I need help from the professionals here. I can land pretty much any other aircraft in the game. I got the Spitfire last evening, and holy toledo, I can’t land that for beans. I tried 20+ times, and landed twice. Every time I hit the brake after touchdown the machine crashes. I love the plane in general, so please help me land!
Also… taking off. My goodness, even full rudder doesn’t seem to stop it is there a trick to that?
Is this how the plane actually behaves? How did pilots in the RAF who sometimes flew with 8 hours of training not crash these things constantly on landing?
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land slow around 75mph , full flaps as you touch down, once on the ground, level flaps, don’t brake, minimum throttle, once on the ground and slowing down , pulse the brakes… pull the stick back as you roll along the runway to keep the rear down else it will flip over when you brake… safe landing complete…
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Thank you, can I ask about take off? Absolutely nothing I do seems to counter the crazy pull to the left. My boost is at 8, I try to apply right rudder and such, and nothing helps.
For takeoff I found 2 degrees nose down trim, 6 degrees right of aileron trim and 6 degrees right of rudder trim. Flaps at 20. Still need some right rudder but not much.
Also be sure to go to weight and balance and set CG to 30
Once rolling straight be sure to lock the tailwheel
How do ya lock the tailwheel?
I just set a joystick button as the tailwheel lock. Just search tailwheel lock in control assignments and it’ll come up. Makes activating / deactivating it easy. Otherwise its a red lever/pull tab down to the left by the trim wheels in the cockpit.
There is a placard by the trim wheels that says the trim settings to use. The only one I think is wrong is where it says use 1 degree nose up trim. This makes the plane uncontrollable for me on takeoff. If you trim the nose down 2 degrees (the first nose down trim dash) it makes takeoff stable and controllable.
Apply slight right rudder and feel it out. Make sure you gently dip the wings into the wind, but not too much or it starts to tip / loose control.
Interesting. I cannot find the tailwheel lock or the placard you’re referring to in my model. I can generally take it off, but it’s still pretty sketchy sometimes for me. I find that boost 0 until I get some speed, then boost 8 with rudder will help me get off the ground while remaining on the runway.
On the landing – I can consistently touch down, but I skip no matter what the speed seems to be, and i can’t seem to slow down because I can’t focus on pumping the brakes because the plane really wants to tilt it’s wings to either side and/or loop. I generally vastly outrun the runway and it’s up to the terrain whether I crash into a tree or slow down enough to where I can apply the brakes. Should I be pushing the nose down when I land?
if you struggle with take off and landing the spitfire, try turning on auto rudder
you can find it in …Options / Assistance / Piloting / Take-off Auto-rudder – ON
I appreciate the suggestion but do not enjoy flying with that setting on. I acknowledge my pain is self inflicted here. 
I take off with no flaps , throttle no more than 30 rpm , with boost around 6 , i always get a smooth take off … I found it best to use chase mode until I was confident with how the plane reacted , now I have no problems, its a great plane to fly in VR.
good luck …
I love the plane. That’s why I am trying so hard to get proficient at landing and taking off. I have the take off pretty well nailed down, it’s the landing that always goes hog wild for me. I can usually land it, but I am all over the airport trying to get it slowed down. Landing straight is out of the question for me right now. I find that ANY input on the rudder leads to a chain reaction that makes the plane almost uncontrollable, and I am usually fighting with the aileron just to prevent clipping the wing.
[quote=“autopylit88, post:6, topic:401429”] I
just set a joystick button as the tailwheel lock. Just search tailwheel lock in control assignments and it’ll come up. Makes activating / deactivating it easy. Otherwise its a red lever/pull tab down to the left by the trim wheels in the cockpit.
There is a placard by the trim wheels that says the trim settings to use. The only one I think is wrong is where it says use 1 degree nose up trim. This makes the plane uncontrollable for me on takeoff. If you trim the nose down 2 degrees (the first nose down trim dash) it makes takeoff stable and controllable.
Apply slight right rudder and feel it out. Make sure you gently dip the wings into the wind, but not too much or it starts to tip / loose control.
[/quote]
Sounds to me like you are talking about the Corsair, Spitfire doesn’t have a flaps 20 setting only 0 or 70, described as more of a speed-brake than flaps and not used for takeoff.
I use 2 degrees rudder hold the tail down until 50 knots let the tail come up and apply rudder as necessary, but I strongly recommend watching this guy’s video, I would have a fatal crash every time until I watched this video and practiced implementing hi suggestions.
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Thanks! Yeah, I use a modified version of his technique for take off that’s working well for me. For me, the key is to accelerate a bit at 0 boost, then move it to 8 once you have a little speed with some minor rudder adjustment. I am far away from reproducing his landing though. I generally enjoy his videos and I am tempted to get the Corsair because it seems easier on the landing/take off. That said, I am reluctant to get it until it hits the marketplace.
Honestly I find the Corsair Harder to land than the Spitfire but it’s a great plane with a lot more range if that matters to you.
Range definitely matters to me! Interesting that it’s even harder to land than this. The Spitfire is by far the most difficult plane for me to land in the sim.
For the first time, I just stuck a perfect landing in this bird. The juice has been worth the squeeze, now to repeat it! Knowing how to brake without over doing it on the tail lift and pulling the stick back seemed to be the big deciding factors.
Wait? What? The FS2020 Spit has a tailwheel lock?
No, I don’t think it does.
Indeed it should not have…
There is no a tail wheel lock in this model, or the real plane. All of the methods shown here will get you in the air but not level and smooth in most cases. I can lift off the runway level and at ‘Scramble’ speed, but it took/still taking, lots of practice.
TAKEOFF: Right rudder trim with No elevator trim. Hold a slight right aileron and pull back on the stick to keep the tail down. Throttle up to HALF(50%) and get your roll up to 50mph, then slowly reduce the elevator to level - at this time(60mph). Your tail will lift but the dreaded left-wing-dip will have passed. After the tail lifts, power up and liftoff, raise gear as soon as the tires are off the ground as they spoil the ‘Look of the thing’ (Moggy - Piece of Cake).
LANDING: Drop wheels and flaps while on the downward leg and slow to about 120mph, turn on to your final leg and reduce speed to 100mph or less, with a min of about 85mph, maintain this speed until you pass the threshold and then cut the throttle. Slowly allow the plane to touch down itself, then immediately raise the flaps(important!) this will plant the tail wheel down, then pull back on the stick as you can’t take off again at this stage unless you add power. Don’t let go of the up-elevator until you have finished braking(about 20mph).
TIPS:
Never accept Live weather if the cross-wind is more than 5 knots, all it takes is a simple ‘preset’ choice to change your experience while learning the Mk9 Spitfire.
Always check to see if you have left the rudder trimmed.
Don’t correct a takeoff or landing roll with any more than 5% rudder - that’s ‘micro’ inputs folks.
In realistic damage modes, this plane and the real-life one can boil the oil and water very quickly, so watch your gauges.
Edit 2023: This plane has been nerfed down so more players can enjoy it. The prop can be bent now and does not reset without a flight reset, so watch those 50 feet flyby’s, also because of this new prop damage bridges are now out.
Blue Sky’s
eViLoZzy66
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