New Player?

[killspeed]

I finally installed IL-2 1946 and have been playing online this week for the first time. I do have some issues and/or questions:

1) I was reading some other player's post regarding the physics of the aircraft and why they are so unstable and they are not like that in real life. I know when I fly, if I bank past 90* even at full throttle, I'm in a stall about 90% of the time depending on the aircraft. With that said I crash a lot! lol Maybe I should bank slower, build up inertia and then go for a hard bank?

2) I only use a Wingman FF joystick, and notice the elevators not move at all when I maneuver. Along with that, I see other players' aircraft move so gracefully in the sky, bank, spin, ascend, while I struggle to simply bank without stalling. Its hard to keep up with them and I am sometimes afraid if I bank and pull back on the stick, I'll stall. I suspect it has something to do with me not being able to control the elevators. Are most of you using some kind of pedal control to help you control your aircraft? Any advice? SaiteK?

3) I've read about trimming out the aircraft, but seems to fly any which way and not specific to one direction. I just have my hand on the stick for safety

4) Do you have any advice on setting my guns at a better convergance distance? 500 seems to far. Is there a way to calculate distance if an aircraft is say..1.00 away?

Thanks for any further advice. The simulator is awesome, even with me having trouble taking off sometimes. At times, I can't get myself away from the computer.

[Erkki]

Hello killspeed, good to see new people interested in realism too, and not Skie.. Ummrh, well, just arcade df.

Originally Posted by killspeed

I finally installed IL-2 1946 and have been playing online this week for the first time. I do have some issues and/or questions:

1) I was reading some other player's post regarding the physics of the aircraft and why they are so unstable and they are not like that in real life. I know when I fly, if I bank past 90* even at full throttle, I'm in a stall about 90% of the time depending on the aircraft. With that said I crash a lot! lol Maybe I should bank slower, build up inertia and then go for a hard bank?

Try MiG-3. Build up some speed and try turning - thats bad elevators. In general, the more speed you have the less likely you are to spin if you pull back hard. To keep your speed up, try not to always pull stick fully back. I, for example, almost never pull the stick fully back, usually only some max. 30%. The less you pull back the less you lose speed. Also, try not to raise the nose above the horizon while turning - that will also make you lose speed and eventually stall, so dont do it before you learn more.

2) I only use a Wingman FF joystick, and notice the elevators not move at all when I maneuver. Along with that, I see other players' aircraft move so gracefully in the sky, bank, spin, ascend, while I struggle to simply bank without stalling. Its hard to keep up with them and I am sometimes afraid if I bank and pull back on the stick, I'll stall. I suspect it has something to do with me not being able to control the elevators. Are most of you using some kind of pedal control to help you control your aircraft? Any advice? SaiteK?

Using the rudder does help, but not as much as you'd think. I played more than 6 years without using rudder at all(with keyboard in takeoff and landing) and I think I did fairly well then...

to BUZZSAW: in il2, trimming = moving control surfaces. Ie. != real trim. Elevator trim down and pushing stick forward = neutral trim and not touching the stick.

3) I've read about trimming out the aircraft, but seems to fly any which way and not specific to one direction. I just have my hand on the stick for safety

Dont think about trimming yet. Trimming will give you a few extra kmph in TOP speed (not acceleration). If you start concentrating on trimming before you have learned the gazillion other things you will only end up in being shot down even more often.

4) Do you have any advice on setting my guns at a better convergance distance? 500 seems to far. Is there a way to calculate distance if an aircraft is say..1.00 away?

For example the P51, P47, P38 and P40 have 105 mils gunsight. That means that when a plane with a wingspan of 10 meters (FW190, for example!) is 105 meters from you he is exactly the size of the gunsight. If hes half the size, hes 210m away, a third of the size means 315, double the size 55, etc. Different planes have gunsights of different size, most having "range rings" or lines for distance approximation.

The best way to learn is to keep flying and flying. And giving yourself new challenges. Once you've learned how to dogfight a little and you can hit others from angles as well, move to a more challenging enviroment. But also remember not to get used of(completely dependant) on padlock, invisible cockpit, external views, icons(labels) or la5fn/la7!

[killspeed]

Thanks so much for all the replies!