Warbird Group, Anyone?

[Kiwikat]

Hello guys, I've been thinking about a warbird group for a long time. I know so many SOH members are very passionate about warbirds and really enjoy flying them. I want to gather that passion into a friendly group that flies together.

I would like the group to be casual, no VA system or VATSIM. It would be based on the SOH multiplayer FS Host server and also FSX gamespy sessions for formation flights, and use the SOH TS3 server for communications. Note that because it would be based on the SOH server, both FSX and FS9 users could fly together most of the time. Also, I'd like to invite everyone from around the world to participate if they are interested. I know time zones can be a pain sometimes, but it would be great to have pilots from most continents.

I need to discuss this with more people though. There seem to be few people here truly interested in multiplayer. I hope we can change that!

Please respond if you are interested. If you would like to discuss your ideas with me personally, please throw me a PM. I really need those who are truly interested to contact me. This will take more than a couple members' ideas to get going! If you know anyone else who might be interested in it, please point them this way too. Even if you are interested but don't think you would have much time to participate, please respond.

I know we could get a very fun group going. SOH has lots of warbird lovers. It would be a great way to get to know each other better and have a lot of fun.

Thanks! :ernae:

Kiwikat

[warchild]

hey kiwi :0you can countme in,though i dont know if youd wantmeflying with you ornot..My piloting skills arentexactly what youd call,, good.. but i'd love to see a group like this evolve..
Pam

[Shylock]

Look into the 1st bomber sqaudron. They have a great group of guys and do real formation flights, missions etc. Some are members here maybe you can get something going with them.

[Roadburner440]

I am interested. Only curious as to what you want to do exactly. I am down for trying anything although I have never flown online. Probably would be nice to see a lot of old birds in the air at once.

[Kiwikat]

Thanks for the responses so far guys.

The group would mostly fly places together. We would probably do some fly-ins, maybe try to do an around the world trip. Just stuff like that. I find multiplayer to be more interesting than just flying by myself. Throw in some tight formation and it can be quite interesting. It is also nice to get to know people better.

I would welcome other ideas too!

I'm off to bed for now. Hopefully we can get a decent thread about this going.

[Roadburner440]

Kiwi you can 100% count me in for a round the world trip. Haven't done one since 2008. I have wanted to take the P-47D (now the B-17G as well) round the globe at least once each. Only issue is I work Sun-Thur 11pm-7am eastern standard time... so coordinating around that for most people is hard. I would love to fly round the world in a group though.

[daytonite_andy]

I'm interested.

For those who are pensive about multiplayer flying.....just try it. If you like this hobby then it just adds another dimension to your enjoyment....

As long as the date and times are posted well in advance then there should be no major problems with those wanting to attend. It gives people with commitments chance to work their busy schedules out and check their hardware etc.

[skyblazer3]

Multiplayer flying can be wonderful, or it can be a nightmare. I do about 95% of my flying online, but it's best to fly with people you know. 90% of the people on Gamespy are 12 year old punks who can not aviate, navigate, or communicate.

I would love to fly with the great pilots on Sim Outhouse. Count me in!

Some things to think about are how to get everyone on the same page. Will we fly the same aircraft on one particular night, dis-similar formations? Free ware, payware? What if people don't have the same paint jobs? Also, any more than five or six people on a server at one time makes formation flight very unstable -- who will regulate who gets to fly and who doesn't.... multiple servers might be necessary. It might be wise to write a PDF document that explains how to fly on multiplayer -- both on how to connect and how to configure FSX for stable multiplayer formation flight.

This is a big task, but it can be a lot of fun. I mostly fly the SectionF8 F-86 in formation aerobatics... but some warbird cross country would be a great place for mature and competent pilots to enter into the multiplayer arena.





:salute::salute::salute::salute:
Cheers,

Garner
World's Greatest Virtual Fighter Pilot
http://fsxskyblazers.webs.com/

[letsgetrowdy]

I love nothing more than to fly WBs in formation, especially doing aeros - Even on FS it's a great thrill to see a P-51 bobbing up and down on your wingtip.
I've got a lot of time in multiplayer with a mate from down the road, and also using FS-recorder (my favourite FSX tool)
Here's some from the Virtual OFMC's displays....

[letsgetrowdy]

Just a few more - sorry

[Kowalski65]

Definitely count me in to! Would ove to go around the world again,this time without the pressure of a race! I think till we get eased in a more general fly in style would be needed, although the better flyers(NOT includiong me LOL) can do tight formations-it's about the community & general chatting aspect as much as the flying a lot of the time.

Maybe have a regular weekly time

[skyblazer3]

Kowalski,

I think you are 100% right, formation acro is the PhD level of FSX flying..... but some nice friendly formation cross country flying would be a great way to gossip about the latest aircraft and scenery being developed for our sim. This sounds like a good community building venture.

Letsgetrowdy -- very nice screenshots there, nice work.
:salute:
Cheers,
Garner
World's Greatest Virtual Fighter Pilot
http://fsxskyblazers.webs.com/

[dswo]

I like the crew here and miss flying online. (There was one summer when I did VATSIM almost every day.) First, though, I need to configure the ports on my network. I've made several stabs at this and so far no joy.

[letsgetrowdy]

Cheers Skyblazer.
I've being trying formation acro online and with FSrec for almost as long as I've had flight sim. It takes some getting used to, and flying WBs in formation is actually harder than flying fast jets, due to the lack of excess power. Keeping in position (especially in No.3 position - the hardest place) is very demanding of your concentration, even on FS. I can now, thankfully, keep in place during formatiion barrel rolls and loops, which is sooo hard as you've not just got to handle your power but also make up the drop in frames and any "freezing" that your sim may go through.

[Tweek]

Count me in.

[rvn817j]

"If you know anyone else who might be interested in it, please point them this way too. Even if you are interested but don't think you would have much time to participate, please respond."

I know how to fly, but I've never done multi-player. I'd like to try it.

[2Low]

I'd like to give it a go. My schedule is similar to Roadrunner's so it may be difficult but I will participate if possible.

[falcon409]

I think that while this talk of flying in formation is great for those who can, consider that "most" cannot. It is an acquired skill and not one that most can just pick up in a few days. You'll lose a good portion of the folks who would have otherwise given this new WB Club a try if they think that in order to join they must be able to fly in tight formation. Save that for special occasions. Right now, with as few folks as are actually flying MP since the new SOH server was initiated, concentrating on getting people involved again is more important. Stage some fly-ins to begin with, just a "Meet and Greet" gathering, at one of the many WWII Airfields that have been done for FSX and let that be a day of getting to know the people who show up, do some random flights around the airfield or to another close by strip and set the stage from there for future flights.

[Kiwikat]

Wow, I'm surprised to see so many responses already!

This gives me definite hope that we can get something going.

There's been a lot of talk about formation flight. It won't be the only thing we do obviously. Just flying as a group is a lot of fun. Most flights we will just be maintaining visual distance between each other. Those who want to fly closer can.

I could still use a couple people who are really interested to contact me via PM. I need a couple people that want to help run the group and discuss it further.

Thanks everyone! This looks like it could be a lot of fun. :salute:

[2Low]

Most flights we will just be maintaining visual distance between each other.


That is my idea of close formation flying! Just so you know.

[hammer353]

You can count me. Where do i sign up?

[PRB]

We do have our own multiplayer server here at the SOH, so no need to deal with "gamespy" and whoever flies there. There is no ATC control there, which is nice. At present it seems to not get too much use.

http://www.sim-outhouse.net/

[Kiwikat]

We do have our own multiplayer server here at the SOH, so no need to deal with "gamespy" and whoever flies there. There is no ATC control there, which is nice. At present it seems to not get too much use.

http://www.sim-outhouse.net/

Yup, those are the reasons I want to use the SOH server and TS. If we got a group together, they would see a lot more use.

That is my idea of close formation flying! Just so you know.

I'd consider it close formation flying if you can just about open the canopy and touch the other plane.

I'm talking ~5 miles separation between the front and back planes. More like a cluster than a formation. No reason to drown in technicalities though. It's supposed to be fun.

[falcon409]

Here's another suggestion:
If you are not currently utilizing the SOH "Flight Center" (see the drop down at the top of the page), then you need to, lol. All MP flights originate from the Flight Center. You need the latest Teamspeak Ver3 and FSHost Client Ver 1.1. Obviously, that also means that to use TeamSpeak you have to have a mic of some sort. . .either a headset/mic combo or a standalone desk mic and speakers. Flying in MP and trying to use the chatbox is something I don't do, it's not impossible, but that's the reason god invented Teamspeak, ok? lol.

You also need to take a look at the information in the Flight Center forums concerning the servers used for MP flights and for TS. I believe there is also a tutorial of sorts in there somewhere that explains the how's and why's of setting everything up. If you don't understand, post a question in the Flight Center forums so those folks can get you set up. The best scenario is to get online in TS, at that point you actually speak to a human being who can help you with anything else you need to know.

Finally, and most importantly, "port forwarding". For those who use a router, there are ports that must be forwarded in order to have them open while in MP. This can be tricky based on your individual setups, but be aware that if you don't bother, you'll probably get kicked off. Also, not forwarding the correct ports can cause other pilots to be unable to connect to the server, disrupting an otherwise good session. All that info is also found in the Flight Center forums.

Now is a good time to get the ball rolling if you don't presently fly MP.
Get FSHost Client here:
http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/fshost/

Get Team Speak V3 here:
http://www.teamspeak.com/

The basic setups are pretty straight forward. . .after that get the fine tuning done in the Flight Center. . .then get your ports forwarded (if necessary) and then try logging into FSHost Client and get flying.

[2Low]

I'm sure I can do "cluster", formation might turn into a game of tag untill I get some practice.