situation on an overcast day cause loss of directional control to the point of steering off the deck on 1 in 5 occasions in the first place? Probably not. So maybe the modelling of ship roll effect is excessive as stovak says, or maybe pilot response to it is insufficient as I suggested. In any case I’m happy to leave it to TD to judge if any change is appropriate and worth the effort.

Oh ... and apologies to anyone who tried loading my test mission file into the FMB. I didn’t cut the Chief Road in the right place in the shortened version so it wouldn’t load up properly. I’ve edited my previous post now to fix that.

[stovak]

Originally Posted by JacksonsGhost

Takeoff into wind does make a difference to the results, as would speeding up the ships, though maybe more because the takeoff distance can be shortened and aircraft can be in the air before reaching the obstacles, rather than actually improving directional control.

Yes, sorry, re-reading my post I wasn't clear about that at all. I meant regarding the aircraft slewing about the deck. Going full-speed into a 5kt wind will certainly let them get airborne sooner so they won't hit the rigging at the end, but you'll still get the odd one veering into the superstructure for no good reason and exploding.

I basically copied your mission but gave it a full deck of 14 F4s. Whether I set the wind to head- tail- or sideways, my number 9 usually manages to steer into the superstructure. Occasionally number 7 joins in too.