so I want to fly the TA 152

[Babalonian]

All of the above applies, one thing I'd re-emphasize is on landing be really careful to be gentle on the rudder.  Slow for landing it's really easy to get it to depart flight with heavy rudder.  It can ruin a successful sortie in the most frustrating of ways.

Wiley.

To clarify - long and straight landing approaches, not too fast BUT also not too slow.  You will need to brake to stop, but go easy on the brakes and rudder until your at taxiing speed or you'll easily ground loop.

[Puma44]

Yes, improper terminology, my bad. What I "see" (meaning is all subjective) is when flying too slow for landing and still with wings level, the tails drops and stall happens. It "feels" like flying backwards. Does that make sense? Too low to recover, then crash.

I just come in faster now.

From your description, it's sounds like too slow of an approach speed resulting in a stall or high descent rate and you have fixed that now with a higher approach speed.  What approach speed do you use now?  Flying too fast of an approach speed can cause problems with bounces or more commonly referred to as "crow hopping".

[Babalonian]

That's been my question all along. Like in DCS?

I honestly don't know but I'm up to experiment a little, something like:
Take the pony, taxi it up to ~20mph.  Stick back, throttle off, hard right brake and rudder, observe.  Do the same again, but this time stick forward.  

Yes, improper terminology, my bad. What I "see" (meaning is all subjective) is when flying too slow for landing and still with wings level, the tails drops and stall happens. It "feels" like flying backwards. Does that make sense? Too low to recover, then crash.

I just come in faster now.

Landing mustangs slow is bad.  One shared characteristic in the game with 190s, if you go for forcing a 3point, you're going to bounce on the runway

[Puma44]

Yes sir when alt allows 

I for some reason never went over 15k when I did fly the 152 and also like to stall fight on the deck no matter what I am in.

So at 5k and in a nasty backwards falling stall, is when I find this happening.

 

Next time you find yourself in that predicament, try pulling power (don't shut the engine off), using a boot full of rudder, and keep the ailerons neutral.  This tends to work well for me and with practice allows for a quick nose reversal and roll to bring the nose to bear on my opponent. 

[Puma44]

Not sure what you mean by "physically" but when your stick is fully back your tail wheel is locked not swiveling.

I better word would have been "intentionally". 

[Puma44]

Landing mustangs slow is bad.  One shared characteristic in the game with 190s, if you go for forcing a 3point, you're going to bounce on the runway

What he said.  Out in the real world this can be the end result:

[Zoney]

FYI, I land this bird with engine off, 2 notches of flaps, wait for it to almost stop before releasing the brakes and then if i am going to re-arm I fire up the engine again while it is slowly coasting.

[FLS]

A better word would have been "intentionally". 

Yes, it's intended to engage the tail wheel lock.  
I haven't noticed if you need to roll forward to straighten the wheel before you lock it. I'll have to check that next time.

[BaldEagl]

Does the game modeling physically lock the tail wheel with the stick back so it doesn't swivel on the ground?

Yes, in all planes with tail wheels.  Using rudder while it's locked will allow for slight heading adjustments but after (or before) taxiing you'll want to release the lock to turn to the rearm pad, hanger, another runway, etc.

The best landing is to just pull the stick back the rest of the way as soon as possible to lock the tail wheel after touchdown.

I haven't flown the 152 in a long time but I remember it and the F4U's had a tendency to want to loop on landing.  I do fly the F6F a lot and trying this landing in the F6F lifts the tailwheel off the ground as you apply brakes causing the plane to loop, but only typically 30 degrees or less.  I suspect the same thing is happening with the other two in varying degrees.  Regardless I haven't had any trouble landing in any of them in years but it's always something I'm cognizant of.

[Puma44]

I tried the 152 out in the offline.  The tail wheel does lock with the stick aft.  With the stick forward, the tail wheel swivels and the aircraft turns nicely.

Also, landing both with full fuel and 25% and full flaps, it lands well with a final approach speed of 90 - 100, the power at idle, and a flare to a three point landing.  With the stick full aft on the three point, it stays on the runway and no bounce, stall, etc.   It builds speed quickly even configured for landing.   Careful airspeed control will result in a smooth, controllable landing.  

[Warmongo]

I usually flare at 100 knots with 2-3 notches of flap. That stall only happened once on landing and once flying low and slow over the water. I'm just pointing it out because you get very little warning. 

[The Fugitive]

What is this "holy grail" called LANDING that tho dost speak of? 

[mthrockmor]

When you get into a tail slide drop your gear. It is about the only way to get out, and can be done in 2-3k or so. The better sticks get out of that tail slide in shorter alt, or so they say.

With the gear going down, you are dead.

[xPoisonx]

I'd like to add in although many say it is only good for high altitude, it is an exceptional vertical fighter at low speeds. In low speed loops it gains a lot of speed on the downhill and keeps it going up, the rudder control at stall speed lets you flip it around to get shots even if you aren't flying in that direction. Fools a lot of spits and Las.

[bustr]

This is the politest description for using the rudder to snap back into a HO I've ever read.....