F-14B BFM tips? (other than the 3P)

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Practice, practice, practice, I know.

 

The plane begins to shake and complain when it is turning below 300 knots, and strangely, it begins to point upward (?!) Have I done something wrong or is there a way I can fix that? Also, any tip of maintaining the corner speed?

 

Thanks.

Edited August 18, 2021 by VFGiPJP

[lax22]

If you are maneuvering at low speed you have to utilize the rudder pretty aggressively to work against the adverse yaw and maintain control of the plane.

 

Maintaining corner speed in the first place is just a question of not pulling on the stick too hard and/or trading some altitude for speed

Edited August 18, 2021 by lax22

[eatthis]

the aoa is rising which causes drag to skyrocket. 
unload the stick at low speed, when practising stick it in a flat turn and check the aoa gauge. 15 units at 330 knots is the sweetspot, then pull harder which will drop the speed, watch what happens to the aoa when you get below 300 knots, youl see it climb which will cause more speed loss and so on. 
it really does just come down to practise

 

[Nexus-6]

Your best option is to never get below 300 knots. My comfort zone is 350(ish) to 400.

[Longiron]

Has great nose authority even down to 200kias and lower.

Stay coordinated, step on the ball and you won't get wing drop when approaching stall.

That said, above 15units aoa use rudders to roll with light stick inputs.

Cut the roll SAS, it doesn't help at high aoa, some like to cut pitch SAS too.

 

When you master all that, start moving wings around and learn how it behaves with high aoa and wings back, rudder control really become pronounced and is great practice.

[captain_dalan]

7 hours ago, Longiron said:

Has great nose authority even down to 200kias and lower.

Stay coordinated, step on the ball and you won't get wing drop when approaching stall.

That said, above 15units aoa use rudders to roll with light stick inputs.

Cut the roll SAS, it doesn't help at high aoa, some like to cut pitch SAS too.

 

When you master all that, start moving wings around and learn how it behaves with high aoa and wings back, rudder control really become pronounced and is great practice.

This! Use rudder input to keep the ball centered. The higher the AoA, the more input it will requite. 

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Thanks everyone again! I literally put a thank reaction to every single reply and still cannot show my appreciations.

 

Also, I heard that I also need to do a lot of trimming, just like the warbirds. Is trimming part of the BFM? If so, how?

Edited August 19, 2021 by VFGiPJP

[draconus]

Just now, VFGiPJP said:

Is trimming part of the BFM?

Well, you should start trimmed before the fight and that's it, no trimming during BFM, although it's part of flying, so you do that when needed without thinking, just like breathing.

[AH_Solid_Snake]

1 hour ago, draconus said:

Well, you should start trimmed before the fight and that's it, no trimming during BFM, although it's part of flying, so you do that when needed without thinking, just like breathing.

 

I'd maybe say more accurately that you should generally be trimming for stable flight, but that it's completely unrelated to BFM. Trim is setting up a neutral stick force, for a given airspeed/configuration.

 

So you can be comfortably trimmed for 300kts cruise with the wings manually swept full back and thats great, but once you enter BFM theres not really enough time to bother adjusting trim because its relatively slow compared to just moving the stick (and you shouldn't really try to fly with trim) and your speed will start to fluctuate rapidly, as will your wing position if left in auto.

 

You throw on the burners and pull into a fast loop, then you slow right down and go into scissors etc. So once in BFM its going to just be all about adjusting your pull for the desired result, either maintaining corner speed or taking energy excursions, or whatever tactic you're going for. Theres also the fact that unless you've got a really high end FFB stick then there aren't really any forces to neutralise which I think adds to the tendency for us virtual pilots to start flying with the trim button.

[WelshZeCorgi]

I would say that not only 3P, but practice right. If you treat your swing-wing, taileron and spoiler operated 14 like fixed wing, aileron operated F5, 18, 29, you're only learning how to inefficiently fly the 14 and pick up bad habits that only serve your BFM opponent.

 

Because of these differences, the flight dynamics require a bit more finesse and unique control input combos you wouldn't consider in other DCS aircraft. These two videos attach try to point these out. 

 

Practice the sort of control inputs required to keep the Tomcat tame in a fight. And remember to go over 19 AOA as little as possible. While you won't necessarily be falling out of the sky when you go over 19 AOA, the frame is no longer lift efficient and becomes very draggy, pulling speed out of the airframe like an airbrake and makes it likely you will be forced to give up angles to climb out of the AOA ditch you got yourself into.

Only time going over 19 AOA would be acceptable is if you're in scissors or 1C fights.  

Though its recommended you maintain 19 AOA and trade the speed for a climb to decrease downrange travel instead of going over 19 AOA.   

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by WelshZeCorgi

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Thanks all again, iI hope it also helps people who are on the fence or “graduating” from F/A-18C

[WelshZeCorgi]

21 hours ago, VFGiPJP said:

 

The plane begins to shake and complain when it is turning below 300 knots, and strangely, it begins to point upward (?!) Have I done something wrong or is there a way I can fix that? Also, any tip of maintaining the corner speed?

 

Thanks.

 

That generally means that you are putting the 14 in a high AOA situation at low speeds. Great nose authority at low speeds is a blessing and a curse for non-FCS aircraft. If you have the stick yanked back like that as it transitions into low speed flight, the lifting body design of the 14 catches the airflow like a parachute and causes the nose and airframe to climb. Just need softer back stick pressure as you transition into low-speed and a second eye on the gauges until you get used to the feel of the aircraft. For maintaining corner speed, if the cockpit shakes, you definitely need to ease off the stick pull and keep an eye on the speed gauge. Some pilots try to gauge their speed using the wing sweep positions in their rearview mirrors. 350 kts is what you're shooting for. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by WelshZeCorgi