AnnoyingBird

Interesting, but actually I kept the rads opened through startup, take-off and during flight up until suffering engine failures a few minutes later while running at perfectly safe engine speed/pressure... this happened twice in a row until I just left the rads on auto on the ground (albeit against the advice of the flight manual!). Admittedly there could have been another explanation and I'll do some more trial and error later. The rationale behind setting rads to open instead of auto is that it will overcool while you are at high speed so you have more of a buffer when you are in a dogfight doing vertical manoeuvres etc, I've seen it recommended in a few threads. It's a shame that the AI damage model isn't more detailed. Surely it wouldn't be too hard to implement a flight model that responds to hits by adding extra drag / reducing control based on the surface struck and an element of chance. I'd really like to see the AI limp along when it's damaged.

It's been my experience that running at 3000 rpm poses the greatest risk to the engine, even at reduced MaPs. I would much prefer to maintain 2700 rpms and switch between 46" and 61" as the situation dictates. I've never had the engine seize using this method, whereas I've lost a few planes while risking 3000. I'm not saying it's strictly right or optimal (any idea how the power output of 2700/61 compares to 3000/46? I'll need to see if there's charts...) but that's been my trial-and-error results so far. I've also had a couple of losses apparently due to being naughty and sticking the radiators to open as part of my start-up procedure on the ground, I delay doing that until entering the dogfight now and no more issues.

Thanks for the tips :). I still have a long way to go to fly this thing well. I am trying to BnZ but I find my aim is awful at high speeds and I frequently manoeuvre too hard, lose energy, and throw away whatever advantage I had. The shakiness is a useful warning, yes, but it doesn't feel like it takes a very hard turn at all to upset the aircraft. It doesn't help that I seem to pull on the stick harder as I get frustrated in a fight, leading to more and more shaking! That will all just need a bit more practice. If nothing else, this plane makes me appreciate the significance of fly-by-wire technology. Dogfighting in an F16 is a piece of cake in comparison...

Hi guys, I am new to DCS WW2 planes and am currently learning the P51 and Dora. I find the P51 quite newbie-friendly, once you learn safe RPM and manifold pressures anyway, and I can easily defeat the FW190 in the P51's Instant Action dogfight against it. However I am having a lot of problems defeating the P51 while flying the Dora in its own Instant Action mission against it. I suspect this is due to some newbie mistakes and some advice would be appreciated! My standard setup is to throttle to 100 % with MW on (I believe the MW is default on, correct?). However I have the following issues: - The plane naturally rolls left quite heavily, which I can't trim out due to the absence of rudder and aileron trim! This is definitely the most annoying and makes it very difficult to fly level, or to make minor adjustments e.g. for aiming up a shot. Surely this can't be the normal state for this plane? I have double checked all my inputs (including checking the control-enter input panel). The only slightly odd thing I notice is a constant right rudder that is applied, even with neutral rudder input, presumably this is simulating a trim tab? I don't get this behaviour on the P51. - I find the plane very shaky and unstable compared to the P-51. I can't turn too hard or the cockpit shakes heavily, and if I push it, the nose of the plane bucks wildly around. I suspect this is me playing too heavily on the stick, but sometimes it feels like the plane gets into a bad mood and even gentle movements cause shaking until I level out for a good five seconds. This all hurts my position badly in the dogfight. Generally I find I have to try very hard to get a favourable position against the P51. I have recently tried to focus more on vertical loops and split-S rather than turnfighting the P51, as turnfighting seems to be a hopeless proposition. However typically I am always just 1 mistake away from having him on my six, whereas it takes many minutes of good manoeuvring from me just to stay even (typically resulting in head-on gun runs at each other). I also find it to hard to play in the vertical while still managing to keep eyes on the opponent and avoid stalling. It doesn't help that I am using an X55 stick with a twist rudder, but I am getting rudder pedals soon which hopefully will help a little!