IL2 Birds of Prey: Hints, Tips, and FAQ's Thread

[Trent Kama]

What's the lowdown on customization for online planes? I heard there'd be custom paint jobs and weapon loadouts.

[Lexandro]

No Custom Colours, but some planes have adjustable loadouts (not custom). There are some pre-set loadouts to choose from.

[Mk10Raven]

Would it be advantageous to have a new thread with nothing but flying tips divided into basic ACM, and how to get the most of the control interface with the game?

[kod30]

anyone have any hints about the first russian mission? That plane you get is rather, well... horrible and twitchy. The engine likes to cut out on me and im not entirely sure why it did that. Great roll on it though, but that's about it.


i wish the instruction booklet for this game actually listed the planes and more or less some small bullet point "pros/cons" for them.

[Brucerer]

Originally Posted by kod30

anyone have any hints about the first russian mission? That plane you get is rather, well... horrible and twitchy. The engine likes to cut out on me and im not entirely sure why it did that. Great roll on it though, but that's about it.


i wish the instruction booklet for this game actually listed the planes and more or less some small bullet point "pros/cons" for them.

This is for another game, but the relative specs should be similar
http://members.shaw.ca/soda_p/models.htm

[Ancient Seraph]

Originally Posted by kod30

anyone have any hints about the first russian mission? That plane you get is rather, well... horrible and twitchy. The engine likes to cut out on me and im not entirely sure why it did that. Great roll on it though, but that's about it.


i wish the instruction booklet for this game actually listed the planes and more or less some small bullet point "pros/cons" for them.

To counteract the twitchiness you can try to adjust the sensitivity of your elevators, this helps a lot, especially when using a controller. As for the engine cutting out, this usually happens when you dive downwards real fast, and when pulling too many negative G's (pushing nose-down a lot). Try to avoid those situations and you should be fine.

[kod30]

Originally Posted by Ancient Seraph

To counteract the twitchiness you can try to adjust the sensitivity of your elevators, this helps a lot, especially when using a controller. As for the engine cutting out, this usually happens when you dive downwards real fast, and when pulling too many negative G's (pushing nose-down a lot). Try to avoid those situations and you should be fine.

yea i got passed the mission after reading around the forums some more that the engine cutting out due to exactly just what you described.

so i stopped being a WEP whore, was more careful about my dives (rolled over first instead), and i got through it.

that was bar none the most twitchy plane so far. If im not mistaken, there were no combat flaps for it, which really added to the twitchyness.

thing rolled really quickly ill give it that, and it could turn like a mofo, but no power

[DoGMaN X]

lol the I-16.

The clown plane of WWII.

I stopped taking it seriously the second I saw how small cute and fat it was.

[Yossarian]

The easiest kills are after you spawn. Especially if everyone is in a turning fight on the deck while you have spawned at 3-4,000 ft. That gives you the energy and time to pick who you want, close on them very quickly and shoot them down.

If it looks like I'm going to over shoot, I close the throttle, climb at 20-30 degrees and half roll inverted, ready that once my airspeed has slowed enough to pull back on the stick to slot back behind the enemy and roll back to normal.

If I get in a line and I'm chasing someone but an enemy slots in behind me I break instantly, I don't chase someone down allowing myself to be shot at. The good thing about breaking and doing a 360 degree turn in a line chase is you often end up at the back of the line.

Always use your rudder, a) to help with roll rate, your plane will roll much quicker with a bit of rudder applied as well. Not too much or too violent though or you will enter a spin. And b) never fly straight and level, use the rudder to slip from side to side when heading in a given direction, to an enemy it appears you are flying straight but the slip with make it harder for the enemy to hit you by predicting by looking at your orientation the correct place to lead aim.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of the different aircraft, then look for easy kills, avoiding danger as much as possible.

[Tiwatz]

Here's a tip for those of you who are frustrated that you keep crashing in simulator mode:
Turn your aileron sensitivity and your elevator sensitivity in options down to %40. Then, as you gain confidence, gradually turn it up by %10 until you reach max... A warning though- while turning down the sensitivity makes the planes easier to control, it makes them far less maneuverable too- so be careful.