Take off

[alamwuhk2a]

How to take off from carrier?
After my engine turns to full power, the plane moves backward and I can't take off!
Also how to take the B-17 off?

[Schutt]

Make sure the carrier travels in a straight line while you want to take off, can see that in the clipboard.

Apart from that, use full power and one notch of flaps, plant the tailwheel locked pulling back on the stick till airspeed is 60mph, let go on the stick and keep it straight. Use your rudder to keep the aircraft straight, slip indicator should be right in the middle the whole time.

Try to take of with a seafire Mk 2 or a A6M5. Start with 25 percent fuel and no external stuff.

When your plane goes backward you have only applied a bit of throttle, not full throttle. Apart from that you must not use the hook, its for landings only.

Also, when you land on the carrier remember to retract the hook after landing and have 0 throttle to use the wheel breaks. Not retracting the hook will shoot you off the carrier.

What plane did you have the problem with? You got it filmed and can post the film?


For taking of b17s, need a runway where there is no obstruction at the end of the runway and long room till hills. Best to take off in direction of the water. Use 50% fuel.. will get you everywhere. You can take off with 100% but its harder and most of the times not necessary.

Spawn the B17 on the runway.. hitting SW, SE, NE, NW button whatever gives the least obstacles. Start engine, apply full throttle and keep it straight on the runway. Notice you can raise your seat with Page Up key for better view, or fly with F3-View.
When half way down the runway apply one notch of flaps, when at the verry end of the runway pull up verry gentle to lift the plane. Get up the gear and hold the plane level, accelerating 5feet off the ground till you have enogh speed to climb (160mph).

Now, try that, if it doesnt work feel free to post again in the threat and say exactly what problem you encounter with which plane. Maybe someone else can give a more exact description on the takeoff or has some more ideas.

[DamnedRen]

Originally posted by alamwuhk2a
How to take off from carrier?

What plane?

After my engine turns to full power, the plane moves backward and I can't take off!

Using mouse or stick?

Also how to take the B-17 off?

From the Carrier or Airfield? How much gas are you taking? A full tank = hours of flight time. Do you need that much?

 

[101ABN]

Originally posted by alamwuhk2a
How to take off from carrier?
After my engine turns to full power, the plane moves backward and I can't take off!
Also how to take the B-17 off?

As for the carrier, what works for me, as soon as the engine fires up hit the WEP with the throttle opened wide.. use rudder to keep aligned with the deck (ensure you use the full deck) and dont pull back until you leave the deck (plane will drop).. ease the stick back and gain atleast 150-200 feet then level to gain airspeed.  this works for me even when im loaded with ord.  now, if you are attacking nearby areas, watch how much fuel you take.. i normally roll with 25 - 50% depending what im doing.  As for the plane going backwards... you got me..

B17s and bombers, keep the plane as straight as you can and use the whole runway (unless you have trees at the end of it).  full power and once you reach 150 mph ease the stick back to lift off the ground and then whip up the gear.. ive noticed that the gear causes a great amount of drag for bombers.. get the gear up and about 100-200 ft altitude level out and gain air speed.. once again keep fuel in mind.. 25% will take you far. alot of problems that folks have is that they take way too much fuel and they are too heavy.  

i hope that this can help anyone who reads it.. im online everynight if you want to look me up.  my callsign is ken96r30

[alamwuhk2a]

Thank you all nice guys!
I've found the problem... that is...
100% fuel makes me stuck!

[TexMurphy]

Yeah keeping fuel loads down is important. Never bring more fuel then you need. Not only due to takeoff but due to the negative effect mass has on performance of your plane. Its extreamly important in heavy planes.

Using droptanks is recommended if you need long range. Its much better to have a droptank and 50-75% fuel then 100% fuel. Simply because you can do away with the extra mass of the fuel if you need to fight.

Simple planning of your sortie helps assessing (sp?) how much fuel you should take.

Are you upping for base or carrier defense? Use very low fuel load.

Are you upping for a base attack and the base is close? Use medium fuel load + DT.

Are you upping for a base attack and the base is quite far away? Use a bigger fuel load + DT.

It depends quite alot on what plane you are flying how much fuel you should have. Some planes have great range while some have short range. Obviously you have to take a relativly higher percentage of fuel on a plane with short range then on one with higher range.

Generally following rule of thumb.

Russian planes have very short range in the Yak9 and La5FN I never use less then 75%. Maybe maybe 50% for base defense. Never flown La7 but assume same applies here as it has an even bigger engine.

Spitfires also have short range, especially Spit9. As soon as I intend to leave the vicinity of the base I take 75%+DT. If there are no DTs available I basicly dont take the spit9. I dont want to fight with 100% in it and 75% doesnt last long enough. If droptanks are gone then I go for SpitV with 100%. For base defense I most often fly spitV and then at 50%, if i take a spit9 its still 75%.

P47s and P51s have HUGE range. For most missions except extreamly long range 75% fuel is enough. Given the high mass of the P47 50% + DT is a very good option.

F6F has pretty decent fuel consumption and can be ran on 50%+DT for medium range ops and 75%+DT will take you all the distance you need to go.

Unfortunatly I know very little about german and japanese planes so I wount comment on them.

When using a DT drop it when entering fight. BUT dont drop it in situations where there is 1 enemy and 5 friendlies around, even if you engage. Nothing more frustrating then dropping DT just to see the enemy blow up.

Advantage of DT is that you can fly on 100% throttle to the fight and dont need to worry about wasting too much on your way there. Perfect is when you can fly 100% throttle to fight, drop dt and have just enough for the fight and the RTB to land with sub 5min left off fuel.

Tex.

[Schutt]

C205 has short range, usually take 100 percent fuel.

SpitV i take 100% if its not base defence.. its only one fuel tank and if it gets punctured having a lot left is a plus.

P38 has ok range so can go with droptank and 50 or 75.

I originally was on the 75 or 50 percent plus droptank path too, but if i am sure there is no enemy close i often choose 100 percent and no droptank since it gives better climb and speed. Also on a lot of planes droptanks hurt the bombload, P47 or P38 in attack config i use with 75percent fuel and bombs, no droptanks.

most 109s have pretty short range and do not use much fuel, so taking 100percent internal doesnt give a huge hit on performance.

Planes that use a lot of fuel like P38 get hurt most with to much fuel since 25 percent fuel in them wights a LOT.

Also there are some version diffrences, with P47 D11 full fuel is less fuel than with the D25 and D40, but the consumption is nearly equal.

Some planes get real sluggish with droptank, ki 61 is nearly unflyable with 2 tanks, others you dont notice it much so it is possible to attack bombers with droptanks or make one or two bnz passes with tanks and only throw em away if the enemy is still alive.

[DamnedRen]

Originally posted by TexMurphy
Spitfires also have short range, especially Spit9. As soon as I intend to leave the vicinity of the base I take 75%+DT. If there are no DTs available I basicly dont take the spit9. I dont want to fight with 100% in it and 75% doesnt last long enough. If droptanks are gone then I go for SpitV with 100%. For base defense I most often fly spitV and then at 50%, if i take a spit9 its still 75%. Tex.

You will find out that each plane has its "own" perfect fighting weight. I'd determine which plane it is you like to fly and stick with it for a bit.
For example, if you like a Spit 9 then it will fly almost as well as Spit 5 on half a tank of gas. Any more and performance has a tendency to degrade until you get down to half a tank. By this I'm saying you can knife fight and do just about anything with a Spit 9 at half tank of fuel. Since the Spit 9 has drop tanks (DT's) you can fly on them just about anywhere in your area. When you finally decide its time to get in and fight, lose the DT's and fight until your down to a quarter tank of fuel remaining. At that point begin a 200 mph climb toward your home field. Your not gonna believe what happens next....when you look down at your ammo left you will find the "average" pilot will be low on ammo. Perfect! You're almost out of everything so it's time to go home anyway! Now go land those kills.
If you prefer another plane thats fine, just find its perfect fighting weight and plan to be "overhead" your fight zone at that fuel load then have fun!
Note: be careful with some planes. The LA7 has a tendency to come up short when you least expect it. Make sure which tank you're using and when you see a half tank left in the remaining tank, bug out now and run for home. There is no waiting or you'll come up short of the field. The P-51 will turn fight very nicely on half a tank of gas. Take drop tanks and 50%. You can go with 75% fuel, just make sure you manually burn off the aux tank first. Don't be afraid to burn it all the way down. Fuel in a tank behind the pilot has a tendency to move the cg of the MAC so far back that she'll snap roll when you don't want her to. A snap roll is just an accelerated stall. You changed the angle of attack (AOA)to the point it stops flying. It can happen at any speed. Release stick pressure and it stops. However, most pilots will relieve stick pressure until it stops then immediately repeat the pull on the stick which put them into the snap in the first place. Think about it when you come out of a snap...unload and let her get back to a better AOA.  

There now. You get an idea of what how much you really need for takeoff. Unfortunately, we start with takeoff loads, then we talk about what to do in enemy area, then we talk about snap rolls....it goes on and on. The learning process never stops :)Ah.....so much too learn...so little time.