Does the battery always start in the ‘on’ position for anyone else when starting cold and dark on the ramp? Dunno if it’s just me or some state saving thing has bugged out but every time I start a flight on a parking spot I don’t have to switch the battery on as it already is
edit: had a poke through the state.cfg file and there doesn’t appear to be anything related to battery on/off state there, just battery charge. The apron.flt file has ‘BatterySwitch=False’ in the [Systems.0] section but then it also has ‘battery.1=True’ in [Electrical.0]. There’s also an ‘ELECTRICAL_Battery=0’ in [LocalVars.0] as well. Don’t really know much about how these files work but is the ‘battery.1=True’’ in [Electrical.0] overriding the other ones? Guess I should edit it and find out.
Perhaps anybody can help - I use the HOTAS to control the flaps with this plane. When using my buttons for flaps up/down, flaps moving all the way up or down and not in steps. It worked for me with any other plane, but not with the BF109. Any suggestions to fix this?
Yeah changing ‘battery.1=True’ in [Electrical.0] to battery.1=False got it working as expected with the battery OFF on the apron start.
I was also checking the tablet stats for battery drain with various things on and off (the Inertia starter drains the battery like crazy, just as the manual says!) and I noticed another small tablet bug alongside the range data one I mentioned ealier: the engine prime stat in the tablet shows the engine as being fully primed when you load up the plane. So the primer plunger toottip will correctly state it’s underprimed and when you pump it up to ‘primed’ the tablet will tell you it’s now overprimed. Minor bug but just something I noticed.
Anyway, there’s also repaints appearing on flightsim.to. No category for the 109 yet so just search for 109 and sort by ‘new’ to get the FlyingIron stuff at top. I’m quite fond of desert camo so here’s one by
donfanucci that looks quite nice.
When it comes to landing, the normal procedure in any high-performance warbird is to fly an overhead approach/overhead break - flying the length of the runway and pulling up and over into the downwind leg, bleeding off airspeed as you do. With the Bf 109, the goal is to get the airspeed reduced down to 300 kph as you enter the downwind leg, at which point you can safely lower the landing gear and start lowering the flaps and adjust the elevator trim. In the real aircraft, it takes roughly 25-seconds to hand crank the flaps from full up to full down, and while your cranking the flaps down you’re also cranking the elevator trim aft/nose-up (this was actually factored in with the design by having the flaps and trim wheels be the same size and right next to each other, that you can turn both in unison with the same hand). From the downwind leg, a constant arcing turn is made all the way to the threshold of the runway - like a carrier-style approach, but which is the same approach just about any WWII fighter is flown, even today. This allows you to keep the runway in view all the way up until just before the threshold without having to look over the top of the nose. In most any WWII-era single-engine aircraft, the last thing you want to do is a make a long straight-in approach to the runway - not only does it restrict your view, but it also poses greater risk if you have an engine failure. The cannon blisters on the Bf 109G-6 also restrict the forward view great than on earlier '109 variants. In the real aircraft, the entry speed from downwind to base/final is 215 kph, but with the FlyingIron Bf 109 I have the airspeed usually as high as 240 kph as I make the turn from downwind, continuing to slowly reduce the airspeed to around 200 kph just before the runway, and continuing to back off on the power to idle as I pass over the threshold and start flaring into a three-point attitude. With the real aircraft, every pilot who has flown them in the modern era mentions that you never land the '109 in a two-point, mains-only attitude, as it would be fraught with danger (due to the geometry of the landing gear). However, if you set it down in a three-point attitude, which it does well, the same pilots will tell you that it lands just beautifully and tracks well. That bodes true of the FlyingIron Bf 109 as well. You want to resist letting it touch down too fast, and the airspeed you should see at the point the tires meet the runway should only be about 145-150 kph, just as in the real aircraft.
Real world operations in the Bf 109 are restricted to crosswinds not exceeding 10-kts (in the UK, the CAA have a requirement that 109s/Buchons have a cockpit placard that states that restriction). Mark Hanna wrote in his pilot report on the type that if the winds are such that making a three-point landing inadvisable, the aircraft remains in the hangar.
Lots of things to learn from this thread, thanks a lot to all of you!
I can only repeat what others wrote before: FI delivered an absolutely impressive plane! I fly in VR only, and the Bf-109 indeed comes to life around me. I bought the plane on day one and my trusty PMDG 737 has not seen any use since then (I‘m now spending all my free time at Duxford )
Big Thank You to the team of FI for an incredibly well made addition to MSFS!
Not a big fan of flying German planes because of various relatives bombed or shot down by them. But have all of Flying Iron’s other stuff, and the buzz on this one was so positive I couldn’t resist. Really interesting modeling of the quirks of the various systems!
Hoping we can see a couple more repaints of captured paint schemes. Flying around in a nice add-on scheme from a bird captured by the USAAF in Tunisia right now.
This one would be awesome…
I landed successfully on my first try! On my second try, the grass field I was attempting was a bit short. Ooops. The Tobiii Eye Tracker and one press of the up-arrow key are great for lining up for landing.
I mean, if I was flying with an Xbox controller, I’d go for the P-38. Tricycle gear and contra-rotating props are gonna make it much easier to handle. And it’s a superbly done plane as well.
Thanks for the heads-up. Had been watching for a new category and didn’t realize these were up yet. Would consider flying the airplane in these liveries.
Same, except in my case the word is “exterminated” - not by the airplane, obviously, but under its protective umbrella. I’m a bit disappointed FI didn’t include some of these other paints - I would have appreciated the devs giving me a way in - but will think about third-party liveries as they come up.
If you talk about the TB Recon Xbox controler I can see the problem. Not talking about the controler itself but maybe the mapping in MSFS. I don’t remember the exact default xbox controler configuration but I mapped the throttle on the A and B buttons. It’s not as smooth than a throttle lever but is precise enough by applying short press, on the 109 I can do 0.2 or even 0.1 ATA changes which is way enough in precision for take off.
I see in your video you jumped from 0.76 ata straight to 1.04/06. This is where the nose starts to go left and it is too late to correct as WartedSummer2 says. In this case it is better to let the nose go where he wants and wait for the tail to lift if runway permits.
It is best practice to apply full aileron and rudder straight from the start or at latest when you reach 0.8 ata. Keep ailerons and rudder full right at all time. Between 0.9 and 1.0 ata the tail will start to lift gently and the nose stays straight, just wait a little more to reach 200kph and you can pull the stick and ease on ailerons and rudder. Like Megadyptes7635 says it is possible to lift at 1.2 ata or even less if the tank is not full or if you have head wind. Try using a weather preset (clear weather) with no wind for practice, crosswind are difficult to manage in this plane and left ones makes a straight take off certainly impossible, I haven’t tried yet. Right cross wind is less of a problem since you can compensate with right rudder input.
Also one thing worth remembering; these planes where designed to take off from airfields. And that’s exactly what it was, fields, not straight runways with limited width. That helps a lot when you have enough space to let the plane go head wind for take off and landing.
This seems strange if it works correctly for you on other aircraft. There are two steps, 20 degrees and 40 degrees with my HOTAS. Are you sure you don’t mistake the 20 degrees as “full”?
personally I’ve taken off , I’ve flown it, I’ve landed it.
Did i enjoy it? no and it’s not a plane i will fly again if i’m honest
much prefer the spit and the hellcat. i know the 109 is difficult in the real world but this feels odd
certainly not even enjoyable in the air, not a good experience all round
The yoke, though I have also tried with the Thrustmaster T16000M joystick.
I agree with your impressions, I like the flight model when on the air and landing, but takeoff is odd and a terrible experience. I have managed to get somewhat consistent takeoffs now with the advice people offered but the behaviour of the plane feels unrealistic to me compared to what I see on real videos.
you shouldn’t really fly a warbird with a yoke it really does need a stick, maybe that’s psychological but the times I’ve tried it it is an utter mess just feels very wrong :))
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Ok, so, typing error (as a Dutchman)… But, remember the old aviator’s saying: “any landing you can walk away, is a good landing.”
