Blenheim/Junkers 88 pilot tries out the simulator

Eino Estama was seduced to try the WarBirds simulator. It wasn't easy to convince him, but eventually he took off. When Eino started out his flight simulation career with a Me 109 F fighter, we informed the other pilots online that a genuine wartime pilot was taking off. More greetings and virtual salutes flooded in. After some trying, the true pilot got the toy plane in the air.

It wasn't easy, the controls of a home computer aren't very similar to those of a real plane. The overtly sensitive and "numb" stick was the biggest problem, since the movements gave no tactile response like that of the genuine plane does. Additionally, the control stick of a real fighter plane doesn't slip on the table, but is firmly attached to the cockpit floor. The pedals didn't feel right either, but eventually a proper grip was found and the plane stayed airborne.

It took several tries, though. At times Eino left the computer "to cool off", but after a little 'refueling' break he returned to the keyboard, "I'm so pig-headed that I'll try once more..."

After a while Eino decided to try the Junkers 88 bomber, after all it was his war plane. And so the actual Ju-88 pilot guided the virtual Ju-88 into virtual sky.

Again this was reported to the other virtual pilots, who showed respect to our pilot by flying nearby. Our special thanks go to the friendly Japanese who flew in formation with Eino's Ju-88.

Eino compared the simulated Ju-88 to his real plane. The biggest difference was again the feel of the controls. "My Junkers had a robust stick, you felt well what you were doing." Otherwise the flight was graceful.

After a break Eino tried the Me 109 G too
Generally the visitors who watched and tried simulator flying noted that it looks good, and in their analysis the biggest problems of home computer simulations were the absence of seat-of-the-pants feeling and the modelling of the pilot. When you don't feel the movements of the plane in your bottom or the stick, a major portion of the flying experience is left out. Likewise the pilot model, for example a proper modelling of G forces, is lacking.

Eino's brother Valte, who used to fly Morane and 109, had earlier mused how fun it was to watch the simulator, where you could see what planes there were flying (from the small airplane identification text below the actual plane, in computer monitor). "Wish we'd had those then, so we would have known the Russkie planes when they came. It was kinda funny when you didn't know what plane it was. When even the flight controllers couldn't identify them."

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-OuluVeteransEnglish.html