Okay, thanks for specifying!
Okay, I’ll check it out later. Thanks for it!
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Hold on it will be long, but worth it - all tips I think are the basic minimum for flying in SB:
1. Starting plane
Spoiler
Pick rank II for familiarization with airplanes and learning how to fly. My choice of easy aircraft to fly which turn well and are forgiving:
Sweden: B-239, Hurricane, UK: Hurri, Martlet, US: P-36, P-40, F4F, USSR: Yak-7B, Japan: Ki-43,
Selected an airplane? Then let’s go:
2. Test Flight Trimming tutorial
Spoiler
Go to test flight and set up all trim controls to some buttons on your keyboard, arrow/numeric/<> whatever suits you. Aileron trim and rudder trim on keyboard, however elevator trim you will use more often so put it on hotas for easy access (mine is on thumb up/down). Set up also a button for “Trimmers Fixation” - very important, but used just once in test flight so map it to keyboard.
A bit of trim theory:
Each prop aircraft will deviate from course because of propeller torque and tends to fly sideways. Some even tend to rotate along axis so one wing drops. On top of that when speed changes, the wing generates different amount of lift so in general at slow speeds - nose dives, at high speed - nose raises up. Now lots of aircraft have trimmable controls to ease pilot from constantly pulling/pushing controls to keep flying straight (you know WWII it was quite a heavy lifting job controlling aircraft) especially for longer period of times. However lots of simpler constructions don’t have such an ability in flight, but had a small tabs at the end of control surfaces which technicians would bend/adjust on the ground to trim aircraft for specific flight conditions.
In test flight you can adjust exactly that - trim aircraft for specific flight condition which is not trimmable in flight.
Why it matters? Untrimmed aircraft which does not fly straight, loses a bit of it’s performance due to additional drag, you have to constantly ‘fight’ against controls to keep airplane straight and it is more difficult to aim.
Test Flight:
- take off, climb just a bit to few hundred meters and level airplane to fly straight, more or less
- throttle at 100% no WEP
- reach around 400km/h (this is the most average speed you will fly those rank II airplanes)
- trim elevator to fly level, so you can let the stick go and plane does not climb or dive
- locate “turn/slide indicator” gauge in the cockpit, in different nations it might look different but works the same:
- on that indicator there is usually a ball or an arrow(UK) which indicates which side your aircraft is slipping, when flying level the ball has to be in the middle, indicating the aircraft is flying straight and not ‘crabbing’
- adjust rudder trim, so the ball/arrow is in the middle - trim in the direction of the ball, if it is left from center - trim left
- optionally now adjust aileron trim (only few airplanes require this) so you don’t roll anymore
At this point you should be able to let the stick go and airplane should stay flying level at around 400km/h. When you achieved this - hit “TRIMMER FIXATION” button and the settings will be saved.
Now whenever you spawn in actual battle, those trim settings will be automatically restored.
Remember to adjust you elevator trim during flight - when diving apply some negative trim so your nose don’t want to climb.
3. MEC basics
Spoiler
MEC is quite important, especially if you want to keep your airplanes at top performance during fight and engine cool during cruise.
The two important bits to set up are Prop Pitch and Radiators (supercharger stages in later ranks when you will fly above 3km).
Prop Pitch (if aircraft has manual, if automatic - leave automatic):
I won’t go through theory much here, you basically adjust the propeller’s blade angle of attack so the propeller grabs more air (more thrust and drag) or grabs less air (less thrust but less drag).
- At takeoff and climb you want 100% - this way the propeller works hardest.
- When cruising in level flight, reduce it to 90% - this way you reduce engine RPM keep the engine cool and at higher speed you will fly a bit faster as it induces less drag
- In a dive reduce to 80% or less - this will reduce drag significantly and allow you to gain a lot more speed, but be careful not to overspeed
- After the dive when you are still fast > 550km/h keep 80% if you want to run away in level flight
- After the dive when you climb back, start adjusting prop pitch back to 95-100% as you speed drops below 450km/h, not too soon to not to lose the speed you just gained.
Radiators
Set up your controls to open close both water and oil radiators. I have those controls on my throttle, the same buttons I use for radar controls (jets don’t have manual radiators in general).
Manual control of radiators is very important.
In automatic mode, your radiators will be closed all the time, until your engine starts overheating - then they will open to 100%. This is bad as when you climb and cruise your engine temp keeps increasing and then when you are about to fight and hit WEP - your engine will be cooked and radiators fully open increasing drag and reducing performance.
In general:
- Open your radiators to 100% at takeoff, climb and cruise - keep the engine cool.
- Close your radiators to 30-50% when you are about to fight someone in a circle fight
- Close radiators fully to 0% when in a dive, running away or chasing someone, to gain additional speed
- Open radiators fully to 100% reduce throttle and prop pitch to 90% to cool engine down.
In WT you cannot “overcool” the engine like in other simulators so don’t worry about open radiators on winter maps.
(Optional later)
Supercharger stages - this is available to many aircraft for increased boost at altitudes where air is thinner. The altitude to switch turbo/supercharger to next stage varies per airplane, but in general for most of them, switch to stage 2 above 3km altitude.
P-47 is special here and you can also adjust supercharger RPM - it requires even more hassle but you can potentially squeeze additional 50km/h of speed by adjusting radiators, prop pitch and supercharger RPM in this airplane, however it is higher mathematics ;)
4. Control sensitivity
Spoiler
Learn to fly with 100% sensitivity from the beginning. I know it will be difficult but it is better to learn the best practice straight from the beginning to not lose time and learn bad habits.
It is important because only then you have full, one to one control translation from your stick to airplane controls in game. This will allow you to fly sharper, on the edge of critical values, also with tiny adjustments you will have more crisp and responsive control.
Anything below 100% will slow your reaction down and handicap the aircraft’s abilities, learn to fly the aircraft with all it’s flaws and to control it, rather than using any training wheels.
5. Ready to fly
Spoiler
With all the above points set up, mastered now it’s time to practice.
- master take-offs and landings, speed is cruicial - keep around 160km/h | 100mph | 90kts for both takeoff an landings in most WWII prop airplanes, aim at the middle line on the runway and practice flaring
- master cruising and basic manoeuvres while maintaining MEC and situational awareness, practice until flying is not something you have to focus or remember about but is natural
- engage AI enemies in test flight to practice aim, first shot down those friendly bots in default test flight, after that set up custom flights with enemy bots.
- strafe ground targets to practice steady aim, adjusting elevator trim and always in a strafe dive, reduce your power.
- after that - join Air SB or Ground SB
- in general you will find fights quicker in Ground SB and lots of pilots are quite mediocre there, however from time to time you will meet veteran players like me - well bad luck, games are fast so join next one. The planes I listed in point 1 are very good for dogfights in Ground SB.
- for now natural step is to practice turn fights, aiming and controlling the airplane.
- after you do good in this, it is time to step up your game, learn advance combat manoeuvres, energy retention, B&Z, and start flying fast airplanes, like Typhoons, P-51s, Fw-190s or very demanding airplanes like Spitfires.
Pheeew that’s all the basics covered, now go there tiger and practice!
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Wow thanks for the advice! It looks like that would have taken a long time to right so thank you!
Actually if you want to get most MEC benefits without having to change supercharger gear or adjust mixture is to fly a 109 or some other plane with a DB engine. The trick is to uninstall engine mods to lower engine power (don’t uninstall supercharger or radiator). Depending on outside temperature you need to usually lower engine output from 25 to 100 hp, in order to achieve a situation where you can run wep all day long with radiator(s) at 100 %.
So not a Sim related question, but a MEC question. Is running at WEP with radiators open in MEC better overall than running at 100 percent throttle with the radiators shut? I’m not very knowledgeable on the differences in drag and power due to open radiators and WEP speed.
For example, I usually use the Ju-288c (I know, bad me) in MEC with open radiators to prolong wep almost indefinitely since it overheats quite quickly, but is that actually worth the effort against just flying at 100 percent with the less drag of having radiators closed?
I would say it depends on your speed.
While climbing the WEP+100% radiator should be the most effective way.
At top speed most, if not all of the extra power from WEP should be eaten up by the increased drag of the cooling flaps.
In general I would not bother too much with MEC as a sim beginner. There are enough (and more important) other things that need your attention. You can open the radiators to 100% while takeoff and climbing and then set it back to auto when you have reached your altitude. But that´s all you need for the first months.
@topic:
For props I would say, try the FW190s. (Especially the D-9)
The controls are super precise and responsive, you have good weapons and plenty of ammo. But they are no turnfighters, so don´t even think about pulling against a Spitfire. Stay fast, dive in, climb out, repeat.
If you want a turnfighter, try the Yak-3. Its a little monster at low altitudes. Easy to fly, good cannons.
As said before, spitfires are super wobbly, so not the best plane to start.
You should test fly some planes, get a feeling for them and then choose those, that feel good for you.
( e.g.: I don´t like how Bf109s or P47s fly. It just doesn´t feel good for me.)
For jets I would recommend to begin with the F-86 Sabre (The german CL13 MK6 is the best imo. You outturn and outclimb almost everything) But other Sabres will also do.
They have great cockpit visibility compared to Mig-15 and -17 and plenty of ammo, so you can practice more.
I wouldn´t go higher at the beginning, as you need to build up situational awareness before you add more distractions like Radar, RWR and so on.
So set up your Track IR.
The most important thing in sim is observing and understanding your surroundings.
That would depend on the aircraft, but usually I cruise faster with “infinity wep” settings on any aircraft than on auto engine control at a non-overheating power setting.
Okay, thanks! I’m really looking forward to 109’s in sim!
I’ve thought up some more questions.
Does the F4U have the bad over the nose visibility like IRL? Also does it have the problem with torque if the power is applied to fast? Like it’ll roll over?
Are the 109 and 190 good planes in sim? Like once I know the basics.
How about the P-51?
The f4u does have poor visibility over the nose because its so long. And most props will roll hard if you crank the engine too quickly. 109 is fairly easy to fly and pretty forgiving. The fw190 is not forgiving at all but is quite good with a pilot who knows it.
Corsairs have a quite big nose, but you can move your head up and down with Track IR, so that shouldn´t be an issue.
Torque is always a thing in sim, especially at takeoff. So be gentle on the throttle and counter it with pedals and stick inputs.
109s, 190s and P51s are all good planes, but you have to fly them right. Means: use their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
190s and P51s aren´t good turners, but they are fast. So keep your speed and you are nearly untouchable, unless someone dives on you with 800 km/h. Best way to play is boom&zoom.
109s should be more forgiving, as they can do everything quite well and are good in vertical maneuvers.
If you want to pull circles then go for Yak or Zero.
There is no “best” plane. Just find one that fits your playstyle and feels good. Of course cockpit visibility is a point too.
Just test fly everything you find interesting.
What rank V Sweden jet do you have? If it’s the J21, It’s okay to start with, but I’d take the J29 or J32 over the J21 any day, better handling and control, I suggest using full real and running SAS damping mode when in reg flight, but if your dogfighting, turn it to regular and you have more control. Jets are superior in every aspect of flying for beginners compared to Props, I’d personally stay completely away from sim props. I assume MEC is “Manual Engine Control,” I don’t run MEC, I just fly, tbh, dogfighting kinda sucks if you don’t have VR or easy tracking/auto-tracking.
Simplest to start with would be an early jet - no issues with torque and no oil/coolant/cowl flaps, no prop speed control, just a throttle, so MEC pretty much = AEC. Something with a decent bubble canopy giving all-round vision would be good too. Bearing in mind the research you’ve already done, one of the Me 262s in the German tree would be good, either the A1 or A1/Jabo. The USN Rank Vs are good and have bomb/rocket loadouts for ground attack, but don’t have great rear wards vision. From memory, the F-84 and F-86 have better views towards the 6 o’clock, with the Sabre being the best pure fighter and the F-84 having great air-ground loadouts.
JU87. that is all.
Okay, thank you to @Ruskie_Turtles and @LeoNerdo for helping with those planes! I just wanted to know if they were worth it before wasting time trying to learn them
A21RB…
Okay thanks
Oh, and BTW, stay low, it’s harder for them to see you, especially since you top tone color matches most forest colors.
Alright thanks
OOOO that’s smart. Thanks!
