Ok this was my week of flying the AR 234B. I say "this week" because all the points I worked hard to get all disappeared after some exciting landings. I really get a kick in the pants over this bird however and cant wait to get to the level again where I'm allowed to operate it again. Really as long as you can get the thing up and put it down its a sweetheart to fly. Last night I had a real good practice session and got a good feel on how to be successful with it. Does this add up to your experiences?
I like to save the rocket assist for trouble so heres how Ive been taking off. I put the flaps all the way up, rev the rpms while hitting the brakes, and start my roll out, keeping it on auto-take off. Once I hit 100 mph I take it off auto and roll it myself. I use every inch of runway and right at the end I lower flaps, lift off, and bring up gear right away.
Now comes the tricky part. The real key I found out is to try to gain air without losing enough speed to start shaking, this is with full fuel and bomb load btw. It might take a few minutes but its worth it to just stay at 400' instead of losing air speed by sticking to high. I have rocket assist ready to go should I need it, but I really prefer to save it. Im going to only take off from runways that are either flat or flat with a steep drop off right after you take off. Even a small hill in front of you can cause big problems.
And also its one plane I have my full plan ready at the start, and, dont allow myself variations on. I get to 10,000' fly straight to my target after attaining full speed, drop, and go home. Its actually fairly accurate at top speeds as long as you pay attention to your Ps and Qs and it handles pretty well at high speeds. It was a real gas outrunning 109s and a spit because those are two planes that have given me trouble.
Now comes landing the thing. I prefer to take off and land at bases far behind my lines, even better red bases, because your a duck in the water during this time. On the way back I prefer to dump air in a shallow dive at high speeds, at about a sector or 1 & 1/2 I go all the way back on the throttle and dump enough so's Im no more then 1,000' and 200 mph as I approach the runway. I get to 150 on final and drop flaps, the flaps are very powerful on this plane so I only drop them 1/2 way.
Also I aim for the very beginning of the runway because its easy to overshoot with the 234. Its got great forward visibility and its actually easy to touch down with as long as you approach correctly. If Im even a little to high or fast I'll circle and come back, and again the plane is responsive for this.
Well, thats been my experience with it. The airplane has always fascinated me and its pretty awesome they included it as a perk.
I'd love to hear from the experienced 234 sticks on this one.
