Author Topic: Lancaster Help (Read 445 times)

Arsenal · « **on:** September 09, 2002, 02:03:53 PM »

Hey guys. I just got this game, and it's main appeal to me is the Lancaster bomber, but I can't fly the damned thing.

I have played many sims, but don't know what I am doing wrong. I start the engines, have tried flaps in all diff positions, but never can lift off. I just race down th runway.

There has been 2 times where I have achieved flight by going off a hill at the end of the runway, and actually managed to climb a little once, but just seemed to stall out on one wing or generally not have enough power.

I am using a joystic, and do have the throttle all the way open btw.

Thank you to anyone who can help in advance.

Blank · « **Reply #1 on:** September 09, 2002, 02:34:53 PM »

number one, fuel load

bomberas fly for miles and I normally only take up 50% as thats plenty, I'm not sure how far you can actually go and i'm sure someone else can tell you, but anyway less fuel = lighter plane which means your more likely to get off the floor.

number 2 if you want alt, ie over 20k you need to take off from a field around 3 sectors away from your target not to sure as I dont fly them all that much,

take off from a large airfield to get a good run up,

I normally dont use flaps untell my wheels leave the floor if at all,
so that I can get upto takeoff speed quicker (flaps will just act like brake if down before take off)

also once wheels have left the floor turn on combat trim alt+x

hope this helps a bit

BGBMAW · « **Reply #2 on:** September 09, 2002, 02:50:06 PM »

hell yes...

These palnes are OVERLOADED..TAKES a long way to get off ground...and when u do.....It takes about 1/2 hour to get to 20k...

If you are sentimental about lancaster its fine..But i would kik that plane to the curb..You need a B-17'...%0 cals kik bellybutton against nme ftrs..and you have a BALL gunner!!!

Boming in here is tuffer then it was....

My Squad..Marine Air Wing..has a specialty Bomer gorup..BullDogs

The MAW's kik the hell out of outr nme's..most of the time...

please feel free to find us and we would love to help you...

we fly for the Knights...Squad nights are Tues and Sat nights at 7:00pm pacific time....

Love BiGB

BGBMAW.......XO of BullDogs Marine Air Wing bomr Group

xoxoxo

Easyscor · « **Reply #3 on:** September 11, 2002, 01:59:04 AM »

Actually, 75% of the runways won't handle a fully loaded Lanc.

Alt+x is the "Auto Speed" or "Best Climb" setting and if engaged below 160 mph, your birds will dive into the ground trying to get up speed for the climb out.

Set "Auto Takeoff" until you get used to handling the heavies. The path is as follows:
Esc:Setup:Flight:Auto Takeoff.
Mark the check box so all you'll need to do is give it full throttle to get airborne.

Try taking 50% (70 min.) fuel and look for a runway at a large field which ends next to the water without any small hills between the runway and the water, those hills are hard to see killers.

After you get more confident, find a base with some altitude, check and note all the runways until you find one you can take off from.

Also, try to find Kweesa's (sp?) bomber primer for bombsite calibration etc.

Welcome to Aces High, half the fun is figuring this stuff out.

hogenbor · « **Reply #4 on:** September 11, 2002, 03:56:33 AM »

'Welcome to Aces High, half the fun is figuring this stuff out'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hell yes, I'm new too and it takes some time to figure everything out! Flying, killing, getting killed, bombs, fuel is for the first two weeks... now I'm wondering how much ordnance it takes to kill something and what effect it will have on the field. How do carriers actually work and field capture? How soon does something get 'up' after it has been destroyed? Etc. etc.

And:

Why are the people here sometimes unbelievably rude to each other and to newbies?

Anyway, it would be great to fly as part of a team or squadron sometimes, didn't dive in to that too deeply yet. They mostly seem US based, while I live in Europe (the Netherlands). Any Dutch pilots out there?

Easyscor · « **Reply #5 on:** September 11, 2002, 08:47:02 AM »

There's never an excuse for rudeness but it's a large community with many personalities. If you were asking newbee questions and someone was rude I bet you had several radio and private text messages from other people offering help.

Go to the extensive Help files here at the web site to find down times, field captures etc. Far too much to cover in any other way.

Aces High has players and squads from all over the world, find some who are usually up in your time zone, if they're in a squad, fly with them for a while and see if they're as organized and helpful as you'd like before you join.

tofri · « **Reply #6 on:** September 11, 2002, 09:14:20 AM »

A little Tip:

when you are starting and doing a bit more than 80 MPH, push your stick carefully a bit forward, so that the Lanc lifts it fat a## into the air

That way the Lanc accelerate much better on the last part of the runway and you get the extra speed to come gently off the runway.

And don't try to start a Lanc from these strato airbases on the Pizza map. Anything above 7k altitude won't work.

Innominate · « **Reply #7 on:** September 11, 2002, 11:16:42 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by hogenbor
'Flying, killing, getting killed, bombs, fuel is for the first two weeks... now I'm wondering how much ordnance it takes to kill something and what effect it will have on the field. How do carriers actually work and field capture? How soon does something get 'up' after it has been destroyed? Etc. etc.

Why are the people here sometimes unbelievably rude to each other and to newbies?

Damage requirments: (It's not EXACTLY right, but gives ya a general idea of whats needed, i.e. a fighter hangar only takes 2500lbs)
http://www.hitechcreations.com/map.html#targets

People being rude to newbies usually happens because said newbie is being annoying. Don't use all-caps, if you ask a question, listen for the answer, and you'll find people a lot more helpfull.

Blank · « **Reply #8 on:** September 11, 2002, 11:56:20 AM »

oops

Arsenal as easycor said alt x is auto climb and it will make you crash if your going to slow.

What I meant was ctrl x for combat trim on,

its all become second nature now so I forget what the actual keys are

sorry if I made you crash

note: I think I got it right this time....

Skuzzy · « **Reply #9 on:** September 11, 2002, 12:49:48 PM »

Arsenal, the Lancaster is probably the most difficult plane to take-off in AH.

I fly them a lot, so here is my best tips.

1) Do not ever attempt to take-off if you see hills at the end of the runway. You will crash most of the time.

2) When learning, use 25% fuel, and no bomb load. It will help to ease you into the flight model.

3) Do not use flaps to take off. They will slow your climb to take-off speed. If you do use them, be prepared to retract them immediately after your wheels leave the ground, or you probably will auger.

4) As tofri suggested, ease your stick a tad forward at about 80 knots to lift the tail up off the ground. This does help achieve take-off velocity.

5) As you approach take-off speed, gently pull back on the stick and once the wheels leave the ground, level, then retract your landing gear.

6) Hold level, if possible, and gain a bit more air speed, then proceed to ease back on the stick and start a painfully slow climb.

7) Once you are about 1000 ft, you should be able to fly normally.

With no load, the Lanc handle pretty well in the air, but with 50% fuel and 14K pounds worth of bombs in her belly, she is like a flying through molasses.

Good luck.

qts · « **Reply #10 on:** September 13, 2002, 05:51:25 AM »

You can take off with a fully laden Lanc, you've just got to take off from the right place and do it the right way.

The cheese method is to take off from a mountain-top base and drive it over the edge. Pull out from the ensuing dive and you're set.

The sensible method is to pick a major field (one with three runways) at ground level next to the sea.

1 -Pick a seawards-pointing start. Put the wheelbrakes on and power the engines to full. When the lanc starts to move despite the wheelbrakes, release the brakes and head down the runway.

2- Keep the stick slightly forward and only actually take off right at the end of the runway.

3- IMMEDIATELY retract the gear, and switch to level flight (X). Yes, you're only at 50 ft ASL (or less), and that's where you'll stay until you pick up airspeed. This is why you're over the sea.

4- When you do pick up airspeed, gain height very carefully and in small stages.

5- When you've achieved a decent alt (1k-2k), switch to autoclimb mode. 125-135 are good climbing speeds (type /.speed 130, press enter, then Alt-X) though you can try lower.

The main thing with launching a lanc is DO NOT HURRY.

AV8 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 19, 2002, 09:41:39 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by qts
You can take off with a fully laden Lanc, you've just got to take off from the right place and do it the right way.

The cheese method is to take off from a mountain-top base and drive it over the edge. Pull out from the ensuing dive and you're set.

The sensible method is to pick a major field (one with three runways) at ground level next to the sea.

1 -Pick a seawards-pointing start. Put the wheelbrakes on and power the engines to full. When the lanc starts to move despite the wheelbrakes, release the brakes and head down the runway.

2- Keep the stick slightly forward and only actually take off right at the end of the runway.

3- IMMEDIATELY retract the gear, and switch to level flight (X). Yes, you're only at 50 ft ASL (or less), and that's where you'll stay until you pick up airspeed. This is why you're over the sea.

4- When you do pick up airspeed, gain height very carefully and in small stages.

5- When you've achieved a decent alt (1k-2k), switch to autoclimb mode. 125-135 are good climbing speeds (type /.speed 130, press enter, then Alt-X) though you can try lower.

The main thing with launching a lanc is DO NOT HURRY.

Thats the best advice i`ve heard for flying a Lanc !

Only one thing extra...... give yourself plenty of distance to get your Lanc to a decent height.... Then, open your beer, light your cigarette and sit back for a while

Mind you, the bombing is something else:eek:

Good luck

AV8

Arsenal · « **Reply #12 on:** September 30, 2002, 04:38:55 AM »

Sorry it took me awhile to reply to this, and thanks to everyone for the help.

I know I would be better off in a B-17, but I prefer to fly British planes for sentimental reasons, and also I am using this game as a kind of training for when Target for Tonight is released.

Again, thanks guys

vorticon · « **Reply #13 on:** September 30, 2002, 01:26:20 PM »

take off from a large base with some alt just open up throttle and wait till you run off hte end of the runway (by then you should be at about speed 100) then drop about 500 ft to gain speed. once oyu have speed start climbing while keeping that speed. the lanc is quite easy to control once it is up to speed / alt (as in the first 2k of climb are hardest then its just waiting t ogain whatever alt you need.

TopQuark · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2002, 11:15:09 AM »

While the B17 is certainly preferable to the Lancaster in terms of its ability to defend itself, it doesn't have anywhere near the bomb load capacity of the Lanc. I tend to fly my Lancs with 14 1000lb bombs which is several times more than the B17 can carry.

My solution to the air defence problem is height. Once I've started a climb and my planes are headed out over open water, I alt-tab out of the game and while away the time (sometimes up to 1 hour!) before my birds are at a safe height.

Beware when doing this though; regularly go back into the game to make sure there are no enemy fighters in nearby sectors and also don't underestimate the Lanc's ability to fly into mountains - its climb rate when fully loaded really is abysmal.

The big payoff comes once you've reached the target, calibrated your sight and drop those eggs. It's a pity that bombers aren't used more in the game - you see lots of fairly well coordinated attacks with swarms of attack planes carrying a couple of bombs each but a little coordination with a bomber or two would work wonders.