Just Curious

[jpv4077]

What is the difference between junior member, member and senior member? Also, how do you make sharper turns or banks-It seems that other players are doing it but I cant. I cant even do a loop because I stall and drop before it is completed. Is that due to lack of power or improper use of stick?

[Furious]

Number of posts is all.

[Pei]

Also, how do you make sharper turns or banks-It seems that other players are doing it but I cant.

There are a lot of things than can effect turn performance or let an aircraft aparently make a tighter turn:

Aircraft themselves (some aircraft like the spit have very good turn perfomance while others like the Fw190 are relatively poor turners)
Load (e.g. fuel & weapons - the heavier your aircraft gets the worse it turns)

Look up some of the following conepts:

Speed & Altitude -  Corner velocity
Out of plane manuevers (e.g. high and low yo-yos)
Pursuit tactics (lead pursuit, lag pursiut and pure prusuit)
Intananeuous turn perfomance.
Funky stuff like off-set circles etc.

There have been a number of posts on these things and there are a number of websites with data (e.g. http://www.netaces.org, http://www.simhq.com)

I cant even do a loop because I stall and drop before it is completed. Is that due to lack of power or improper use of stick?

Not necessarily either: you will need a certain amount of speed to loop successfully (which varies based on aircraft, load and altitude). You'll eventually get a feel for when you can and can't successfully loop. In the mean time try diving a bit first to pick up speed. Remember not to yank too hard on the stick (this is good advice for virtually any manuever).

[gofaster]

Generally, the slower your plane is, the tighter you can turn without blacking out.  On the other hand, if you're slow, you'll be covering less distance so it'll be easier to track you.

It also helps to not be weighed down with bombs, rockets, drop tanks, and a lot of internal fuel.  Some planes offer different gun loads, and the bigger guns usually weigh more and will affect aircraft turn performance.

To practice loops, you might want to try the more loop-friendly planes, like the FM-2, A6M Zero, Spitfire V, Spitfire IX, and N1K2.

[ccvi]

Originally posted by Furious
Number of posts is all.

The more posts you have, the sharper your turns get.

[DamnedRen]

Alot of new folks have a tendency to fly in a "nose high" attitude when they first begin. This nose high attitude can keep you from getting up to normal cruise/maneuvering speeds.

You might want to try this. In the plane of your choice, take off and climb to 3000 ft. Turn on the auto pilot (hit yer x key) and let the plane just accelerate to its cruise speed. It may take you 3-5 minutes. Once it's settled into its cruise speed hit the x key again to turn off the auto pilot. Now firmly pull back on the stick and take her up through a loop.

You will so how easy it is once you get used to flying the aircraft closer to its designed flight envelope.

Ren:)

[gofaster]

Actually, there's no need to hit the x key to turn off the autopilot. It'll kick off on its own as soon as you move the stick.

[ccvi]

Turning auto off by moving the stick leads to sharp movements. Keeping the stick deflected and rapidly turning auto on and off might be the best way to stick stirr and probably it even isn't detected as stick stirring.

[najdorf]

I had the same problem when I started playing.  Practice is what's required.  One day I couldn't do it, the next it seemed so simple.  Just keep working at it, you'll get there.