stratman59

Ron, would you kindly go back and read my post and tell me exactly where I have said 'I cant land the bloody thing' I'll save you the trouble, here is what I actually said. 'After countless hours of takeoff and landing practice, I can occasionally takeoff reasonably tidily and occasionally land without touching a wing down'. Granted, I also say my landings can be a bit messy, probably the same for many of us. After 'countless hours of practice' what was the harm in passing on what I found helped me out.? What is it with people on this forum, seems to be full of people who'd pick a fight in an empty room, it's getting like Youtube!

Speed, Speed Speed, don't even try to touch down above 70 mph, you'll just bounce. Let it fly just above the runway until the speed is good then raise the nose to similar to take off attitude. keep your gunsight on so once on the ground you can line the vertical with a cloud in the distance and dance on the pedals to keep it straight on the runway, once slowed down enough to roll straight then brake. I set my brakes to a button on my throttle rather than my pedals and once nice a straight lots of quick dabs on brake button.

Probably right Whisper, had I started on the 109 no doubt the Spitfire would have come a little easier. Not to worry, enjoying both and now I'm going to move on the the Dora and the Mustang. Just can't wait for when we can actually do more than just take off and land as at the moment flying against AI is a pretty horrid experience.

Ron, I can now do pretty much perfect landings most of the time, if I could save tracks I would put some on Youtube. I do still have complete cockups on a regular basis though. This afternoon I managed 5 nice landings on the trot before touching a wing down on the sixth. I don't know if this is a VR thing and the heightened perspective, a bonus I would have thought, but for me pulling back hard on the stick just made me take off again and then come down with an almighty bounce, even at 60 - 70 mph. For me, the key was absolutely getting the speed perfect with the correct attitude, any faster than 60-70 and the bounce was ridiculous. I tried using the brakes on my pedals but really struggled, (cheap TM T flight pedals don't help) I set brakes to a button on the throttle and used quick dabs on it, seemed to work for me.

I might point to jcomm's post, just as an example, clearly, it isn't just me who thinks things aren't quite as they should be if mkiii has delved into the .lua settings trying to find an answer to frankly ridiculous bounce characteristic on even the most level and gentle touchdowns. Just watch some real Spitfires landing on Youtube, a small bounce yes, a 20ft high bounce at 60-70mph, coming in perfectly level and at the right attitude, no! 1:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_3YuwerLCQ What do all Sim enthusiasts want? For me, the most accurate and realistic simulation the developers can give us, I'm sure ED will get it just right in time and I expect user comments as to how things are with users are fairly useful. It'll be very interesting to see what the figures in the FMOptions.lua file look like once ED deem the Spitfire Finished?

Probab, that's about as ignorant and arrogant a post as I've ever read. Surprised by a so-called 'senior member'. There are literally dozens of posts on these forums questioning the accuracy of the Spitfire flight model. If you go back and actually read my OP you'll see I am not saying anywhere that I can't do it, what I did was compare the Spitfire with the BF 109 models in terms of learning curve.

Totally agree Buzzles, all those dues paid in with the Spit no doubt paid dividends on the first attempt in the BF 109. Yes, I have the P-51D and the Dora but my tiny brain can only take so much in at a time, I'll give both of those a go over the next few weeks. One thing I love about this sim is the fact that you really feel like you're making progress. When I first tried the dogfight against the two 109's I thought they must be joking, now I can regularly save my wingman and take down both 109's with some ease, and not blow my engine up, progress indeed!

Thanks for the offer Phil but I don't seem to have got my point across very clearly. After 100 plus hours I can take off fine (I'd say 90% of the time, the other 10% a little crab-like) and in most cases land, all be it a little frantically with a wing touching just before coming to a halt now and then. Mostly I must say from heeding your advice re stabbing the pedals. My point was, why it only took me an hour or so to essentially master takeoff and landing in the BF 109 compared to 100 plus hours to do the same in the Spit? That's why I'm questioning if the Spit model needs a little work? Even allowing for the locking tailwheel issue was the Spit really that much harder to takeoff and land than a BF 109? (I did initially have a software fault with my config which probably accounted for some of the time but even so)

Well, none of us have any real evidence as to the reality of flying either aircraft. I am talking solely about the DCS simulations of the aircraft. I purchased all four WW2 birds but thought I'd try to master the Spit before attempting any of the others. I was expecting the 109 to be far harder which is why I was so surprised at how easy the 109 was to get to grips with in comparison. Thus my thoughts that the Spit model may not be all that correct? I do take your point regarding both being ongoing projects, I love them both as they are in any case but it's nice to think things could become even better.

I would think 100 and more hours would indeed be enough cromhunt, this is why I am questioning if the ED Spitfire modal is as it should be? Also, I meant to add that I only fly on the Normandy map, so no long wide runways.

I think you maybe miss reading my post? I have absolutely no trouble at all taking off and landing the 109, like I said, mastered within an hour or so practice using recommended procedures. Trust me, I have read every post, every manual and watched every video regarding the Spit, yes I'm using 8 boost and all the right settings. After probably over 100 hours on the Spit I'm still, at best, 'messy' with both takeoff and landings. My question is, was the Spit really so much harder to handle than the 109 as DCS have made it?

Yes, tailwheel locked in the 109, as the manual advises at takeoff and landing. Why would I unlock it? I get what you're saying, that the locking tailwheel makes all the difference? Begs the question why on earth did they not engineer a locking tailwheel on the Spit back in the day? Superior German engineering I suppose?

Had all of the WW2 planes for a few months now. Been concentrating on the Spit only. After countless hours of takeoff and landing practice, I can occasionally takeoff reasonably tidily and occasionally land without touching a wing down. So, for a change of scenery, I thought I'd have a go in the BF 109. Now from what I read the 109 is a tricky beast due to the narrow undercarriage and the high power to weight ratio. What I found was that within an hour of practice I can do almost perfect takeoff and landings in the 109! Now to me that means one of two things, the BF 109 is too easy or the Spit is not quite right, and yes both set on full sim modes with all assistance removed. This isn't a complaint as I'm loving both, just an observation.

I have to agree with most on this post, once you've tried VR (on a capable rig, essential!) it absolutely transforms flight sims to a whole new level, I use the line, 'from a game to a real flying experience'. The restriction at the moment is cost, not necessarily the VR (Rift=£400.00) but the rig to run it, I built my own for less than£1,200 ground up. Having said that, how many users on here have £330 joystick setups and expensive 4k monitors? I have yet to see any of my friends who have tried flying the Spitfire on the VR not to be totally astounded. Anyway, back to the original question....VR only servers? I've only recently returned to DCS and have spent about a month learning how to fly WWII planes, I feel I'm almost ready to dip my toe in the water of multiplayer. Although I'm fully prepared to be cannon fodder for a while as I learn the MP ropes, my main worry is, will I be at a complete disadvantage not being able to just press a key to see behind me as the mirrors aren't working yet? To know I was flying against others, all equal apart from skill would be nice.

Thank's nuts and Art but I think I've managed to sort it out. Basically, I deleted every joystick config file I could find in both 1.5.7 and 2.1.1. One thing I did find was a stray .lua file for the previous Saitek x52 stick I had, not sure if that had anything to do with it but hey! I'm now able to split my throttle and get the correct RPM and boost. Thanks for all your help everyone.

It's the same in both 1.5.7 and and 2.1.1. I can sort it by deleting all my config.lua files and redoing them. As long as I then leave them alone I'm good. So are you saying you split your throttle and it works fine? I'm sure it should work that way.

Hi art, A, Simulation mode. B, I'm going into option-controls and setting to 'Spitfire LF Kk1X Sim' and then setting up my hotas. I've tried reversing, throttle on the left and RPS on the right, makes no difference.

Further OK, so I've solved the issue but thought I'd just report what I've found to see if anyone can replicate it. I deleted all my .lua files and then joined my two Warthog throttles together and got a good 3000rpm at +8 boost, as it should be. Now the crazy thing is if I then separate the throttle and configure the left lever to be RPM even when fully open I still only get 2000 RPM? If I rejoin them I can still only get 2000 RPM at +8 boost again. The only way to get back to normal is to completely delete the .lua and reconfigure the axis settings, weird!

Well another few hours trying everything suggested, no change. I'm absolutely convinced there is something awry with my input setup. My left wing is even dipping when I have the stick hard to the right and way before I reach even +4 boost let alone +8. Does anyone know what files I need to clean out so as to make a fresh start? is it just the .lua files? *** A breakthrough*** I deleted all my .lua files for the Spit, started from scratch with just the axis controls. An instant success, the most obvious difference is now at +8 psi my RPM is up to 3000 as opposed to me only getting up to 2000 with the throttle fully open. I have no idea what the hell had caused that to happen but I've just got up nice and straight 3 times on the trot, yippee! I guess the way to look at this is that I sure have learned to use my controls to the optimum. Thanks to everyone for all of your suggestions and help.

Thanks David, I appreciate your input but I have read those essays and Chuck's guide. I also appreciate that the DCS sim is very accurate, one of the reasons I love it so much. I have got to grips with the braking system and can taxi relatively well. The reason I feel there is something wrong with my input setup somewhere is watching this video from DCS. I am following that procedure exactly but where he says "as soon as you have enough speed allow the stick to go to neutral' (at 4:10) my Spitfire left wing dips sharply and drags the runway. If I'm quick I can correct with a hard stick to the right but it is so much more tricky than on that video or on Chuck's video where neither seem to have this sharp left wing dip? On Chuck's video, he uses no stick input at all? Totally impossible for me. I'm beginning to think I have a 'Friday afternoon' Spitfire, Oh, wait a minute I wrecked that one! And about 200 others. Two things occurred to me, I have my rudder pedals inverted, is that correct? Secondly, I have my throttle handle split on the Warthog, the left for RPM and the right for boost, what I find is when I get to +8 boost my RPM is still only about 2200 with an equal amount of movement? On both videos, the RPM seems to be up at 3000 at +8 boost so I have to faff about moving the left throttle more than the right. I can't help thinking that many of the youtube videos have 'rudder assistance' turned on, I can emulate those takeoffs with ease when I turn that on.

Well, I just don't know, another 4 hours tonight and no nearer, sometimes even with full opposite rudder and stick full to the right, as soon as I apply the throttle it just turns sharply to the left? I really am baffled by this as I can take off in the Spitfire in IL-2 BOS in full sim mode relatively easily after just a few hours practice?

I've spent about 30 hours ( seriously) so far practicing takeoff. I can get her up but it's such a struggle. I spent the afternoon watching just about every Youtube video on the subject and I think I might have a problem somewhere. I'm setting my trims as advised and using the 8 lb boost. What happens to me is as soon as my nose begins to level off my left wing quite violently dips down, now I've learned to correct for that but this doesn't seem to happen on most of the Youtube videos I've watched? On chucks video, he takes off using no stick at all? I've checked I have no spikes in my curves settings and I'm using about 25 curves on the Warthog. Anyway, thanks for any help, now to wreck some more wings.

Ah, O.K, so basically it's meant to be like that? If that's the case then fine, I was just worried I was missing something. Thanks

I'm constantly having to make rudder and aileron trim adjustments, If I'm flying at a constant speed and with no wind surely once trimmed it should fly straight and level? I'm using a Warthog and pedals. I have the trims set to the trim switch on the stick. Also after takeoff, I'm having to do manic trim adjustments, watching Wags's takeoff instruction video, he doesn't appear to do any? Even if I try going into 'instant action' level flight I still constantly have to be adjusting.

Hi, I'm using VR so would like to be able to use the little mouse nub on the TH Warthog throttle unit to move the cursor when I'm in VR, any way to enable this?