Merlin-27

As of the last update my server is crashing like mad as well. I was almost ok with one crash per day... it's much more now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis

And here I thought I was the king of the ellipsis... You, my friend, have me beat.

The only way I know to get full open is to map a switch and leave it on open. If you go back to Auto it may close up on you and it is slow to react to temp changes. Yes, thanks for clarifying.

I just tried the Instant Action for the first time with the 190. I think it has the same flaw as the P-51 Instant action did, but it is not that bad. I don't like that you have to set up your gunsight, radiator and trim the aircraft the second you merge with the enemy... but you can make it work. If you aren't used to flying with full wing tanks it might be a little painful at first. Easy on the controls. Use some flaps if you want some help out-turning him and make sure to keep your energy up. Like was said above, I also try to be at at least 250 mph before I even try to go vertical with the AI. You can go Full Power 61"/3000 with no issues just make sure you don't spend much time below 150mph and keep your coolant radiator full open. Good Luck.

haha I kind of set you up for that one, sorry. With the interest in WW2 and the impending announcements, maybe we will get both of those items added? Wishful thinking?

Does that say Thunderbolt II? Maybe it's a misprint. :lol:

Flying with external tanks in a fight was a very bad idea as many found out, most notably with your P-38, Tom McGuire. The Mustang pilots had the same challenges... just further from home. It was a tough call to drop those tanks. You knew you were going to have to turn home a lot sooner and say goodbye to your big friends that were depending on you.

My point, was that each advantage comes at a cost and each aircraft manufacturer tried to find ways to push the envelope and win contracts. I wasn't trying to say the P-51s stalling characteristics were a plus in any way or that it "helps" its performance. I guess I should have clarified this one. I was speaking of pilots who did, in fact fly several of "the great ones." Most recently for me, Steve Pisanos. He specifically was tasked to check out his squadrons first Mustangs after they had developed a great love for their P-47s. To even make this more impactful, he also had flown many hours in the legendary Spitfire, and said the P-51 beat them all. Yes, you can get varying opinions if you look for them, but it's hard to argue with that endorsement. Are you saying we have 150 octane but our ground crew decided not to let us reap the benefits? :) I think the more likely explanation is that the DCS Mustang is modeled as a modern restoration (with live ammo and no GPS) and due to the extinction of 150 octane, we are stuck with a WEP of 67" for now.

I try not to.. but it will get you 67" I believe.

I think there is also a difference between the terms "unforgiving" and "top performer". There are always tradeoffs with performance in any arena. For instance, you might not like discovering the rear wheel torque effects of a Dodge Viper and it may not warn you of an impending loss of control but to hold that against it would be silly when you are talking overall performance in the hands of a professional. My impression from reading several accounts from the WWII pilots themselves was that the P-51 was the thoroughbred beast of a fighter they always wanted. In the hands of an experienced pilot it was very lethal. As far as arguing which plane was better... we all know how that discussion goes. Forever. I'm pretty sure 150 octane is not modeled in DCS. Otherwise the manifold pressure allowed would be higher. I'd have to look up the documentation, but I think it was raised from 67" to 72" when using 150 octane as well as the need to replace all the spark plugs every other mission.

wow that's an interesting read. We all know that high speed snap roll can ruin your day but that's quite the scathing review. It's interesting that the words of the combat pilots themselves seemed to indicated the P-51 performance was superior in most respects (air to air) to the P-47. This DOEs make me look forward to flying the P-47 and F6F!

I personally think improving the interface on the MP server search would give big bang for the buck. If you could sort or filter on realism/difficulty amongst other things it would probably keep a lot of that errant steam off of the more "serious" servers. If they want game mode let them find game mode. I'm not saying to force anyone away from the already scarce number of dedicated servers... just a little help "guiding" people to where they are set up for best success. Of course, this will only really work if they have populated servers to go to and hopefully ED will help with that eventually by creating dedicated servers of their own to relieve some of these growing pains.

ah yes, I forgot about those. Will do.

Changed it. Now you should see the Training Staffel skin on the Red side P-51s until we can get a viable alternative.

oh, for some reason I thought that was a download. My bad. The change will be in the next edition. Here's a screenshot I took from a little melee we had today. At that moment it was 2 vs 6 :) DavidRed and I were in survival mode. Good flying guys. Situations like that really do make you realize what "head on a swivel" means!

David, The input is welcomed. Thank you. I have been struggling with the skins and their use. I agree it would be nice to not have to require a download to set the axis apart from the US Mustangs but I also really like using the German skin. It really feels more authentic. It would be really nice to get that fictional BF109 added to the default skins for the P-51D then everyone would have it. *hint hint* And about the spawning of enemies, there are several groups that spawn due to trigger locations and some with a time-release trigger. If you find specific times where you do not see any enemy to fight let me know. I'm happy to add more.

Very cool. Thanks for posting that.

Roger. Server back up.

I'm seeing this "invasion" also on the WWII combat server. There has indeed been a surge in silly questions but really nothing too annoying. Like someone said earlier in the thread, there is a difference between people who want to learn about the sim and people who are lazy and just want to pull the trigger. The good thing is that it is pretty easy to discern who is who and I for one am happy to take some time with someone who actually wants to put a little effort into it. This is my favorite interaction so far... Steamer: I can't spawn Me: Do you have the P-51D module? Steamer: No. Do you have to pay for it? Me: Yes. But I think it's on sale now. Like $20 or something. Steamer: WHATT? Like real money? *expletive* Last night we had some good activity on the server and a bunch of new people to fly against. Of course most chose the air start aircraft but it was still hours of good fun. If the steam route brings in ANY new flyers I think it's a win for the community.

DCS World/Bazar/Liveries/P-51D/ Place the BF109 Fictional folder in there.

I didn't know that! I would have totally given you credit. Please download SiThSpAwN's bad-ass 109 skin.

I have done a little more editing to the River Raiders 7 mission. One important item: Be sure to download and install the fictional Bf109 skin for the P-51D. There has been some frustration telling friend from foe and we have to go this route until we get our FW190. DOWNLOAD PAGE

My WWII server crashes a bunch as well. I was wondering if it was my hardware but after reading this it might not be. Xcom, are you seeing definite results by disabling the CA units? To dis-allow this do you just make sure to un-check the player drivable option?

While traveling I came up for an idea for a thread that I think would be useful and would be a nice addition to the Second World War immersion factor. I was reading my copy of The Flying Greek and found that some parts are much more relevant and understandable after putting in some good time flying & fighting in the DCS P-51. Some of the maneuvers and tactics really hit home now and I sat there thinking.. I really can relate on some small level. What a great testament to the sim! So, I thought, why not have a thread where you can capture passages that really stand out in books we've read about WWII. Things that relate to flying here that might help or enlighten other pilots. My first example: The Flying Greek Steve Pisanos "When you are chasing an enemy aircraft in the sky and trying to get in a position behind your foe for a quick kill you are in an entirely different world, especially when the enemy pilot is aware that you are locked on his tail. Out of desperation, the guy up front will try violent maneuvers to shake you off his tail, especially if he's an experienced air warrior. Normally, that won't work because you have the advantage. You're glued onto his tail and ready to blast him out of the sky, and you are as determined to bring him down as he is to shake you off his tail."