User Guide

FLIGHT CONTROLS
Strike Commander can receive flight control input from a mouse, keyboard or joystick. In addition, it
supports the Thrustmaster flight control interface. See the Reference Card for more information on
the Thrustmaster. You can select the flight control device of your choice in the
FLIGHT menu of the
Option Screens (p.22).
Mouse Control
Pushing the mouse away from you pitches the plane down, and pulling it toward you pulls the nose
up. Moving it left or right banks the plane left or right. The left mouse button fires the selected
weapon. If the mouse has only one button, it fires the selected weapon.
Keyboard Control
The arrow keys (either on the number pad or the main keyboard) control pitch and roll. W pitches
the plane up, and Z points the nose down. A and S roll the plane left and right.
Joystick Control
A joystick is the suggested flight control interface for Strike Commander. Pulling the stick back
(towards you) points the nose of the plane up, and pushing it forward (away from you) points it
down. Moving the stick left or right rolls the plane left or right.
Rudder
, and . control the rudder, and thus the yaw of the plane.
Throttle
The number keys control the engine throttle setting. 1 represents 20% thrust from the engine, 5 is
100% military power (full power without afterburner). 6 through 0 are afterburner settings. For
example, 6 is full military power plus 20% afterburner. Bring up the Damage MFD (D) and set the
throttle at 5. Observe the fuel readout in the upper right corner of the MFD. Now punch up full
afterburner. Note how the rate of fuel consumption goes up. If you stay on ’burner all the time,
you’ll run out of fuel before you complete your mission.
MANEUVERS
Taking Off
Put your flaps down (F), put the brakes on (B), and punch up full afterburner (0). When your
plane starts to move, release the brakes and taxi. When your speed indicates 115-125 knots, the
velocity vector on the HUD will rise above the zero pitch line. (This is called rotation.)
Now pull back slightly on the stick to get into a nice steady 15 to 25 degree pitch angle, raise the
landing gear, retract the flaps, and there you are. Don’t try to climb too fast. A stall here would be
lethal. Throttle back unless you have somewhere to go immediately; the afterburner guzzles fuel at
12 times the normal rate.
You can use the auto takeoff feature by hitting A. Relax and watch the plane leap into the air.
Climb
To climb, pull back on the stick. If you’re travelling too fast when you start
the climb, you can pull too many Gs and experience grayout. If your
airspeed is too slow and your pitch angle is too great, you can stall. In an
optimal climb, your speed should be about 450 knots and your pitch no
greater than 35 degrees.
Dive
Nosing over into a dive from level flight at combat speeds often results in
too many negative Gs and subsequent redout. Since your rate and angle of
dive are restricted by negative Gs, it is often better to do an inverted dive.
Roll your plane 180 degrees so that your cockpit is facing the ground and
pull back on the stick. This maneuver allows you to dive toward the
ground, yet pull positive Gs.
HOW TO FLY
42
Inverted Dive