Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1827755
Boxkite wrote:How do you use the throttles, switches, and keyboard when you can't see them on VR?

VR is so immersive that the keyboard becomes almost redundant. I try to set my view so that my yoke (or stick) and virtual-yoke are aligned. My yoke has throttles, gear and flap levers built-in so I very quickly got familiar with their positions. I have programmed buttons for trim, toe brakes and exterior / interior view toggling.

Within the virtual cockpit I control everything else with the mouse, so it is important to keep the mouse where you can find it. There is a Youtube video of someone taking an A320 from cold and dark to the cruise, including programming the FMS via CDU (fuel, W&B, flight plan etc) using just the mouse. More and more I use the virtual flap and gear levers but still prefer the physical throttles.

X-Plane is way ahead of MSFS in this regard as it allows use of the VR hand controllers to twiddle knobs etc which is far more natural than the mouse. I am sure Microsft/Asobo will catch up and hopefully surpass X-Plane over the next year or so. Games like Half Life: Alyx are further ahead still and manipulating objects feels far more natural than either sim. They have even managed to give objects weight by using vibration in the controllers. I don't know why it works, but it does.

These are exciting times for VR flight simulation.
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By Boxkite
#1827757
Good information, thanks TG.
If it was real flying it would be like having a black cloth over all of the cockpit, attached along the panel just below the main instruments and extending to your waist, such that you can't see anything below it, neither your legs nor your lower arms or yoke. :D

".....it is important to keep the mouse where you can find it"
I found that amusing. :D
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By kanga
#1827765
Boxkite wrote:..

".....it is important to keep the mouse where you can find it"
I found that amusing. :D


<total drift :oops: >

On 'Today' this morning, there was a follow-up to the government decision (for England) that soon residents of care homes would be allowed to receive visitors (under strict hygiene conditions) and even hold hands (but not hug). A gentleman was interviewed (who has been before, several times) whose wife with Alzheimers has been visibly deteriorating, and whom he has not been able to touch for about a year, and rarely even see; he was unimpressed by the severe limits of the concession. He quoted or paraphrased (in English) the Horace line:

Parturient montes nascetur ridiculus mus

"The mountains will go into labour, and give birth to a ridiculous mouse",

[described in one online citation as "a neat expression to describe huge efforts that amount to very little."]

</>
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By SafetyThird
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1827824
Boxkite wrote:How do you use the throttles, switches, and keyboard when you can't see them on VR?


You'd still have to reach with the mouse, which I leave in front of my on the desk and can find easily enough. However, the microlight I'm flying doesn't really have much in the way of controls I need to change during flight and I have them linked to buttons on the throttle and stick. I have flap up/down on a toggle, trim on the wheel on the end of the throttle, parking brakes on a button on the stick and that's about it. I'm sure I'll want more than that as I fly other aircraft but I'm new to flight sims really so I'm just flying what I already know.

Now if I were flying a 747 or something I'd probably do it differently but that doesn't really appeal to me. This morning I flew around the Isle of Skye and flying along the ridge tops in VR is stunning.
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By SafetyThird
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1827826
mossie wrote:
Try this. dont have fs2020 yet but it works on FSX
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/tu ... ree/232430


I use a similar paid for app to link like that which gives me skydemon and for some of what I'm doing I'll stick with it rather than VR because it allows me to train with skydemon as though I were flying. It's wonderful.
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By JAFO
#1828074
Well, I downloaded MSFS over the weekend onto the new pooter and it all appears to work. I wasn't sure it would, so signed up to Game Pass and got to try it for a quid.

It recommended medium settings but I turned everything up and it seems okay.

Just had a quick pootle this morning and it's really rather good. I got down low and flew between the trees and gasped the first time I saw sunlight on the water. I could find my own house and when I saw a gauge reading low, I reached out to tap it. And that's without VR.

So, very impressive but I'm not sure what I'll use it for or how often. Glad to have it, though.
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By Rob P
#1828078
You will find it might stutter a bit flying low level along the Thames, but the automatic default settings seem quite conservative. I am gradually cranking up the cloud quality in preference to the ground.

Rob P
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828519
I would really like to invest in a VR headset but not really sure how well it would work for me. My left eye is little more dominant than my right although I have good vision in both eyes (right eye a little less correctable though). Anyone else in a similar position with VR experience?

I have the computer to run VR (2020 & X-Plane) but the VR headset is not an inconsiderable amount of avgas vouchers...
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By Full Metal Jackass
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828577
JAFO wrote:Well, I downloaded MSFS over the weekend onto the new pooter and it all appears to work. I wasn't sure it would, so signed up to Game Pass and got to try it for a quid.

It recommended medium settings but I turned everything up and it seems okay.

Just had a quick pootle this morning and it's really rather good. I got down low and flew between the trees and gasped the first time I saw sunlight on the water. I could find my own house and when I saw a gauge reading low, I reached out to tap it. And that's without VR.

So, very impressive but I'm not sure what I'll use it for or how often. Glad to have it, though.


Try flying between the trees on the approach to Blenheim Palace, that will give you a real feeling for speed. 8)

What impresses me the most is the white cliffs of Dover and the choppy waters of the channel, if the wind is more than just a calm breeze. Unfortunately they didn't take into consideration that the water within the breakwater is much calmer than outside....
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By Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828848
WelshRichy wrote:I would really like to invest in a VR headset but not really sure how well it would work for me. My left eye is little more dominant than my right although I have good vision in both eyes (right eye a little less correctable though). Anyone else in a similar position with VR experience?

I have the computer to run VR (2020 & X-Plane) but the VR headset is not an inconsiderable amount of avgas vouchers...

I would have thought that if your brain compensates ok in the real world then it would work the same virtually. If the imbalance is correctable by lenses then I recommend VR optician. My prescription is fairly mild but they make a big difference and reduced eye strain. It is possible to wear glasses inside most headsets but it is not too comfortable and there is a risk of damaging the lenses.

Cost-wise the HP Reverb G2 is probably the best of the current crop of headset for flight simulation at about £799 but the Oculus Quest is a close 2nd and only £299. The Quest 2 has the advantage that it is also a standalone headset and works without being tethered to the PC for other apps and games. Much less of a financial risk if it turns out you cannot use it and there is a strong 2nd-hand market for both.
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By Full Metal Jackass
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829016
Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28 wrote:Cost-wise the HP Reverb G2 is probably the best of the current crop of headset for flight simulation at about £799 but the Oculus Quest is a close 2nd and only £299. The Quest 2 has the advantage that it is also a standalone headset and works without being tethered to the PC for other apps and games. Much less of a financial risk if it turns out you cannot use it and there is a strong 2nd-hand market for both.


Don't forget you would also need a link cable for the Quest 2 - I have the original Quest and love it; I used to use an Anker high speed USB 3 cable but it wouldn't provide enough power to keep the Quest battery charged whilst running so I bought the original Oculus Link cable - perfect.....
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By Full Metal Jackass
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829088
Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28 wrote:Being a tight git I baulked at the £89 official oculus link cable but this 3m one for £18 (currently £15.88 on sale) seems to work fine, but I suppose raises the question of how would I know if the expensive one is better?

Also on the shopping list is an upgraded head-strap.


Normal cables cannot handle sufficient power to keep the batteries charged. So use the unit until the battery is pretty much empty, connect it, see if it charges whilst in use... if it charges, all good....
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