Gents,
           I must say...I'm more than pumped up that the cockpit is locked again on the server...no more radar!!!  I had a great night tonight because of it!  Made me a happy camper...off to bed now to dream about the kills...

B~
TX-Rahman
"BLUE 2"

Likewise. . .I couldnt fly much. . .but it was much more enjoyable for me!btw. . that rope a dope worked perfectly, and what a nice shot you had! I shoulda been recording it!!!!S!TX-EcoDragon

S~ Rah,Well done. I have to say that it is obviously alot more realistic for sure.    I could definitely do without the "radar" effect of no cockpit . There was one thing I seriously appreciated about the open cockpit, and that was the removal of the obstructions to the line of sight. Using the guns in the LA7 is tough as when you fire , as the flash from the fire tends to blind your vision to the reticle. This on top of the fact that it is hard to use a lead pursuit with a realistic cockpit , as you dont get to track the bandits position visually. I found it Much more difficult to track and acquire my kills for the short time I was in last night.I understand the reasons outlined for locking the cockpit down , and so I wont whine about it. I'll just have to adjust my style to suit the realism of it.Was the physics model changed as well ? I found myself in a flat spin last night a couple times without a huge effort , whereas , I dont remember falling prey to that in weeks past.Curious,S~Cya up there...TX-ShadowWhite 3

Shadow,               The flight model should not have changed a bit.  I found myself in a spin that I could not recover from also....has been a while since that has happened but I have been flying a wide range of aircraft lately.  I think I will be sticking to my big gun Yak until I get her down again.                 Side Note:  I also had issues with aiming through the gunsight.  The yak gunsight seems to be tinted and that was hampering my abilities to lock on to my prey.  Will have to practice to get my gunning skills back up.EMU,           I know....I wish I would have been recording too!!  I have yet to record anything in FB yet. [:P]B~TX-Rahman"BLUE 2"

Personally I LOVE the super cockpit and don't mind the radaring effect. However, mixing it up ain't bad either. Some maps make not having radar a pain (you can't find anyone to fight)...the island map isn't one of those.

Hey, I agree that no cockpit is a great server setting. It makes aircraft selection, and its use, a much bigger factor. And, yeah it adds more realism. Anyway, good choice! Hope to see ya in the skies soon...GR142-Sammie

Please tell me you enabled padlocks.TX-ChukarBlue 1

King said they had to be on :)'TX-TornadoB~

I mentioned this to Eco the other day, but I am really all about flying locked cockpit these days, even though I never get as many kills and don't get to make my favorite high deflection shots. Something about the FM in FB makes me feel like superman view is not appropriate...not wrong, just takes away from the new vibe of the game. I still think superman view gives a better sensation of dogfighting itself, but it doesn't give the same feeling of immersion of being in a ww2 prop plane. They are similiar but subtely different factors that determine the flow of the game. I just find that superman view dilutes the sensation of realism even while it makes the dogfights better. To me its just something in the FM that makes the cockpit now worth all the hassles, even in the Dora with its myopic forward view. TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

Please remove my B~ or tell my non-comp(atible) arse , thank you :) LOL, And me , I've always said i can fly either way , real, locked , externals, whichever. Long as it's fun , and everyone around is having a good time.S~TX-TornadoBAB 3TX Squadron TOB~

To remove your bloot go to personal drop down menu, then profile and review your signature for signs of the bloot.TX-ChukarBlue 1

The locked cockpit is nice. Seems like after you fly with it like that a couple days its just blends and no longer matters.It really seems that the group of pilots got much better when you locked the cockpit. The skill level improved and the dogfights seemed to definitely improve with more flying and action. Bombers once again seem to have more of a chance as well because of the absence of RADAR.  You guys have a great server and I do appreciate the use of it. I have laughed so hard flying on your server that I have woken up family members.More than anything you have all been very helpful. Thanks!!FlightRiskS~FlightRisk

S~ Flightrisk, thanks for the kind words. It's always nice to hear feedback from our regulars and we enjoy very much having you on the server. Thanks from TX Squadron for being one of the players that makes our server a better place to fly. TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

Yep. . .FlightRisk just sorta popped up on my radar in FB. . but your always  a good sport and much fun to fly with!! S! and thanks for stopping by!S!TX-EcoDragon

S~ All, Ok , well , after the past couple weeks it seems that Ive gotten used to the flight model well enough, and the gunnery well enough to get into the locked cockpit and do some damage. It does make it a lot more challenging , but I still managed to take down alot of aircraft and get home. :-) Long story short , Im starting to appreciate the cockpit being locked down now. I had a blast flyin last night. Found myself sweating pretty hard after an attack run. By the end of the night the views felt pretty comfortable though , and I think I have a technique for lead pursuit that seems to be fairly effective with locked cockpit.By the way Zen , Rah , and Eco , Thanks for all your work on the skins. I wear them proudly !I'm buyin back at the Officers club !!!:-)S~Cya up there...TX-ShadowWhite 3

Alrighty then, I've waited long enough. I'm going to the store tonight to buy me another joystick. Frankly I can't take it anymore, I must get some stick time in. Eco looks at the La7 and says "Got Teeth?"TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

Cant say as that I blame you Zen. I think I'd be itchin to get back in there as well. I hope you pick out a good set.Ok , since Im the one who requested the teeth , I find it necessary to enter some input here as there seems to be some debate over the teeth on the LA7. I have always had the opinion that the jaws of death on any aircraft lent to some psychological impact on the enemy over time. I think its an especially good looking thing on all  in-line engine fighters.The shape of the fuselage on the in-lines tends to look sharklike , and so as such in the real history of fighter art, the jaws have been placed there and look great. I have noticed however that there arent a whole lot of radial engine cowlings in history that have been fitted with the jaws , as the shape of the cowling is not sharklike , and so is harder to pull off. I think there were some early designs by the Germans that attempted this art , but as I recall , they looked extremely silly , and so I think they kind of gave up on the concept. Most designs seem to be rings of color etc. that accentuate the circular cowling. I just want it known that , even though it doesnt fit as naturally as on the inline aircraft , I still think its going to do its job , which is to flash by people now and then right before they get blown out of the sky , leaving a lasting impression of the jaws of death and the devastation that will surely follow when you see them. Being as that several of our other planes are fitted well with the jaws , I think it helps to blend into the team of sharks moving in for the kill image. :-)I will proudly wear the art and I thank all who spent alot of time trying to get it to look as intimidating as possible on a radial.S~ AllS~Cya up there...TX-ShadowWhite 3

All the credit goes to Eco for sure!I personally think that the teeth should be an optional skin to be used as personal choice by the member in question. Some planes look perfect with teeth (The IL2 for example) while others do not. The current LA7 with teeth I think is very well done, but not to my personal taste for that model of plane. I would be more than happy to fly the same teeth on the Yak3 for example. I think we should produce the stock teethless skin for most planes and make a teeth version individually by request. Keeping in mind that this will create more skins to keep track of, the workload should fall to those willing to do the extra bit on behalf of their squadmates. Just my two cents. TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

I have a great pic of some teeth that an A-10 was sporting at the airshow last October.  I'll try to post it when I get home today, it might work out well.My preference on the LA5 and LA7 was to have the ring around the engine cowling match the tail stripe of the plane.   During the small period of time where I was in red section way back when, the red nose and red tail was my favorite LA5 skin.  If I had to make a request on that skin, bring back the nose color!   Of course, completely ignoring me is always a popular option.TX-Deck out.

I planned on making the LA7 skins without the teeth also and posting them later tonight/this weekend.  Eco & the guys and I were talking on GV about this last night.  Not to worry....If you guys wanna color the cowling also, let me know... I can do that, remove the teeth and post them. ;)B~TX-Rahman"BLUE 2"

I definetely prefer having the pit locked.  It just adds so much more to the game.  However, in FB, in my current rig, I only get an avg of 4fps in the pit.I am suffering not flying to try to work so many extra hours to finish my new rig.  Hope to have it finished very soon.TX-CageBlack 5... end ...

Well manford, here we are. I personally do not like the nose color on the La series. Therefore I have no choice but to ignore you. dorky dorky dorky dorky dorky dorkyOn a serious note, if you guys want nose color and/or teeth standard on the LA series get together and make it happen. I have no problem stepping out of the way.  I don't care for it, but this one is more about what you guys want and I'm cool with that. Fact is most all I ever fly is the Dora and even when I do fly the LA with the nose color its not going to be something I think will lessen game play either. So I am officially stepping aside on this one. You guys do what you think is best but keep in mind that we all have to fly the skin. PS Lets not make this into a big deal either, just figure out if you like it or not and take it from there. Or let some fly nose color and some fly stock. TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

Manford, I am officially done ignoring you. TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

What are ya gonna buy. . I need one too???

I just want to make it clear that I dont need anyoone to try to make me feel better about the the teeth by wearing them if they dont feel they like them. I am not a big fan of them myself. . .though I do sorta like the angry guppy look. . er. . no wait. . the vomiting baby piranha!!!Oh. . . I have seen a few varieties of the boar teeth in IL-2 (like those on the A-10) on the LA series. . .but I thought  they look kinda homely. . .perhaps more intimidating though, I will loook for the skins.S!TX-EDCurrent mount: P-39 Q10Favorite Plane in the sim: BF109-G6A/SFuture Favorite Plane: P-51Characteristic noise during dive as reported by a third party witness: GGGGRRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWK!!!