Hi, just wanted to add my experiances taking off and landing this plane.
I’ve had it a couple of months now and at first could only manage a 30-50% success rate in takeoffs (up from no-chance-what-so-ever before reading some of the advise above) and about the same with landings, especially at first. I can now manage more like 90% of takeoffs and even better in landings even with decent crosswinds, so thought I’d share in case it could help someone.
This is without doubt a more challening plane to takeoff and land than any other in the game but sooo satesfying when you start to get it right! Anyway…
TAKEOFF:
- Line up with runway, set parking brake to ON (default setting if thats where you spawn), no flaps or trim set at all.
- Set throttle to 25%, wait for revs to stabalise.
- Release parking brake, let the plane roll forward for a few seconds
-
Important Bit: Start tapping the throttle up in the smallest increments you have, no more than one tap every 0.5 to 1.0 seconds (I use a PS4 controller, so this is a button for me, but with a throttle control I gues just tap up in small increments or in a slow, smooth motion)
- Keep doing that until you feel the tail lift off the ground, at that point you can go to 90% or even full throttle and the plane will immediately lift off the ground, use a little rudder and roll to keep it steady as it climbs.
You should only need minimal rudder inputs to keep in centred on the runway while on the ground, it may lurch a bit as it comes off the ground, but you shouldn’t need to max out any of the controls to keep it on track.
SPICY TAKEOFF:
Same as above but instead of starting at 25% throttle, start at 50% and release the parking brake just as the plane tips forward, catching it before it face-plants.
Most important bit is still the small taps to throttle after you start moving.
LANDING:
Main problem I found with landing this plane is that you are sitting in the middle of the plane, so if you try to hold a standard glide slope you won’t be able to see a thing. Using a steeper glide slope is much easier. The flaps on this Spitfire are 10% flaps, 90% airbrake, so they will allow you to do this safely.
- Get lined up on the runway, at about twice the normal glide-slope angle.
- Bring throttle to idle and use the flaps to bring your speed down to about 80-90 and keep it there until you are ready to flare just before touchdown. Drop the gear once you are below about 120 or so.
- Keep the start of the runway in sight all the way down to the flare, if you find yourself dropping too much speed take the flaps off and you will speed up without losing much height, reapply them when you’ve got the speed back. They really are more brake than flap. If you are too low for this just apply some power, 25% should be enough.
- Keep your nose up after the flare to avoid prop-strike, you will probably bounce a couple of times before you settle on the runway.
- Once on the runway, take off the flaps and apply backwards pressure on the stick to help keep the wings level. You may need to counteract roll once you get on the ground and start to slow down, but if you keep pulling back to force the tail down you will find this much easier.
If you start to run out of runway, gently apply brakes, don’t put them on full or you will face-plant.
If you do need heavy braking, watch for the plane pitching forward and release the brakes immeidately if it does.
Once you have slowed right down, you can taxi off the runway.
Personally I find the Spitfire behaves itself pretty well in taxi, just don’t go too fast.
Disclaimer: I’m an armchair pilot only, these steps are just what I found the most reliable for me to get this plane off and back onto the ground safely in this sim.
By the way, according to this early report on the plane, takeoffs and landings weren’t seen as a particular problem for the aircraft, the only gripe was that it was too fast for landing, but I’m assuming their recommendations around the flaps were taken on for later models, certainly for the version modelled here!
This is hands-down my favourite plane in this sim. Once in the air it’s so much fun, and because takeoff and landings are so challenging, every successful one gives you (well, me anyway!) a real sense of satisfaction.
Hope that helps!