Default Condor keyboard controls. A list you might want to print and have handy while you fly
1. Install Condor 2 (Standard Version is fine) http://www.condorsoaring.com/order/
2. Install the latest patch and hangar update from Condor Updates
3. Load more landscapes from our Landscapes page.
4. Test out a multiplayer game.
First close your Condor program.
Go to virtualsoaring.eu/serverlist (best) or condor.hitziger.net/serverlist and join any server that doesn't show a race that has started, and is using a landscape you have installed (everyone has Slovenia2 installed). You'll probably see some TeamXC flights there you can fly.
Condor will open with a MultiPlayer window. Click "Join"on the lower right.
You'll see the map and can look at the weather. You can save the flight plan and try it from Free Flight later.
Choose a plane under Hangar. Click "Join Flight".
Go through all the intermediate and advanced flight lessons under Flight School found on the Condor program main menu, including reading the description, View Lesson (demonstration) and Try Lesson (practice)
Intermediate lessons:
Thermal soaring
Ridge Soaring
Wave Soaring
Upslope Winds
Outlanding
Advanced lessons
Using PDA and Navigation (tasks)
Mc Theory
Final Glide
Flaps and Water
Save a downloaded flight plan (.fpl file) to the folder documents/Condor/flightplans. Then in the Condor sim, open Freeflight>Load>User Flightplans and choose the flight plan.
If you're tired of moving your mouse or hat switch around to control your view, you can use VR goggles or head tracking. About 1/3 of our groups uses a mouse or hat switch, about 1/3 use VR and 1/3 use head tracking. Head tracking doesn't have 3D but is cheaper than VR and lets you use your keyboard and your phone or tablet for XCSoar flight computer. It's also better resolution and more comfortable than VR for long flights. You move your head slightly and your PC view changes so you can see in all directions. It really helps with realistic training.
The best package is TrackIR, version 4 or 5. See Amazon and Ebay. Used setups work with Windows 10 even if they were written for Vista.
There are some other options using open source software like Freetrack, but they are very hard to set up, and we don't recommend them.
The most important action is the centering key, which is F12 by default. I changed it to the Scroll Lock key so I can find it easily in flight without seeing the keyboard.
The most important setting is to choose either the Dead Zone or Smooth template. Select the Yaw axis, and choose either Dead Zone or Smooth template from the Templates box and click the little white icon (a copy icon) just to the right of the Templates selection next to the + sign to apply the template. Go to the Pitch axis, and apply the template to it too. Later you can drag the little circles up and down to tweak the sensitivity as you get more experience of what works for you. For the Roll axis drag the dots downward so that the sensitivity is zero everywhere...you don't want the view to change if you tilt your head to the side
I suggest a Motion Control Speed of 1.5 and a Smooth of 20. These are on the sliders.
Make sure you save your profile (the disk icon on the Profile line) and click the Exclusive box so it always comes back to this if you have more than one profile.