Help with Il-2 1946

[reignofdeath]

So I got and installed this wonderful sim and to my dismay, I need some serious help with flying. I cant seem to even hold the darned thing steady in the air let alone hit anything, can anyone give me any good tips on pretty much any sort of flying shooting manuevers etc in this game?? ANd where I should download a good Third Party DCG from?? I see there is one in game but I heard that third party ones are better. Thanks. Casey

[Dowly]

If you have joystick, then check the buttons for trims and trim the plane. If you don't have joystick, get one, NOW.

Lowengrin's DCG can be downloaded from his site @ http://www.lowengrin.com/news.php

[yubba]

try reconfigure-ing joystick , then go into the game menu, find controls and, set your positive and negative trim, into keyboard up and down arrows good luck:salute:

[Schroeder]

One more advice: practice, practise and practise again. This is a sim (or at least close to that:O:) and there is a reason why pilots need several hours of training in double seater trainers before they can fly an aircraft alone.
Start flying with a forgiving aircraft like the Il-2 and be easy on the controls. No abrupt pulling/pushing. Stay away from late war fighters as they are usually difficult to fly (especially the P51 and the FW 190 are awful for beginners).

[reignofdeath]

Okay, I will take all of your's advice :) As far as Joystick goes, I dont have a working one. By that I mean I have a Saitek St 290 and It wont work anymore, it remember just plugging it into the USB and playing with it before (FSX) but now it doesnt seem to register in any game. I believe its because Im missing the drivers which I cant seem to figure out how to get them so I can get it to work. Even more troubling is I went to wal mart today to get a new joystick and found out they dont carry them anymore -_- so could anyone help me out with this little joystick problem Im having?? Either by letting me know how to get my Saitek St 290 working again or where I can get a decent cheap one??

Casey

[TheGreatHonker]

Obviously you'll want a joystick, and of course each plane has different handling characteristics. The I-16's have the handling of a Mouse on PCP, while Me-109's have the handling of a fish on crack, then there's the Me-262 which is like a cheetah on heroin.


Like Schroeter said, practice x3.
Shooting is harder in this sim then in others, so if you have limited ammo wait til you're at least 30 meters away, or whatever unit of measurment this game uses. Either way wait til around 40 - 30. Some pilots said they waited til the enemy plane filled the gunsight.

Having no life, I'm at the point where I fly Yak-3's under bridges while doing a barrel roll.
Sorry just felt like bragging for second.... back on topic.
Yak-3's have the handling of a falcon on meth, by the way.

A good practice method is to just take a fighter up against 4 Ju-52's or Stukas/Storchs/non fighters in general that have no ammunition.

[reignofdeath]

Okay, I noticed there are alot of controls that are unmapped too, things that seem useful and that I should use, does anyone have a download somewhere of a decent control scheme that maps all these controls?? Oh and I got my joystick working finally, realized I just got to plug it in before I play haha

[Schroeder]

In the beginning you won't need a lot of those controls. Fuel mixture, prop pitch and supercharger settings should only be touched once you can keep your aircraft in the air without difficulties (or you take a German fighter which does all of the above for you automatically:rock:).

Oh, and congrats on "repairing" your stick.:D

[reignofdeath]

In the beginning you won't need a lot of those controls. Fuel mixture, prop pitch and supercharger settings should only be touched once you can keep your aircraft in the air without difficulties (or you take a German fighter which does all of the above for you automatically:rock:).

Oh, and congrats on "repairing" your stick.:D

well its not those but the ones dealingwith bombsights, opening and closing canopy and etc etc. Actually let me ask this, what are the most important controls to map properly?? I have all of my roll and pitch assigned to the joystick as well as left and right rudder control, I also have all weapons assigned to it are there any other important controls I should map close to eachother to help with extra control in case of emergency?? ie feathering prop or permanent rudder stuck in a position?

[Schroeder]

In addition to the weapons I have the flap control, the wheel brakes and the cockpit position switch (wide angle or directly at the reflector sight) on the stick. Nothing more. What you should map are the trims and perhaps manual lowering/raising of the landing gear as some older aircraft (like the I-16 or the F4 Wildcat) don't feature an automatic retraction system. For flying bombers the level stabilization is paramount.
Oh, and you should now the keys for bailing out. :D

[reignofdeath]

In addition to the weapons I have the flap control, the wheel brakes and the cockpit position switch (wide angle or directly at the reflector sight) on the stick. Nothing more. What you should map are the trims and perhaps manual lowering/raising of the landing gear as some older aircraft (like the I-16 or the F4 Wildcat) don't feature an automatic retraction system. For flying bombers the level stabilization is paramount.
Oh, and you should now the keys for bailing out. :D

What exactly do the trims do may I ask?

[Arclight]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_tab
Basically, it lets you apply some limited aileron, elevator and rudder input without actually applying pressure on the stick or pedals. A trimmed plane will pretty much fly a straight line with minimal input, while a non-trimmed plane would require constant input to keep striaght.

[Raptor1]

Trimming lets you make permanent adjustments to the flight surfaces, so that the aircraft can fly straight without any input. For example, if your aircraft is rolling to one side all the time, you can apply trimming to balance that out and make the plane fly straight without having to keep the stick pushed to the other side.

It's not completely necessary, and I usually never use trimming except for rare cases, but I suppose it can help.

EDIT: Ah, damnit Arclight! :stare:

[Dowly]

Can't say I've ever used trim in my whole time of flying IL2. :hmmm:

[Raptor1]

The only time I would regularly use trim is adjusting bombing run approaches, but that's about it.

[Schwieger]

Trim can help you at high speeds with certain planes, like MiG-3 whose controls lock up at high speed.

[Schroeder]

Can't say I've ever used trim in my whole time of flying IL2. :hmmm:
I use it for cruising when I just want to go straight.:cool:

[reignofdeath]

Trimming lets you make permanent adjustments to the flight surfaces, so that the aircraft can fly straight without any input. For example, if your aircraft is rolling to one side all the time, you can apply trimming to balance that out and make the plane fly straight without having to keep the stick pushed to the other side.

It's not completely necessary, and I usually never use trimming except for rare cases, but I suppose it can help.

EDIT: Ah, damnit Arclight! :stare:

So basically, I can use it as an immediate "first-aid bandage" if need be as well?? What I mean by this is one night, I was dogfighting (trying to anyways) some 109's and one of them clipped my wing with a cannon and put a nice size hole in my right wing which then caused my plane to roll (not uncontrolabley, but annoyingly) to the right which I had to correct every few seconds or apply constant stick pressure, I could have used trim to fix this roll and level the plan out?? :o

Call me a n00b but I find that freaking amazing. Any other little tips and tricks I should know?? Last night I tried some landings and that didn't go to well.

[Herr-Berbunch]

So basically, I can use it as an immediate "first-aid bandage" if need be as well?? What I mean by this is one night, I was dogfighting (trying to anyways) some 109's and one of them clipped my wing with a cannon and put a nice size hole in my right wing which then caused my plane to roll (not uncontrolabley, but annoyingly) to the right which I had to correct every few seconds or apply constant stick pressure, I could have used trim to fix this roll and level the plan out?? :o

Call me a n00b but I find that freaking amazing. Any other little tips and tricks I should know?? Last night I tried some landings and that didn't go to well.

Yes, trim could have fixed that - maybe not totally depending on how much damage.

I've never got on with IL-2 in any version, I used to put it down to crap machine but don't have that excuse any more, now I put it down to lack of practice.

Tip for landing, whatever the other guys do for landing, don't! I don't think I've seen one screenshot of a good landing on here. :O:

[HunterICX]

Tip for landing, whatever the other guys do for landing, don't! I don't think I've seen one screenshot of a good landing on here. :O:

Pfah...landings, what we do is an art :smug:

We think the wreckage tells you a story, the adventure the violence it saw and the luck the pilot had that he made it back alive.
but most tend to agree that it only tells you how incompetent of a pilot we are :O:

HunterICX

[Raptor1]

Any landing you can recover identifiable pieces of the aircraft and pilot from is a good one...

[reignofdeath]

Okay other than trims and such though, anything else I should map out or learn to use real well?? Any tips on shooting?? IM playing with realistic bullet path on now so they curve as Im pulling on the stick so its a PITA to hit things haha.

[Dowly]

Any tips on shooting?? IM playing with realistic bullet path on now so they curve as Im pulling on the stick so its a PITA to hit things haha.

Fly with labels on so you see the distance to the enemy, sooner or later you start to remember the distances by looking how big the enemy plane is in your sights.

[reignofdeath]

Do all planes have sights?? Because I flew the me 262 for fun and realized it doesn't have one. I also realized how ridiculously powered the jet is. I mean I dropped 2 b - 17s in like seconds. I always run against two b 17s to just fly new planes and fly them around and get a grip on them and such.

[Raptor1]

Do all planes have sights?? Because I flew the me 262 for fun and realized it doesn't have one. I also realized how ridiculously powered the jet is. I mean I dropped 2 b - 17s in like seconds. I always run against two b 17s to just fly new planes and fly them around and get a grip on them and such.

Press Shift-F1.

Most German fighters have off-center gunsights for some reason, so you have to switch the view to use them.

[Schroeder]

Do all planes have sights?? Because I flew the me 262 for fun and realized it doesn't have one. I also realized how ridiculously powered the jet is. I mean I dropped 2 b - 17s in like seconds. I always run against two b 17s to just fly new planes and fly them around and get a grip on them and such.
4 Mk108 30mm machine cannons.:yeah:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MK_108_cannon
That's about as much fire power as you will get in a WWII fighter. Not comparable to the .50 Cal. peashooters. It was designed to knock down heavy bombers (and therefore Hitler thought it would be a good idea to use it mainly as a fighter bomber....well he knew best of course....).

[Schwieger]

So basically, I can use it as an immediate "first-aid bandage" if need be as well?? What I mean by this is one night, I was dogfighting (trying to anyways) some 109's and one of them clipped my wing with a cannon and put a nice size hole in my right wing which then caused my plane to roll (not uncontrolabley, but annoyingly) to the right which I had to correct every few seconds or apply constant stick pressure, I could have used trim to fix this roll and level the plan out?? :o

Call me a n00b but I find that freaking amazing. Any other little tips and tricks I should know?? Last night I tried some landings and that didn't go to well.

That is something you get used to, believe it or not

[Anthony W.]

My advice is to get with Jaw of the 8FS squadron. I think they've changed names but ask around in Hyperlobby and you'll find him.

Oh man I haven't flown IL-2 in sooo long... Its been over a year.

I think I should get back in the saddle. I'll patch up tonight. Need a wingman? I used to fly ground attack like the angel of death and once I was on your tail I was like some sort of missile.

[reignofdeath]

Well I would very much like that offer but I doubt I could really do much online right now, I have kinda crappy internet. Maybe we'd have to see if I can keep my internet from being a PITA. I mean I played Xbox Live on it okay I had a decent connection most of the time but I think probably too much little bits of lag for a flying game to be any fun.

[reignofdeath]

Okay now I am going to try online and see how my internet handles, what patch level do I need to be at? And where can I get all of the patches I need?

Also where or how do I get hyperlobby

plus Id like to know if theres an essential GWX like mod that people usually use on here or if there are some nice skin packs, I'd really like some new looking planes.

[Schroeder]

The current version is 4.10m, as for mods try HSFX or the Ultra Pack.

[Raptor1]

In fact, the latest version is 4.101m, and the update order is 4.08m -> 4.09m -> 4.10m -> 4.101m. I don't have links for all of them at the moment, but they shouldn't be hard to find.

EDIT: Well, actually, M4T has all of them here (http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads&c=564), though you do need to register. There's a megapatch that supposedly updates the stock version to the latest one, but I'm not sure how well that works.

[reignofdeath]

The current version is 4.10m, as for mods try HSFX or the Ultra Pack.

where would I find those mods?

[Raptor1]

You'll have to search for them, since linking IL-2 mods on Subsim is not allowed (Though discussing them is).

*cough* look for 242Sqn and IL2WAR, respectively *cough*

[Kpt. Schaker]

I recommend the HOTAS Thrustmaster Joystick:yep:. Reading the manual several times, customizing down the pitch, roll, yaw to less sensitive settings. Try this setting on the yaw 0,8,19,29,39,51,62,75,86,100. Join the Mission 4 Today forums. Also fighter planes are more sensitive and more responsive. The Bombers like the Heinkel 111 are more easier to manuever. Alot of reading:zzz:, customizing of controls, & practice, practice, practice. Enjoy I love this sim also:up:! Alot pilot trainers recommend this Sim.

[reignofdeath]

I recommend the HOTAS Thrustmaster Joystick:yep:. Reading the manual several times, customizing down the pitch, roll, yaw to less sensitive settings. Try this setting on the yaw 0,8,19,29,39,51,62,75,86,100. Join the Mission 4 Today forums. Also fighter planes are more sensitive and more responsive. The Bombers like the Heinkel 111 are more easier to manuever. Alot of reading:zzz:, customizing of controls, & practice, practice, practice. Enjoy I love this sim also:up:! Alot pilot trainers recommend this Sim.

I need to figure out how to deal with this stupid bouncing. What I mean by that is I am flying a Hurricane in my career right now and have its a PITA to hit a target because the plane wants to bounce around when I make adjustments to get into firing position. It sucks, it takes me litterally 15 minutes to shoot down one bomber. Plus Im not sure if the hurricanes are just incredibly weak or the betty bombers incredibly strong, but I peppered one from a perfect six o' clock postion for probably a good full 20 seconds and STILL didnt shoot it down. its quite dis-heartening to have flown 3 or 4 missions already and only got one kill :(:down:

EDIT: Now that I Read it I think maybe that bounce Im having is attributed to the joystick settings like Kpt. Nicaraguan suggested I edit??

EDIT 2: I also noticed my aileron trim doesnt work,, or is it possibly just with the hurricanes?? Like they dont have that trim or something?? Same goes for my open cockpit command and a few other things.

[Schwieger]

What is your convergence?

[reignofdeath]

what it was set too. 500 m or 50 im not sure. But what Im having problems with is the plane itself bouncing all around, I adjust up a bit and unless I keep that exact pressure on the stick, (even after holding it there for a bit) I lose my position and bounce back down right to where I was set at before. Its really annoying.

[Schroeder]

That's normal. The plane always wants to get into a certain pitch depending on weight, speed and control surface input. If you change your elevator input the plane will change it's pitch, if you release the input the plane will go back to it's "natural" flight attitude. That is what the trim is for.;)

[reignofdeath]

That's normal. The plane always wants to get into a certain pitch depending on weight, speed and control surface input. If you change your elevator input the plane will change it's pitch, if you release the input the plane will go back to it's "natural" flight attitude. That is what the trim is for.;)

So its that how real pilots do it?? Get into a turn with a plan line up the sites and then set the trim?? Or is there a way to get into that turn hold my elevators in a certain position and then set that to be the trim position (Like an auto button?)

[CCIP]

Not really - you just need to trim your plane for level flight. In turns, use the stick - you need the hands-on control for maneuvers. Just set it so that when you let go of the stick, it doesn't pull up or down violently.

[reignofdeath]

Not really - you just need to trim your plane for level flight. In turns, use the stick - you need the hands-on control for maneuvers. Just set it so that when you let go of the stick, it doesn't pull up or down violently.

And do I do this with trim??

[CCIP]

Do you have keys/joystick programmed for it? I believe by default it's Ctrl+arrow keys

[HunterICX]

Do you have keys/joystick programmed for it? I believe by default it's Ctrl+arrow keys

Yes

CTRL + Left and Right Arrow are the Aileron trims
CTRL + Up and Down are the Elevator Trims
CTRL + Z and X are the Rudder trims (iirc)

HunterICX

[Schroeder]

It should be noted that not every aircraft has all trim options. American fighters, for example, can usually trim every control surface, German fighters can only trim the elevator and some soviet planes like the I-16 and I-153 have no trim at all.

[Arclight]

In Soviet Russia, aircraft trims you!

Sorry... :nope:

[Schroeder]

In Soviet Russia, aircraft trims you!

Sorry... :nope:
:har:

[reignofdeath]

So then I iuse trim to keep me from bouncing around like a cork in the atlanticf ocean during a hurricane when I want to hit something?? :yep:

[Kpt. Schaker]

One important question are u flying with a joystick like a Logitech, Saitek or Hotas! Keyboard & Mouse:nope:! I'm assuming u have a joystick because u can take off. I'm hard headed so the only adjusting I did was turn off the advanced engine management, which controls got to be set for each aircraft. And, I numbed down the yaw setting a little to the setting I posted. Everything else is flicked ON for REALISM! Also each aircraft has it's ASSETS and DEFECTS. You got to get FEELl of how much u can push your aircraft before going into a TAILSPIN. I hope I don't sound a like a "know it all".
Even now I still get LOCK-JAW when coming in for a landing:o!

[reignofdeath]

One important question are u flying with a joystick like a Logitech, Saitek or Hotas! Keyboard & Mouse:nope:! I'm assuming u have a joystick because u can take off. I'm hard headed so the only adjusting I did was turn off the advanced engine management, which controls got to be set for each aircraft. And, I numbed down the yaw setting a little to the setting I posted. Everything else is flicked ON for REALISM! Also each aircraft has it's ASSETS and DEFECTS. You got to get FEELl of how much u can push your aircraft before going into a TAILSPIN. I hope I don't sound a like a "know it all".
Even now I still get LOCK-JAW when coming in for a landing:o!

Yes I have a Saitek St-290 Pro. And I actually kind of find landing easier than I thought it would be, I mean alot of times I do crash, but I do make it in fine some times (aabout 25%) maybe this has something to do with flying in FSX for a while and doing landings in much heavier Boeing 747s and airbus's, I let the autopilot take over for a landing one day, bad idea, it crashed about 30 yards before the run way :o

[Schroeder]

So then I iuse trim to keep me from bouncing around like a cork in the atlanticf ocean during a hurricane when I want to hit something?? :yep:
Nope, as already said, the trim is just to help you to keep a certain flight "attitude". I only use it for cruising, you might want to use it to assist landing in some aircraft as well. It is just meant for that you don't have to give constant control input for staying in a certain flight "attitude" (I don't know whether that's the right English word). May I ask what aircraft you are flying currently? There are some that are not suitable for beginners as their controls are very sensitive (like the P51, I-16 etc.). Try to fly with a heavy plane at first. An Il-2 is ideal for practising but you can also go for SBD-2 Dauntless or a P-47 if you prefer American aircraft.
If you have a mission4today account (you can register for free) I recommend this "campaign" for you:http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=2147


I'm hard headed so the only adjusting I did was turn off the advanced engine management, which controls got to be set for each aircraft.I'm not sure I understand that correctly. You don't have to set up controls for each aircraft individually. once you have mapped all the keys you can use them for all aircraft.:doh:
Besides you really don't have to do much engine management in the game anyway. Just switch to a higher blower stage when you get above 3.000m and set your prop pitch at 60% for cruise or 100% for take off/combat (switching the pitch isn't even mandatory in this game).
German fighters will do everything automatically for you by BTW.:cool:

[reignofdeath]

Nope, as already said, the trim is just to help you to keep a certain flight "attitude". I only use it for cruising, you might want to use it to assist landing in some aircraft as well. It is just meant for that you don't have to give constant control input for staying in a certain flight "attitude" (I don't know whether that's the right English word). May I ask what aircraft you are flying currently? There are some that are not suitable for beginners as their controls are very sensitive (like the P51, I-16 etc.). Try to fly with a heavy plane at first. An Il-2 is ideal for practising but you can also go for SBD-2 Dauntless or a P-47 if you prefer American aircraft.
If you have a mission4today account (you can register for free) I recommend this "campaign" for you:http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=2147



Well I am currently in a campaign flying a hurricane, I was flying a P-40 in missions but I figured why not start a campaign and went for the RAF. Bad choice on the plane?

[CCIP]

Well I am currently in a campaign flying a hurricane, I was flying a P-40 in missions but I figured why not start a campaign and went for the RAF. Bad choice on the plane?

No, the hurri is a pretty good one in the sense of being sturdy and stable, but be realistic about its performance as a fighter. It'll get shredded by 109s if you go toe to toe with them, so be careful about getting into dogfights as such in the first place, if you don't have advantage. Else stick to attacking bombers.

As I seem to recall, it's only got a trimmable elevator (and rudder? it's been a while so I don't remember for sure). But I haven't had much trouble flying it - it's a good plane with steady controls.

[reignofdeath]

No, the hurri is a pretty good one in the sense of being sturdy and stable, but be realistic about its performance as a fighter. It'll get shredded by 109s if you go toe to toe with them, so be careful about getting into dogfights as such in the first place, if you don't have advantage. Else stick to attacking bombers.

As I seem to recall, it's only got a trimmable elevator (and rudder? it's been a while so I don't remember for sure). But I haven't had much trouble flying it - it's a good plane with steady controls.

No aileron trim, and so far I've taken out bombers, but it feels way underpowered, I mean it has six barrels and it took me forever to take down some bettys, and I peppered them for a good 20 30 (possible exaggeration) seconds sometimes from behind and saw the flashes from hits and I only got 2 or 3 bombers in the whole mission (I retried it about 5 times but ended up getting to greedy each time and crashing (One I clipped the bombers wing and my wing off with 4 kills already :() so I settled for 2 kills and was happy. As far as fighters, Im in the east and it seems that I can manuever against some some of the japanese planes fine without major problems

And now I have 2 questions, what should I know for dog fighting?

also I am a low rank in my career, so I fly and cover my wingman, he doesn't follow me, so I need to know when we get into a fight (Say attaacking bombers) do I still need to follow him? Or should I break and attack wahtever I can?

And I noticed there is a request homebase for assistance option, does it work? I've pushed it a few times before and nothing.

Plus when Im attacking planes from advantage (Im assuming this means above and out of the blue before they know your there) where should I be aiming? Engine? or trying to hit the pilot? Or clip his wings off (i've done this before) Sorry for all the questions, Im just trying to learn this all aas fast as possible.

[Dowly]

Plus when Im attacking planes from advantage (Im assuming this means above and out of the blue before they know your there) where should I be aiming? Engine? or trying to hit the pilot? Or clip his wings off (i've done this before) Sorry for all the questions, Im just trying to learn this all aas fast as possible.

"Speed is life" - Unknown Pilot

In WWII fighters, altitude + speed meant you'd dictate how the battle wen't and you could lure the enemy to the point where you wanted him to be.

Pretty much all fighters can do Boom n' Zoom, which is a maneuver where you attack the enemy from altitude advantage, make your pass, and then shoot up back to the skies, using the energy you gathered during the dive to get you back up for that altitude advantage.

Sadly, IL2's AI can spot you at times, no matter what you do.


As for aiming, aim for engines. From 6o'clock on bomber = wing engines, fighter = wait for it to bank/roll and pepper the front of fuselage for engine/pilot kill.

And this is what I would do.

[Schroeder]

I mean it has six barrels and it took me forever to take down some bettys, and I peppered them for a good 20 30 (possible exaggeration) seconds sometimes from behind and saw the flashes from hits and I only got 2 or 3 bombers in the whole mission...
Actually if it's a Hurricane MKII it should have 12 MGs (IIRC). But the calibre is just .303 rifle ammo. That doesn't have much of a punch and will even bounce off armoured plane without doing any damage. There is a reason why the Brits shifted to cannons and heavy MGs later. Actually in real life a pilot would have been glad to down 2 enemy planes per mission. In fact they often didn't down anything at all throughout their entire career. ;)

[reignofdeath]

Actually if it's a Hurricane MKII it should have 12 MGs (IIRC). But the calibre is just .303 rifle ammo. That doesn't have much of a punch and will even bounce off armoured plane without doing any damage. There is a reason why the Brits shifted to cannons and heavy MGs later. Actually in real life a pilot would have been glad to down 2 enemy planes per mission. In fact they often didn't down anything at all throughout their entire career. ;)

Yeah... isn't five kills the baseline to be considered an "Ace Pilot" ?? And as far as the mg's now it makes sense!! What caliber do the spitfires use?? Im quite curious. I'd also like to know if you do a career if you start out with a hurricane and can eventually move up to a spitfire or other British (Sense Im doing a British career) planes?

[Schwieger]

Of course, the Luftwaffe should change their guidelines, lol

[reignofdeath]

So I just had a pretty neat moment while flying a mission, I was getting tired of getting no kills so on an intercept mission I broke from my wingman to dive in on a A6m below me flying level and smoking, hit him with a few then pulled down on the stick (to turn upside down and then roll to level out behind him) and started to red out, fearing hitting the ground I hit auto pilot letting that take me out of the dive (I have trouble pulling out of dives without my plane vilontley losing airspeed and spinning like a freaking top... I m not a good flyer and have no clue what this is so if someone could enlighten me :) go ahead) it managed too but then I noticed my engine cut out, so I switched of AP and had a frantic few seconds or so of trying to start the engine back up and I thought I was a goner for sure when I saw the prop start turning and kick back to life and saved myself about 100m or so from the ground :rock: Progressing life saving skills I'd say, I ended the mission with one kill (Took a bombers wing off completely and watched it spiral into the trees) and landed fine except for i skipped and then nosed right into the dirt :haha:

[Schroeder]

Ok. here we go:
First off all, you don't have to stay with your flight leader. You might hear some angry (stupid) radio calls, but it doesn't have any consequences in the game, so feel free to engage the enemy.

It seems your flying a Hurricane MK I. They don't like negative G-forces as their carburettor can't supply fuel to the engine that way (that was remedied in later versions, the Spitfire was suffering from the same problem as well btw).
What you experience when you pull the stick too hard is called a stall which can subsequently lead to a spin. A stall means that your angle of attack is too great (the angle of attack is the angle in which your wing hits the surrounding air). If it becomes too great the airflow over the wing will rip off and the wing will stall and loose it's lift. If this happens only on one wing (which happens quite often in propeller driven aircraft) then one wing still produces lift while the other doesn't. That leads to the spin. You can recover from that by centring your stick and give full counter rudder. Once the aircraft responds again pull her out of the dive GENTLY.

[reignofdeath]

Ok. here we go:
First off all, you don't have to stay with your flight leader. You might hear some angry (stupid) radio calls, but it doesn't have any consequences in the game, so feel free to engage the enemy.

It seems your flying a Hurricane MK I. They don't like negative G-forces as their carburettor can't supply fuel to the engine that way (that was remedied in later versions, the Spitfire was suffering from the same problem as well btw).
What you experience when you pull the stick too hard is called a stall which can subsequently lead to a spin. A stall means that your angle of attack is too great (the angle of attack is the angle in which your wing hits the surrounding air). If it becomes too great the airflow over the wing will rip off and the wing will stall and loose it's lift. If this happens only on one wing (which happens quite often in propeller driven aircraft) then one wing still produces lift while the other doesn't. That leads to the spin. You can recover from that by centring your stick and give full counter rudder. Once the aircraft responds again pull her out of the dive GENTLY.

Ahhh thank you. So basically Hurricanes do not like going into sharp dives all of a sudden?? Hmm. So if I should ever feel the need for a sharp dive should I pull a roll and drop into one instead causing positive Gs?? Or would it be the other way around? :hmmm: Im pretty sure Positive G's throw you in your seat and Negative pull you out if I remember right from physics class.

[CCIP]

Yes, roll over. Generally speaking, any time you need to bring your plane's nose around in a certain direction quickly (i.e. in combat), you do that by rolling to that direction, then pulling sharply on the stick. Every other method is slower and worse for the plane and pilot (planes like the hurri lose airflow to engine, pilots red out much more easily than they black out; other maneuvers can cost you time or speed). So every other method - be it banking turns, rudder, or pulling down, is mostly for safe and precise flying, not combat turns. That said, remember that hard turns also cost speed, so keep an eye on it.

[reignofdeath]

Yes, roll over. Generally speaking, any time you need to bring your plane's nose around in a certain direction quickly (i.e. in combat), you do that by rolling to that direction, then pulling sharply on the stick. Every other method is slower and worse for the plane and pilot (planes like the hurri lose airflow to engine, pilots red out much more easily than they black out; other maneuvers can cost you time or speed). So every other method - be it banking turns, rudder, or pulling down, is mostly for safe and precise flying, not combat turns. That said, remember that hard turns also cost speed, so keep an eye on it.

Okay let me ask this, what is the hurricanes strengths?? (Im flying the first model) so I know how to properly use it in dogfights or furballs, I read a guide I downloaded on dog fighting and saw that the two main types are Burn and Turn and Burn and Zoom, and guessing by how this plane enjoys stalls at high speed turns Im guessing the hurricane is a burn and zoom type fighter?

[CCIP]

The hurricane is somewhere in the middle, and in actual usage it works more as a turning fighter - it's not an outstanding fighter against most opponents it faces, because planes like the Bf-109 or the Zero are much faster and generally lighter. However stick to your altitude and boom and zoom if you have the opportunity.

The hurricane's strength is that it's a tough-built, stable fighter that stands up to punishment and doesn't go down easily. That makes it a good bomber hunter and fighter-bomber. It's a relatively bulky, heavy plane compared to most of its fighter opponents.

With fighters, it depends more on who you're facing. With German fighters, don't try to outrun or outclimb them - you will lose hopelessly. However if you can drag them into slower a turning fight, you may stand a chance. With Japanese zeroes, well, as the saying goes - "never dogfight a zero". They are both faster and more agile than you are. Your best bet is to hit them from above if you get the chance to do it, and get out. Avoid trying to chase them down, or they will make you pay dearly. Your advantage over them is toughness - the zero takes damage poorly, while the hurricane can handle punishment well.

[Schroeder]

Okay let me ask this, what is the hurricanes strengths??
There are none.;)

No, it's as CCIP said. The Hurricane is an inferior aircraft to most of it's opponents. It's only strength is being able to take as well as give (in real life advantages were also that it could be produced quickly and was easy to maintain, but none of that matters in IL2). But the Zeros and Mes are armed with cannons, so don't rely on being able to take much of that.

[yubba]

I got a saitlek st 220 with a billion hours on it, troubles aye go in to control panel game devices you should be able to get your stick to work through there, I have long lost driver floppy for mine but have no troubles playing. Heard Dowly, doesn't use trim, I guess he just likes holding on to the stick. sorry about the timing on the advice, seems my mouse is acting up. Hurricane isn't a bad plane you should reset your gun convergence out to 750 meters and try a little head on chicken fightin, 12 forward 303s make a mess of things. I perfer the p47 with head on gun slingin. Doesn't hurt to be a good shot either.

[Arclight]

..., I guess he just likes holding on to the stick.
:hmmm:

Well...

No. I really shouldn't. Too easy. :O:

[reignofdeath]

Ahahahaha! Well I have a story to share now, so I was attacking bombers, engine went out from shells hitting it. So I glided it all the way into an airfield and landed the dang thing!! I was flying a P-40 by the way.

But now onto a question I have a joystick now, my controls mapped out, and the basic jist of things. Now what should I be focussing on? Combat Manuevers? Landing and Taking off? Attacking ? or other things.

I also have a mic and was wondering if any of the experienced members here would be up to flying in a server with me (Hoping my connection is good enough) to give me a little schoooling??

[yubba]

If you can't hit it, you can't kill it, and if you don't kill it, it will kill you. Try to take your opponent out from the head on, if your flying skills are weak, you will die in a turning fight. Go head on, get him lined up, he gets within a thousand meters hose his @$$. And for gods shakes tuck in those p js. I won't worry, about landings that's what the parachute is for. Oh by the way nice job on the dead stick landing.

[CCIP]

Head on only works if the enemy wants to go head on for one, and you're at least sure you can do some good with it. But usually it's a lottery. Frankly I'd advise against it because it's a sudden-death situation and you have as much chance of getting shot down as you are of shooting the other guy down. With the increased closure rates and bullets hitting largely unprotected parts at the front, you're looking at possibly instant fatal damage. Besides, the smart thing to do when you're closing head on is to slice - begin turning before you pass the enemy so that you have a head start on the turn after you pass and can get on his tail quickly.

[yubba]

Something is messed up in the AI, both pacific fighter and 1946, I have been dowling out a lot of damage to the enemy, head long and haven't been hit, I am running pretty high on the reality, in janes ww 2 fighers it was suicide to go head on, and the same in CFS 2, but not here:hmmm: and in the real world never leave your wingman. Doesn't hurt to tag along and follow the wingman, if you can follow the leader, in time you can tail the enemy, didn't get too do much of that in earlier sims. Time too hit the rack, just finished a Marine Corps Corsair mission, more holes in my tail than I care for, but made a nice carrier landing.

[Schroeder]

@Casey

The P40 is also among the planes that are pretty good for beginners. You can even turn with AI Zeros in it (don't try that with human piloted Zeros...:dead:). I wouldn't go head on in any aircraft that doesn't have cannons as armament and even in one it's still a pretty risky thing to do as CCIP has already pointed out (especially if the other guy has cannons).
I would recommend you to learn taking off and landing first (well, Oberon will probably disagree here but still...:O:). That way you'll get to know the aircraft and it's characteristics. It doesn't hurt to have a little dogfight every now and then in between of course.

[reignofdeath]

Any way I can set up the quick missions as just take off and landings?? I always seem to start in the air :(

[Schroeder]

If you are talking about the quick mission builder then you have to check "Scramble" as you target to take off from an airfield.

[yubba]

It seems that I'm in the right place, it seems to be a pretty active thread, I've been blessed to have a good freind {Castout} he was good enough to send me IL 2 1946 new in the box, but I'm havimg the darnness time loading it, to run correctly. What I have so far, it's loaded, I had to change the config file title from forgotten battles to 1946, I got it patched to 4.08m had a heck of a time getting that download without it being corrupted one way or another, and the only way I can start the game is from inside the game folder, if I load game dvd in player it wants to install, while the game has already been install, and if I try to start from desktop game locks up after intro, this is more messed up than a bag of hammers.

[reignofdeath]

It seems that I'm in the right place, it seems to be a pretty active thread, I've been blessed to have a good freind {Castout} he was good enough to send me IL 2 1946 new in the box, but I'm havimg the darnness time loading it, to run correctly. What I have so far, it's loaded, I had to change the config file title from forgotten battles to 1946, I got it patched to 4.08m had a heck of a time getting that download without it being corrupted one way or another, and the only way I can start the game is from inside the game folder, if I load game dvd in player it wants to install, while the game has already been install, and if I try to start from desktop game locks up after intro, this is more messed up than a bag of hammers.

Maybe compatability mode if you have vista or 7?? I didnt have to do that but you might have to? Mines run perfectly fine, try downloading the patches from Mission4today you have to sign up but its a safe site and theyre all there too.

[yubba]

thanks bro, I'm runnin an old xp box with a geforce 5200 I was running pacific figthers, it worked fine then I opted for 1946 and it was all down hill from there, I got some of it sorted out where it will run, I will take a look at the compatablity thingy, been a member of mission 4 today and combatace for awhile.

[Castout]

thanks bro, I'm runnin an old xp box with a geforce 5200 I was running pacific figthers, it worked fine then I opted for 1946 and it was all down hill from there, I got some of it sorted out where it will run, I will take a look at the compatablity thingy, been a member of mission 4 today and combatace for awhile.

There shouldn't be any problem imo. They are of the same engine so the requirement must be the same.

If pacific fighters did run okay I would think 1946 will too just fine.

[yubba]

Thanks guys.

[Castout]

Thanks guys.

Umm so is everything okay now?:)

[yubba]

Well I got my fingers crossed, found my lucky rubber band, detoured around acouple of black cats, haven't looked in a mirror, I guess, I got it running, the trouble with modding is never knowing what straw will break the camels back, I finally got the TBM to fly, now I'm chasing missions for, which I saw in, mission 4 today, even flew the B 17 it was all in the, v4.08 MODS megapack v1.0, I'm doing all this in the middle of a thunderstorm how stupid can I get. oh all most forgot that mod has some corrupted files in the mods and backup files. so don't load backup file and copy files from mods to a new folder one at a time till you find a bad one.

[yubba]

I have no luck in finding one, not corrupted in one way or another.

[Dowly]

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=10276

If you're getting corrupted downloads constantly, I'd say it's something on your end. :hmmm:

[yubba]

Just did avg scan nothing, maybe, I wore out that rewrittable disk. I'm downloading from one machine to another, Dowly how's that trim thing workin out for you????

[reignofdeath]

Try downloading them as torrents if you know how, its usually a bit faster and you'll 99% of the time never get a corrupted download. Good stuff to use!:yeah:

[yubba]

This is the first time I really experieced this much trouble downloading anything. Never had this much trouble with a single game more than this guy.

[TheGreatHonker]

But now onto a question I have a joystick now, my controls mapped out, and the basic jist of things. Now what should I be focussing on? Combat Manuevers? Landing and Taking off? Attacking ? or other things.


When attacking bomber formations attack from above, dive down on them and use your momentum to climb back up above them.
Aim for the engines/wings to, like where the wing meets the fuselage. If an engine is on fire it's usually a garuantee that the plane is gonna go down.
And when approaching bombers head on try and fire into the cockpit. If you have limited ammo shooting into the cockpit and shooting out engines can make the difference between 2 or 5 kills.

The hardest part about attacking bombers for me is crashing into them.

[reignofdeath]

When attacking bomber formations attack from above, dive down on them and use your momentum to climb back up above them.
Aim for the engines/wings to, like where the wing meets the fuselage. If an engine is on fire it's usually a garuantee that the plane is gonna go down.
And when approaching bombers head on try and fire into the cockpit. If you have limited ammo shooting into the cockpit and shooting out engines can make the difference between 2 or 5 kills.

The hardest part about attacking bombers for me is crashing into them.

Ill keep this in mind, any other tips guys???

[Schwieger]

That seems to only work against AI bombers. Human pilots tend to do a much better job of fending off fighters and getting high enough interception becomes a problem.

[Arclight]

A lot of bombers have blind-spots as well, directions that aren't covered, as well or at all, by gunners. Get into those gaps and you can afford to come in with less speed from any angle really.

I guess in cases where there's only the tailgunner bothering you, you could make your first pass at him. Without gunners they're just sit- flying ducks.

[Schwieger]

I refer mostly to American heavies. Gunners every which way. I've yet to find a blindspot... top covered by top gunner 3 and 9 o'clock by waists... You only get one pass at the front, and I rarely even get this pass

[reignofdeath]

I refer mostly to American heavies. Gunners every which way. I've yet to find a blindspot... top covered by top gunner 3 and 9 o'clock by waists... You only get one pass at the front, and I rarely even get this pass

But if you were to say, coordinate with another pilot on attacking from two angles from say the bottom then you'd make the gunner choose which would ultimately lead into a hit from someone wouldn't it?

[Schroeder]

That's how they did in in real life (or at least tried to...). Fly with a wingman. The gunner can only shoot at one of you. It's pretty difficult to coordinate that though because both fighters have to be in firing range at the same time and there are usually escorts around:dead:.

[reignofdeath]

Noticed today, that I haven;t been playing on full realism, pretty much evertyhing except no map and or icons, unlimited ammo, and no wind or turbulence and or flutter effects.

So should I go for broke and start learning in full realism right away?? Because I turned on flutter effects and I gotta say that one sucks (Where the plane bounces everywhere without even shooting) I mean I could barely keep my plane under control without there well enough with it.

[Schwieger]

You know, just fly often enough with it on, and you'll start to not notice it at all :)

[Herr-Berbunch]

That's how they did in in real life (or at least tried to...). Fly with a wingman. The gunner can only shoot at one of you. It's pretty difficult to coordinate that though because both fighters have to be in firing range at the same time and there are usually escorts around:dead:.


The formation flying of bombers is to both cover the ground adequately but moreover to provide all round defense, easier in a B-17 than most others during WWII.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/5797520571_29f77eaacd_z.jpg

Here are the arcs of fire, extend those out to their effective range, then add in a second and third aircraft. You're buggered :doh: Your only hope is to catch them unaware, but once you've woken them up...

[reignofdeath]

Well I've noticed that with real damage on that while fighting bomber formations I happen to have my engine go out. ALOT because of hits I take. I think it might be because the only good way for me to get any hits is to get behind them and come straight up on their tail and aim for their engines, making me a super easy target in the process :P

[reignofdeath]

Also noticed that in quite a few planes pulling hard turns causes me to stall out and flip out of the turn , I am guessing because they aren't built for this turn radius?? Where as the zero I can yank back on the stick all the way at full speed and have no worries?