noob here

[JRock]

just a few questions... i start off at the first american mission at pearl harbor, and my squadron mate flies sooooo much faster than me and gains altitude amazingly fast. i know how to raise my gear and my flaps, but is there some other trick that i'm missing? i read all of the pdfs that came with the game but everytime i try to gain altitude my engine overheats and i'm screwed. any help would be appreciated. tia

[Splitter]

Originally Posted by JRock

just a few questions... i start off at the first american mission at pearl harbor, and my squadron mate flies sooooo much faster than me and gains altitude amazingly fast. i know how to raise my gear and my flaps, but is there some other trick that i'm missing? i read all of the pdfs that came with the game but everytime i try to gain altitude my engine overheats and i'm screwed. any help would be appreciated. tia

AI pilots are perfect. their engine don't overheat and their aircraft is always in perfect trim. Either turn off engine over heat in the difficulty settings or get smarter than the AI .

There are a bunch of reasons for your being slow. Trim, engine settings, too much maneuvering, etc.. You have to do some research on this and other forums to pick up information on how to be a better pilot.

Splitter

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by JRock

just a few questions... i start off at the first american mission at pearl harbor, and my squadron mate flies sooooo much faster than me and gains altitude amazingly fast. i know how to raise my gear and my flaps, but is there some other trick that i'm missing? i read all of the pdfs that came with the game but everytime i try to gain altitude my engine overheats and i'm screwed. any help would be appreciated. tia

Hi

Its a known issue from many years ago.

You just have to do your best as the AI use all tricks available to them, you should try not to climb to hard, just keep your speed up lower than them and you should soon start to catch/keep up till the fight begins.

As mentioned trim and engine management helps some but don't expect to be on their wing tips exchanging waves.

[Romanator21]

One thing I noticed is that in Pacific Fighters campaigns, the aircraft simply race to the target. It's very difficult to keep up. Some of the missions also have you go further than your aircraft's historical range, and you will invariably end up in the drink.

In fact, on one mission pertaining to Wake island, my group of Wildcats went full throttle from take-off to the target area, where we met some Zeros coming head-on, also at top speed. My flight simply crashed into their flight, and I was mortally wounded from the ensuing explosions.

I haven't played a PF era campaign mission since.

Forgotten Battles era campaigns are nicer because after reaching their final altitude, the AI slow down to a reasonable amount, and you can easily fit into the formation with them. The only problem is that subsequent waypoints typically involve instantaneous speed changes which forces you to be on your toes. For instance "One minute to target!" results in every Ju-87 shedding 50km/h instantly, causing me to rocket past the group, and now I have to worry if I'm going to hit anyone, while trying to find my place in the formation again, while being shot at, and while only moments from the target, which I absolutely cannot miss because I've got only one egg to deliver, and I've been flying for an hour....

You could try to increase your rank at the start of a campaign to the highest level, or play user-made missions in which, hopefully, the cruise speed of the AI to certain waypoints has been edited from the default.

[JRock]

Originally Posted by Romanator21

One thing I noticed is that in Pacific Fighters campaigns, the aircraft simply race to the target. It's very difficult to keep up. Some of the missions also have you go further than your aircraft's historical range, and you will invariably end up in the drink.

In fact, on one mission pertaining to Wake island, my group of Wildcats went full throttle from take-off to the target area, where we met some Zeros coming head-on, also at top speed. My flight simply crashed into their flight, and I was mortally wounded from the ensuing explosions.

I haven't played a PF era campaign mission since.

Forgotten Battles era campaigns are nicer because after reaching their final altitude, the AI slow down to a reasonable amount, and you can easily fit into the formation with them. The only problem is that subsequent waypoints typically involve instantaneous speed changes which forces you to be on your toes. For instance "One minute to target!" results in every Ju-87 shedding 50km/h instantly, causing me to rocket past the group, and now I have to worry if I'm going to hit anyone, while trying to find my place in the formation again, while being shot at, and while only moments from the target, which I absolutely cannot miss because I've got only one egg to deliver, and I've been flying for an hour....

You could try to increase your rank at the start of a campaign to the highest level, or play user-made missions in which, hopefully, the cruise speed of the AI to certain waypoints has been edited from the default.

thanks for all the helpful replies guys. as far as the forgotten battles era campaigns, i couldn't get it to load on my system. ive got a q9950 intel w/ a 480 gtx running windows 7 ultimate x64. i've tried everything. anybody got it to work with that type setup?

[Romanator21]

Do you have IL-2 1946?

It has every plane, mission, campaign, etc. to date (for whatever reason, the differences in campaign playability still exist, as I mentioned above).

[Jaguar]

On the old Pacific Fighters Forum there is a link to a lot of questions that you may have. It does deal with a lot of reading. The info is vast and has at least ten years of info in it. I hope you find it helpful.
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...3/m/3181081438


Click on the underlined letters above the Redtail P-51 in Bearcats sig.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by JRock

just a few questions... i start off at the first american mission at pearl harbor, and my squadron mate flies sooooo much faster than me and gains altitude amazingly fast. i know how to raise my gear and my flaps, but is there some other trick that i'm missing? i read all of the pdfs that came with the game but everytime i try to gain altitude my engine overheats and i'm screwed. any help would be appreciated. tia

I remember it well!

It was 9 years ago, though.

This may sound weird, but Microsoft Flight simulator has some great lessons on how to fly an aeroplane (airplane). The trouble is, it's extremely boring!
The advice given so far is all good advice. Keep your nose down for airspeed.
The more airspeed, the faster you climb.
Learning the relationships between thrust, drag, lift and gravity are essential.
Don't pull on the stick to gain height after takeoff, push on it gently to maintain the same height whilst gaining airspeed. Release pressure after you've gained airspeed and you'll go up like a lift. Also once you're off the ground, back the throttle off to 90-95%, and reduce pitch setting to about the same. This'll help prevent overheating.
There used to be some online training schools, who'd be happy to help you out, but I'm afraid I don't know any myself.
Maybe someone else on the forum could point you in the right direction.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Dutch

[Splitter]

One of the best lessons I have learned recently is "stay cool". Keep radiators open prior to combat. Keep RPMs lower and prop pitch back a bit. Don't leave WEP enabled in combat by default. Throttle back in dives, reduce prop pitch. Open the radiator whenever you can in combat.

If the RPM's and prop pitch are cut a bit and you need to pour on power, the plane will jump when you do. Being "cool" prior to combat leaves you a bit more room for the temperature increases in combat. If you don't need WEP to catch someone or get away, don't use it. That's a bit of reserve power to call on when you need it.

Probably the hardest thing to learn is not bleeding off all of your speed in a turn (when you don't have to). Speed is life after all. Much of the time a wider turn at higher speed is preferable to a tight turn that leaves you just above stall (depends on the situation obviously). As I get more experience in the sim, I find myself being more "smooth" with the controls to preserve speed.

Trim, trim, trim. I am obsessed with the slip ball . But it helps in flying efficiently and maintaining or gaining speed. When cruising or trying to catch up to an enemy, I find that climbing or diving with elevator trim is a big key in keeping as much speed as possible. Re-trimming on approach also makes landing easier...and safer .

Splitter

[JRock]

Originally Posted by Splitter

One of the best lessons I have learned recently is "stay cool". Keep radiators open prior to combat. Keep RPMs lower and prop pitch back a bit. Don't leave WEP enabled in combat by default. Throttle back in dives, reduce prop pitch. Open the radiator whenever you can in combat.

If the RPM's and prop pitch are cut a bit and you need to pour on power, the plane will jump when you do. Being "cool" prior to combat leaves you a bit more room for the temperature increases in combat. If you don't need WEP to catch someone or get away, don't use it. That's a bit of reserve power to call on when you need it.

Probably the hardest thing to learn is not bleeding off all of your speed in a turn (when you don't have to). Speed is life after all. Much of the time a wider turn at higher speed is preferable to a tight turn that leaves you just above stall (depends on the situation obviously). As I get more experience in the sim, I find myself being more "smooth" with the controls to preserve speed.

Trim, trim, trim. I am obsessed with the slip ball . But it helps in flying efficiently and maintaining or gaining speed. When cruising or trying to catch up to an enemy, I find that climbing or diving with elevator trim is a big key in keeping as much speed as possible. Re-trimming on approach also makes landing easier...and safer .

Splitter

wow, so much of this is over my head right now. what is wep? how do you open your radiators? and wth is a slip ball?? lol