Huey or P-51? Which is harder to fly?

[kontiuka]

Just curious, taking everything into consideration, which do you find harder to fly, the Huey or the P-51? I'm inclined to say the P-51. The Huey is easy as hell to take off in (once everything is started up that is). The P-51 will go right off the runway if you're not careful.

 

And as for landing, I managed to land the Huey within a few tries. The P-51, I still can't do it without 17 bounces.:)

[Devrim]

I have troubles with P-51D, but didn't think to compare these units.

 

But, it's OK, after many practices I'm sure you and I fly it properly. Just fly, crash and fly again...

[Scrim]

Huey, no question. Though I had troubles landing and taking off with the P-51, the latter was because I didn't bother reading past "trim your rudder", and the landings went badly because as with most I've seen, rushing the process and coming in too fast, as well as the backbone refusal to lose sight of the runway by bringing up the nose for an even touchdown.

[VincentLaw]

The Huey is easier in combat if you load up miniguns. That thing is a demon against infantry and light vehicles.

 

Huey definitely has more complex systems (though not by much).

 

I would say the P-51 is harder to fly. You might look more like a complete noob trying to take off and land the Huey because of all the control coupling and deflections, but it is less vicious:

 

In the P-51, if you forget to put up your flaps before takeoff there is a good chance you are going to run off the runway. If start to stall on approach and throttle up quickly, you are probably going to spin out and crash into the runway. If you fill 100% fuel, you are unstable. If you bounce on landing, the second bounce can be even harder. If you are not careful while braking, you can nose over. If you don't keep it straight down the runway, you can spin out and burst into flames. Conventional gear is inherently unstable on the ground. The tail wheel steering can be pretty hard for new players. There is no copilot or autopilot for when you need a break or want to look over the map or briefing.

 

The two main things to worry about with the Huey are vortex ring state and mast bumping. Those are pretty easy to avoid just by watching your vertical speed and avoiding rapid or strong control deflections.

Edited March 28, 2014 by VincentLaw

[NineLine]

Helicopters are held aloft by witchcraft, I voted Huey.

[Flagrum]

Helicopters are held aloft by witchcraft, I voted Huey.

but it takes a wizard to fly the P-51! :o)

 

I'd say, P-51 is more difficult as it is less forgving. Yes, flying the Huey needs a good amount of acclimatisation to it's tendency to move around in all possible (and impossible) directions at once. And although it is some similar kind of "bare metal" flying like it is with the P-51, the P-51 is ... or can be just a bitch. If you don't pay a lot of attention to "details" when sitting in the P-51, she will just throw you diagonal over the runway, blow the engine into pieces and just being stubborn ... :o)

[VincentLaw]

blow the engine into pieces and just being stubborn ... :o)

Yeah, I forgot about that too. The very first time I did the P-51 takeoff training mission, I followed the instructors directions exactly, and almost as soon as I got into the air, my engine failed without enough energy to turn around and land again.

 

Oh, and this can happen:

Edited March 28, 2014 by VincentLaw

[KLR Rico]

I voted P-51...

 

Both aircraft are challenging to fly well, but the P-51 is less forgiving and has a higher systems management workload.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Nah P-51 is a doddle. The Huey will ACTIVELY try to kill you if you're not paying attention!

[Djent33]

As a virtual pilot, I’m not programmed to pay attention.:D

[kk0425]

Voted Huey, but P-51 is just as unforgiving. Both need steady hands to fly well, but planes in general are a little easier to fly for me.

[WildBillKelsoe]

So you want to know which is harder to fly?

 

Of course its the huey. If you're not careful, the chopper will always enter VRS unless you do extreme pull on collective and this is still many people's downfall.

 

The mustang is still hard to fly, but with proper speed, proper training and proper trim, she could set down easily provided the rudder is fine tuned as input.

 

Maybe because huey is newer I'm giving this opinion, but I've not flown BS2 since 2 years and definitely any aircraft you don't fly, you don't get experience handling her.

 

 

I'll say both got their challenges, but the huey also comes with a campaign on its own and is very challenging (even more challenging than the P-51's campaign). Maybe.. Maybe... when WWII is released, we'll see a full blown, story driven, campaign.

[Buzzles]

I think the Huey is harder.

 

Rotary wing aircraft are inherently unstable, and I find it's quite easy to accidently push the Huey outside of its flight envelope or do something to compound the instability and put myself into a death spiral.

 

The P51 gives off some nice warning signs at the edge, and if you do put it in a spin or stall, it's normally easy to recover (it self recovers a lot of the time). Take off is harder than the Huey until you get used to it.

[Scarecrow]

I said huey but in truth it's alot harder to maintain a stable hover in the mustang :megalol:

[SUBS17]

Huey is easy to fly the P51 can be a nightmare even take offs are a challenge.