Ifr

[seth0351 11]

So i did a search and found no IFR related subjects so... is there going to be any IFR situations in TOH? I know most of the people who will buy this game will have zero knowledge of how to fly in IFR but... flying helicopters does include more than just VFR. And if there are going to be IFR situations will the airports come with approach plates for whatever approach is available?

[Sundowner 11]

I was thinking the same thing, Those of us who came here with actual flying or complex sims background, would have no trouble with flying in bad weather, clouds, or pitchblack night (overcast, and no moon - you can't even use NVGs there :D ).

But the "casual gamer"... not so much, even with simplified flight dynamics for those tackling the IFR would be like hitting a brick wall, it's just not something you can jump right into.

Soo... either there will be no situations requiring IFR flight (like this far in OFP/Arma series) or it will be tied to difficulty level, or having IFR flying lessons for those not familiar with terms like "instrument scan" ;)

What I would be more concerned is navigation... but with such small maps it would be hard to get lost ;)

[CarlGustaffa 4]

ILS already exist in Arma, although I haven't studied their output for correctness, as without proper IMC or other instrumentation in Arma it's not worth following up on. But there have been little (if any) avionics to fully use it (if possible). VOR/VORTAC/VORDME should be easy enough to script as we have the new radio channel system - just make a bunch of dummy frequency ranges and put in some real navaids there. To show it in the cockpit, we need either full access to the model (unless MSFS approach to panel and gauge making is used), or rely on someone to build it for us. There was even a recent morse code addon that could be used to produce the navaid idents.

A bigger problem than navaids (although I prefer native support rather than scripted support) are actual airspaces. Will these be modeled? Like, does the engine know who you are supposed to talk to? Center, approach, tower, or ground i.e. What about ATIS services and AFIS airports? I don't find the new radio channels very applicable to automatic sentence generation for ATIS use, kbTell system feels like a better candidate (for most comms).

[mr_centipede 31]

Excuse my ignorance, what is IFR?

[dm 9]

As much as I rag on wikipedia, it is useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_flight_rules

It means "flying without being able to see" (traditionally at night or in cloud)

[richardb 10]

Hi,

This is a serious question that needs to be answered.

Can someone please confirm whether or not there will be IFR conditions, instrumentation and devices.

IFR flight is more challenging and rewarding in my opinion and so it should be a core feature in the sim.

If not I doubt I`ll buy the game.

Safe flying everyone!

[dale0404 5]

I do not believe that it is in the game from the start but I would imagine in a patch or 3 down the line it might be!

[jcgam 11]

I'd like this feature too. Is it possible to fly into clouds? Can we manipulate the weather in the mission editor to add low cloud cover?

I've flown fixed wing aircraft into clouds with basic instruments. It's much easier without the inner ear playing tricks on your mind.

[Derbysieger 11]

Yes you can fly through clouds:

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Can someone please confirm whether or not there will be IFR conditions, instrumentation and devices.

Clouds and "fog" will be there, as well as wind and precipitation (rain only I guess, if snow I'm guessing very limited, and certainly no hail or sleet). Wind will also be there, although more simplistic than other flight simulators (no wind shears, microbursts etc to worry about). So the conditions are most likely there.

As for instrumentation and devices to truly fly blind? Or rather, blind navigation in a realistic sense? No, I seriously doubt it. Maybe an RMI needle can point to a preselected point or something, but I don't even expect CDI deflections from VOR radials (navaids most likely not in, maybe ILS/LLZ but previously instrumentation lacked) or GPS course deviations (shift click on map to set your "waypoint" is about as advanced it'll get). Certain instruments looks a bit "snappy" (radar altimeter), some are missing (turn coordinator w/ball), and those that are there lacks proper interaction (OBS/CRS setting, altimeter setting etc).

If not I doubt I`ll buy the game.

Yup, sounds like this is very heavily VFR oriented. But I'll forgive them for that now, since it's their first attempt, and that we have limited area of operations to have fun with. I would want a fully fledged IFR simulator myself (although I prefer fixed wings), at the same time I can't even think how that should be attempted with the current interaction limitations which comes from "old engine". Staff size considered, I don't think they'll ever compete with the "completeness feel" of MSFS, but they are already way past them wrt handling.

Flying IFR in a sim is always somewhat easier, because you don't have to convince yourself to trust the instruments rather than what your inner ear tells you, and of course because getting lost in Cumulus Granittus isn't all that dangerous :p

[Isaac 10]

While I hope IFR is implemented in a future patch or version 2 I don't think it's going to make it in TOH release.

To the person that asked what "IFR" is, some one else answered that IFR is for marginal conditions (low visibility), that is not representative of the actual reality, 99% of the commercial flights fly under IFR rules even if there is unlimited visibility.

IFR only means a flight that will be navigated based on instruments rather than on human view (VFR).

Because of GNSS constellations, today, is possible to fly as IFR the en route, the terminal and the approach phases of flight anywhere in the world thanks to RAIM FDE algorithms that ensure the level of accuracy of the navigation solution.

On the other hand most helicopter flights happen in VFR or controlled VFR conditions although we are seeing more and more cities regulating under IFR for security reasons (darn terrorism).

Edited October 25, 2011 by Isaac