I bought the Flying Iron Spitfire today, what a plane!
I managed to start her up, taxi to the runway but that was about it for the next 8 tries
Maybe i need to adjust my VF1 or pedal settings a bit but what are the secrets to takeoff and landings?
Added power slowly, trying to compensate with rudder but as soon as the tail lifted it was all over the place, usually ending up burying a wing tip and game over
On the 9th attempt I did manage to get her airborne, stabilised and had some fun with rolls, and just tooling around, i even managed to get the wheels back on the ground which amazed me, but then i lost it and it buried a wing.
Never flown a tail-dragger before so I have even more to learn - any tips
Get the nose down early to get the tail wheel up, use the rudder to stay straight and the ailerons to stay level. Sheās a lovely beast to tame and fly. :). Also check out:
I find, in the sim, that this action can lead to a prop into the runway (with any of the taildraggers) if you arenāt really careful. The physics seem way too exaggerated.
I have not used full power yet, I did read an online manual i found for this DLC, it mentioned holding the stick (yoke) back on takeoff roll, maybe i didnāt give it enough so the tail lifted too early/slow?
Once in the air it was great, very twitchy but would do everything i told it to.
Iām going to be spending some time learning this one I think
Iāve found if Iām too conservative with power application it can make things more difficult. Not saying firewall the throttle but bringing in the power quicker can help with rudder authority sooner.
The way I tend to take off is I throttle up to +0 boost with the brakes on, that way Iām not starting to move and dancing right away. Then in the first 50 or 100 feet I ramp it up to 6-8 boost.
Also setting your takeoff trim is critical. I go for about halfway between neutral and the first notch nose up
Iām hoping flying iron implement some of the new ground handling parameters introduced in su10 to help tame that unpredictability once the tail comes up
Iām certainly no expert, but here is what works for me:
On take off
Donāt let the boost go past 4 or 5 on the take off roll. It doesnāt require a lot of power to get off the ground, and adding too much power too quickly will lead to you veering off tto the side, as Iām sure youāve already discovered. Keeping back pressure on the stick until youāre established in a straight take off roll helps massively. You will will need to use rudder inputs to keep the aircraft straight, and aileron inputs to keep it level, and quite often these rudder and aileron inputs will be the opposite of each other, which can take a bit of getting used to. Avoid the temptation to stamp too hard on the rudder pedals. Use gentle inputs to find the āsweet spotā that will keep you going straight. Once you get airborne you can release the rudder pedals and increase power without worrying about veering off. Also, Iām sure youāre already aware, but you donāt extend flaps in the Spit when taking off. The other thing worth mentioning is that even a very slight crosswind can cause you to veer of the runway, so maybe practice with headwinds at first until you get used to it. In reality, youāre supposed to set quite a bit of rudder trim (to the right) but I find that if I follow the above steps, I never need to do this.
Landing
Again Iām no expert, but I always find that going for a 3 point landing works better for me, rather than just aiming for a main gear touchdown. Coming in with a nose level attitude usually leads to me bouncing. Even if you donāt get a 3 pointer, touching down with a nose up attitude will help eliminate bouncing, and donāt be afraid to float it a bit in order to slow your descent rate. I usually aim for a landing speed of 100mph. I have no idea if this is the correct speed, but like I said, it works for me. Deploying the barn door flaps acts very like an air brake, and will slow you down drastically, so make sure you drop the flaps in plenty of time, long before you hit your landing speed. In fact always be prepared to add power back in, as the flaps will very quickly bring you down to stall speed if you lose concentration.
I usually hold it back about maybe half to three quarter way? The whole idea, as you just said, is to stop the rear wheel lifting too early. When the rear wheel lifts up, thatās when the rudder control becomes more sensitive. I will usually start slowly releasing back pressure at about 50mph
This one has a definite personality to it, the advice for it mentioned is neither right or wrong I think youāll find out soon enough. Just depends really what youāre comfortable with. You only need a fraction of its power to t/o this much is true. If you let go of the stick with too much speed, you will end up whipping the nose into the ground like a spring. Take advantage of your runways length I say, take it easy, donāt force it, so donāt try to STOL it so much. Personally I put a fair wack of trim up and more try to fly it off the ground, which it can without needing to reef the stick back so much.
The flaps are NOT to be used for take off, only landing as theyāre basically an air brake. Deploy after landing gear mostly as youāre very near to land, just before threshold is good. Having both deployed will pull at your nose pretty hard, the sink is real. Bringing power to idle with a steady back stick of course. Put those flaps back up soon after planting nicely onto the runway will help shift the weight rearwards bringing the tailwheel down with more authority. Ease on the brakes and bobās your uncle.
In some of the warbirds (maybe most?) youād play with the brakes to keep the tail in check once you start rolling, then, at a certain airspeed, you release the back-pressure slowly (and yeah, usually all the way, bury that tail!) as you should now have sufficient speed for your rudder to become more effective.
(btw, does the spitfire have a lockable tailwheel, as that might help keep it straight too.) And yes, Flaps UP on take off.
itās a wild ride still, even i cannot keep most taildraggers straight on the runway, especially the warbirdsā¦ but once you get 'm up in the air, itās blissā¦
and landing, well, keep yer throttle up a bit, to find that sweetspot of lift disappearing, you dont want to cut the throttle instantly, like in a nosegear airplane.
In (some of )the reno pack mustangs, you approach at 110mph, then let her settle down over the threshold at about 85 mphā¦ this trick helped me immensely with the milviz corsairā¦ but that one bit me another time as i ran out of runway and had to do a go around, i forgot to set fine pitch, blew the engine and crashlanded into trees.
yeah, some of 'm have a real mean bite. Good Luck Captān.
The Flying Iron Spit (which is the Mk 9, and the one we are discussing) doesnāt have a lockable tail wheel. At least not one that I have found. The Airplane Heaven Spit (based on the Mk 1) DOES have a lockable tail wheel. I think in real life the Mk 1 tail wheel is permanently locked though, and ground steering is controlled by differemtial braking.
Thanks all, if it ever stops downloading updates iāll get on and try it again
From what i have read, the Spits have a castoring rear wheel - fully floating, FI have said they canāt model this yet so have tied the tail wheel to the rudder like a nose wheel setup would be.
They can, they wrote custom code for it for the Hellcat. They even promised theyād backwards introduce it for the Spit, which is awesome but yet to be done.
Getting better - 3 successful, not too pretty but ok take offs today
half back on the stick,
half a notch up-trim,
brakes on until zero boost,
brakes off and increase throttle,
opposite rudder and ailerons - very odd
ease off the stick and up she goes
two crashes and one successful landing - i bounced on the runway and nosedived, next crash was a blackout trying to loop it - iāve turned off G-Effects for now.
My admiration for real Spit/fighter pilots has gone from serious to extreme now, even in the air it needs constant attention to trim, attitude, altitude etc, not got a thing in common with a Cessna where you can pretty much climb in and let it take off itself
