Right, where do I start...

[Rotary Crewman]

Finally got round to re-installing IL-2 1946 and had a few goes at trying to safely land a seafire on a carrier after a poor first attempt at a campaign. It ended in a crash as you well expected

So, with that in mind, not only do I need tips, but I also need a list of definative mods that I should be going for.

Thanks in advance

RC

[Biggles]

heh, I can't even take off from a Carrier....

anyway, no mods for IL-2. No legal once at least...(as I learned not too long ago )

[Rotary Crewman]

You're joking right?? I imagined there would be a full list of Battle Of Britain campaigns, hitting London with the Blitz, Africa campaigns, Italy...but you're telling me there is nothing??

[Chock]

I've found that a curved approach is not a bad idea with the Seafire, since it is essentially a navalised Spitfire, this is largely akin to a 'proper Spitfire' approach anyway. The Spitfire 'floats' a bit on the flare, so coming in too steep can cause problems anyway, which is another reason to try a flatter, curved approach. Like the real thing, 87mph is the speed to go for during most of the approach, (a bit more than that if the bank angle is steep - remember your stall speed increases with bank angle!). The Spitfire (and Seafire) gives up flying at about 64mph with the flaps and gear down.

I've scanned some of the pages of the real Seafire Pilot's Notes for you, the one in IL-2 flies quite a lot like the real one, so these will probably help. Enjoy:







Chock

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Rotary Crewman

You're joking right?? I imagined there would be a full list of Battle Of Britain campaigns, hitting London with the Blitz, Africa campaigns, Italy...but you're telling me there is nothing??

There is campaigns, you were asking for mods.

Check here for campaigns:
http://www.mission4today.com/index.p...=Downloads&c=2

[CCIP]

Yup, lots of campaigns, and great ones at that

If you want some simple tips - well, firstly, watch the training tracks, they have good tips!

One rule I learned and that I think changed my thinking about landings a lot, especially on carriers - when you're on final approach, try to reverse what you might naturally be thinking about controlling speed and altitude: control your altitude by raising and lowering thrust and control your speed by pitching up or down slightly. It sounds weird but it really works. It's actually a lot more complex than that in practice, but once you wrap your mind around how that works it helps develop a feel for flying the thing at close to minimum speed. And landing too

I actually rarely screw up carrier landings these days. Of course I rarely fly these days too
(but I don't find it all that problematic when I do fly - just challenging!)

[Reaves]

Ahh the fabled carrier landing.


My advice is similar to others. Learn how to fly the seafire at minum speed, and I do mean minimum, you need to be just short of stalling the thing. Get a nice long run up so you can ensure you are just above the carrier when your about 20 meteres away, then cut the gas and let her sink onto the carrier. Careful though because you don't want to come down too hard, but even that's better than flying off the edge of the landing strip.

[Chock]

control your altitude by raising and lowering thrust and control your speed by pitching up or down slightly. It sounds weird but it really works.

Nothing wierd about that, that's the correct way to fly an aeroplane in normal circumstances. If you ever get taught to fly a Cessna in real life, they teach you that way.

Chock

[Rotary Crewman]

Cheers for all the tips guys, will get downloading some Battle Of Britain campaigns and also work on my carrier landings!

RC

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Chock

Nothing wierd about that, that's the correct way to fly an aeroplane in normal circumstances. If you ever get taught to fly a Cessna in real life, they teach you that way.

Chock

Yea, but if like a lot of us one starts "flying" in flight sims (especially if, like most, you start with simpler flight games first), you really do get used to pointing your nose up and down all over the place :p

Realistically speaking, I can't see how one can really be sure to land a plane properly without knowing that

[Chock]

Yea, but if like a lot of us one starts "flying" in flight sims (especially if, like most, you start with simpler flight games first), you really do get used to pointing your nose up and down all over the place

That's true, I flew flight sims before I flew the real thing, and to be honest, you could still fly a plane by climbing and diving with the stick and using the throttle purely for speed, it just perhaps wouldn't be the most efficient way, which of course is not always the best choice anyway in wartime, I mean, who would care about fuel efficiency when a Messerschmitt's just about to pepper their ass?!

I'd bet most people who fly flight simulators regularly could have a decent crack at getting the real thing on the ground in one piece, I know that it helped me when learning to fly the real thing. You get the 'physical skill' in your fingers from simulations, even if you don't get the feel and the other real world stuff, and you get used to reading altimeters and turn/slip indicators, that kind of thing. So actions such as pushing the stick forward when nearing a stall becomes a conditioned response if you use flight sims a lot, things like that, which is quite useful in transferring to the real world.

Anyway, back on the original topic, and ironically enough, like the real world, there's no substitute for repetition and practise. Slightly off-topic but sort of related, if you are looking to practise flying skills for use on a warbird via Microsoft FSX (which is a good idea), I can certainly recommend an aircraft I have just reviewed for Avsim, that being the Curtiss P-40 from Shockwave Productions. It behaves very much like the real thing and that's good because for a fighter, the P-40 was regarded as remarkably easy to tame in comparison to stuff like the Spitfire and the bf109, and if you are looking for a warbird that is easy to pull off three-point landings in, it's a good choice.


Greasing a nice three-pointer in the P-40


One from the Dowly school of approaches for landing

What has this to do with carrier operations? Well, history buffs will of course know that the Curtiss P-40 was the first US Army aircraft ever to launch from a carrier. Happy landings

Chock

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Chock

One from the Dowly school of approaches for landing

Ooh, need to try that.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by Dowly

There is campaigns, you were asking for mods.

Check here for campaigns:
http://www.mission4today.com/index.p...=Downloads&c=2

I went there and it stated "IL2 Forgotten Battles & Pacific Fighters"

Will these Campains work in IL2 1946 ?

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

I went there and it stated "IL2 Forgotten Battles & Pacific Fighters"

Will these Campains work in IL2 1946 ?

There's usually version number too. Like the training campaing I posted to another thread says "4.07+" meaning it works on 4.07 or newer patch.

[XabbaRus]

My first proper sim was MS FlightSim and I remember flying the cessna and it said to use power for descent control and pitch for speed. Then when I went to learn the Learjet the manual said the reverse was true.

Still it helped a lot. One thing I think Il-2 models well is torque. At low speed in descent if you whack on the power too fast you will spin out. Chock is this how it is on a real plane cos it seems right especially the I-16 Rata.