Welcome to the second instalment of our series on air combat simulation. Before discussing the 'mechanics' of aerial combat, there are a couple of important topics we first need to address which will have a direct impact on your overall experience. These are what I would refer to as the 'tools of the trade'. The first of these 'tools' is the actual software you will use to study the subject, while the second is the hardware that you will be using. By hardware, I'm not referring to your PC, because requirements vary from one simulation to the next. Specifically, I'm referring to your flight controls, namely: the joystick, rudder pedals, throttles and head-tracking device.
When it comes to controllers, the flight simmer has a wide range of products to choose from to suit every budget. Choosing a controller is quite a subjective topic and will also depend on your budget but you will generally find that the price is a good reflection of the quality and functionality of the unit; in short, you get what you pay for.
Whichever product you opt for, it's important that it has a good number of buttons which can be associated/bound with various functions. You should aim to assign as many cockpit functions as possible to your controllers…
