Pimax: Eyesight Equal to Radar in War Thunder
- Skyward Staff
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
A test based on the experience a War Thunder veteran
The third article in our Pimax Collaboration Series brings us to War Thunder. Perhaps the most well known combined arms game on the internet with over 2,500 air, land and sea vehicles.
It also happens to be the “time eater” of choice for Skyward Flight Media staff member ‘KOSMOS’ who is also our primary reviewer of the Pimax Crystal Super Ultrawide (PCS Ultrawide) virtual reality headset. He started playing in 2015. His playtime in War Thunder is measured in thousands of hours with entire technology trees unlocked and access to top tier jet aircraft. He has mastered the balance of patience, skill and frustration that all long time players of War Thunder seem to have figured out. (Praise the Snail!)
After asking him the best conditions to test the PCS Ultrawide we decided to use the most demanding game mode possible: Simulator Battles. Because the user interface in this game mode is limited, visual identification and the ability to find an aircraft before it finds you can decide an engagement before the first shot is fired.
The Current Affairs of War Thunder
War Thunder is so well known you are probably surprised this post is not sponsored by War Thunder with our new creator code, returning player reward package and in-game emblem offer.
Gaijin Entertainment, the developer of War Thunder, finds themselves in an odd place lately. War Thunder recently had a wave of creators slamming the developer’s decisions related to the game’s direction, lack of new consistent game modes, premium vehicles not providing value for their price and battle ratings making certain eras of air combat feeling unbalanced and confusing.
Still, on Steam alone, player count averages are roughly 45,000 and 60,000 throughout the first half of this year. The player base is alive and well, and frankly War Thunder has survived this long using the same formula. It is hard to argue that Gaijin Entertainment may suddenly turn over a new leaf before summer 2026 is over. So, what is a War Thunder player to do?
According to ‘KOSMOS’ a key part of the experience is to balance grinding away on new vehicles and playing them as they become available but finding an enjoyable battle rating to play during most of your time on War Thunder. In his case, he prefers Air Realistic Battles around 6.7 Battle Rating. Or more broadly speaking, the legendary Warbirds from the 1930s to the 1950s. This is where air combat is made up of turn fighting and energy management instead of flying at the speed of sound and far reaching radar guided missiles.
Video: 'KOSMOS' in an F-82 assisting a friendly aircraft then immediately defending against a new threat.
Pimax: Sight Equal to Radar
Here is a historic combat aviation fact that we were reminded of by Skyward staff member Caio "Hueman" Barreto. It became the core concept of what this article is about.
The world’s top jet ace is Giora Even-Epstien, a pilot of the Israeli Air Force from 1961 to 1997. Credited with 17 air-to-air victories, he was given the name Hawkeye by his fellow soldiers due to his extraordinary eyesight. In fact, his vision could be measured by radar distance. Not using binoculars or other devices to enhance his vision, it is claimed that Giora could see aircraft up to 24 miles (38.4 kilometers) away with his eyes alone. In situations where his allies were relying on aircraft radars and ground control interception to merge with hostile aircraft, he could visually see his opposition and react faster.
Throughout our testing period in Sim Battles, ‘KOSMOS’ had situations similar to what the world’s top jet ace experienced. Within minutes of taking off, he began visually spotting opposing aircraft. However, as he was calling them out his allies using other virtual reality headsets like the Meta Quest 2 could not see them. Eventually his wingmen just started to follow his position callouts before air battles began. According to the Replay Viewer, ‘KOSMOS’ is able to see aircraft up to 18.01 miles (29 kilometers) away.
This gave 'KOSMOS' extra time to formulate strategies or slip into blind spots before opposing aircraft could spot him. There were a few instances of him also quietly following hostile aircraft until the right moment to shoot them down without the enemy pilot suspecting anything.
While in close range ‘dogfighting’ the longer distanced sight advantage is negated. However, a wide field of view continues to help keep higher than average situational awareness about the other aircraft in close proximity.
Technical Thoughts
What does the Pimax Crystal Super Ultrawide 140° horizontal field of view, 50 Pixels Per Degree and 3840 x 3840 resolution per eye get you in War Thunder? In short: significant extended visual range with higher close range situational awareness.
While the specifications of ‘KOSMOS’ Personal Computer are a factor, he was using the same computer to play War Thunder with his trusty Valve Index VR headset. Only with the PCS Ultrawide did he have this notable situational awareness increase.
The Pimax VR headset did not give ‘KOSMOS’ such a decisive advantage that it made him nearly invincible, but it did create more opportunities for surprise attacks and provided more warning to avoid incoming danger. While this is more important for combat aircraft before the 1980s, even during dogfights with fourth generation jets it helps to be able to see finer details of what the opposing aircraft is doing. Whether that is tracking the direction of an aircraft’s nose while it is maneuvering, visually seeing the smoke and fire from an infrared missile’s rocket motor just a few seconds sooner or even spotting the smoke contrails of beyond visual range active radar homing missiles if you happen to be looking at the right place at the right time.
Next Article: Digital Combat Simulator
The next article in our Pimax Collaboration Series will be with Digital Combat Simulator. While it is a long-standing, highly detailed combat flight simulator, it is also somewhat notoriously difficult to get it working in virtual reality “just right”. How does the Pimax Crystal Super Ultrawide and its Pimax EVO software work within its environment? We will be sure to let you know.
Collaboration and Review Information
Pimax Collaboration
Pimax provided Skyward Flight Media with one Pimax Crystal Super Ultrawide virtual reality headset with the intention to create content and review this product. A key part of this agreement is that any content created should be a fair and unbiased representation of the product. See our webpage dedicated to this collaboration for full details, all content and affiliate links.
Article Format
Skyward FM will write about one game/simulator per Pimax collaboration article. Besides the main focus of the article we will also discuss one or two Pimax hardware or software related points as a part of our long-term use case series.
Reviewer Background, Specs
"KOSMOS" is a Skyward FM staff member that has owned or used multiple virtual reality headsets since 2017. These include the Oculus CV1, Oculus Rift S, Meta Quest 2, Bigscreen Beyond 2 and Valve Index. His key PC specs include: Intel i9-14900KF CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and 64 GB of RAM. Microsoft Windows 11.
Affiliate Links
During the agreed upon review period Pimax has provided Skyward Flight Media with referral links and coupon code.
For the Pimax Website
For the Pimax Crystal Light
For the Pimax Crystal Super
For the Pimax Crystal Super Sony Micro OLED
For the Pimax Dream Air
Discount Code: SKY25 For Dream Air ($25 USD OFF)
Discount Code: SKY For All Headsets (2% OFF) with free $150 Accessories Voucher. Offer ends June 10th, 2026
