Noob question about taxiing

[ReginaldSneasel]

Hello everybody!

 

I just got into Battle of Stalingrad and really enjoy it so far. However, taxiing German planes gives me a hard time because I just can't get to the runway. As far as I understand it, I have to use the left and right brake to move the plane accordingly. With the Heinkel 111 this works perfectly fine but with all other German planes, they just refuse to move to the right. I tried unlocking the tail wheel but it didn't help. Going to the left is no problem however (unless I unlock the tail wheel makes it spin uncontrollably to the left however). Any idea where my mistakes are?

 

Thanks in advance! (and excuse the noob question pls    I've seen people having this issue on forums before but couldn't find an answer that would help me)

 

 

[I./JG2_Sekij]

Did you use the Rudder as well, should help. For me German planes where pretty easy until i found out that the Soviet brake system is awesome :D

[ReginaldSneasel]

Did you use the Rudder as well, should help. For me German planes where pretty easy until i found out that the Soviet brake system is awesome :D

 

yes but it didn't seem to help. or is one of the rudders controlled seperately from the main ones and I'm just missing something?

[busdriver]

At the risk of stating something obvious, when trying to turn to the right can you confirm (by looking down in the cockpit at your rudder pedals) that the right pedal is forward and its upper portion is deflected (as if pressing on the toe brake)?

[56RAF_Roblex]

I had this problem when I first tried the 109 but I found that using more throttle or 'blipping' it while holding right rudder helped.

[LLv24_SukkaVR]

For 109 just unlock tailwheel and use right brake but be careful with the throttle or you will spin. If you dont have pedals i highly suggest you buy one because they make the job a lot more easier.

Edited November 28, 2017 by NahkaSukka

[Royal_Flight]

Also be careful with using brakes too long while you're in motion or you can end up in an irrecoverable ground loop.

Once you're rolling at anything faster than walking pace it's best to rely on the rudders unless you need to make a really sharp turn.

The Ju 88 specifically is a bitch for handling on the taxiway and loves a wild ground loop if it doesn't think you're taking it seriously enough.

 

And can't recommend rudder pedals enough, almost as revolutionary as TrackIR is compared to using mouse-look or the hat switch.

[Fliegel]

It is probably not the case but I would recommend to check the calibration.

I had similar issue until I've found that my right brakes sometimes somehow stuck and still send some input and so I could not turn to opposite direction.

(I have Saitek Pro Flight Combat Rudder Pedals... never more)

[VeryOldMan]

Turning to the right is  torque related. Push up som revs to make the plane start movign then back down to allow the plane to turn right.

[Dakpilot]

A good idea is to do a bit of practice while hopping from inside to outside view, this will often give an easier perspective of what is going wrong and if all controls are working as they should. On some German aircraft using manual prop pitch (fine, 12 o'clock on the gauge? I have been away and am rusty) on the ground can give more control, this was real world approved, but remember to switch back to auto before take off.

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[ReginaldSneasel]

Thank you for the many replies!

 

At the risk of stating something obvious, when trying to turn to the right can you confirm (by looking down in the cockpit at your rudder pedals) that the right pedal is forward and its upper portion is deflected (as if pressing on the toe brake)?

 

I just gave it another try and at one point turned on the autopilot to see how he is handling those planes. When the autopilot takes over, he constantly locks and unlocks the tail wheel but there is also something different about how he uses the wheel brakes. He pushes them not only down but also forward (away from the seat towards the nose basically) so there must be some obvious mechanic that I am missing here. When I push the wheel brakes with my key, they only go down like in a car but the whole brake construction doesn't move forward if that makes sense. I looked through the key binds for main control but couldn't find anything that would allow me to push the brakes forward and I also don't really know what he is controlling by doing so (I was flying a BF109). Any idea where I'm going wrong? There must be something I'm missing

[Mesha44]

Thank you for the many replies!

 

 

I just gave it another try and at one point turned on the autopilot to see how he is handling those planes. When the autopilot takes over, he constantly locks and unlocks the tail wheel but there is also something different about how he uses the wheel brakes. He pushes them not only down but also forward (away from the seat towards the nose basically) so there must be some obvious mechanic that I am missing here. When I push the wheel brakes with my key, they only go down like in a car but the whole brake construction doesn't move forward if that makes sense. I looked through the key binds for main control but couldn't find anything that would allow me to push the brakes forward and I also don't really know what he is controlling by doing so (I was flying a BF109). Any idea where I'm going wrong? There must be something I'm missing

 

The entire petal going forward is the rudder being turned, the toe going down is the brake being applied.  If you want to turn using the brakes apply rudder in the direction of the turn, and tap the brake, it will brake only that side, pulling the aircraft around.  Try that.

 

One thing to be careful off that I don't see mentioned is be aware of the wind direction when taxiing, it can catch the tail and turn the aircraft badly and you will not have any idea what is going on.  Make sure if you are going to practice taxiing you have the wind set to zero.

[=SqSq=switch201]

That sounds like you are trying to turn the plane with toe brakes but not using your rudder at all.

 

Again this may be obvious or it may not be, but those pedals on the floor are not just breaks they are also what controls the rudder of the pane. when the rudder is being moved to the right for example the right foot will go up and the left foot will come down. the toe brake part is sort of like a hinge where the hinge is in the middle of your foot. 

 

So yeah sounds to me like you don't have your rudder controls setup, but if that's the case flying would be really hard so, I am not sure.

[ReginaldSneasel]

The entire petal going forward is the rudder being turned, the toe going down is the brake being applied.  If you want to turn using the brakes apply rudder in the direction of the turn, and tap the brake, it will brake only that side, pulling the aircraft around.  Try that.

 

One thing to be careful off that I don't see mentioned is be aware of the wind direction when taxiing, it can catch the tail and turn the aircraft badly and you will not have any idea what is going on.  Make sure if you are going to practice taxiing you have the wind set to zero.

 

Yep, thats it. Just managed to have a nice take-off for the first time. And I learned another thing about planes, thanks a lot! (I guess new questions will appear soon enough)

 

 

 

So yeah sounds to me like you don't have your rudder controls setup, but if that's the case flying would be really hard so, I am not sure.

 

Oh flying was hard, trust me! 

[Finkeren]

What sort of complicate things for newbies about taxiing is the huge variety of systems employed in ground handling of the different aircraft.

 

Essentially we have two types of brakes: Toe brakes and rudder controlled differential brakes

 

In addition to that we have at least 6 different types of tailwheel controls: Free carting with no locking mechanism, permanently locked (I-16), manually locked, elevator controlled lock (Fw 190), rudder controlled lock (Yak-1B), rudder controlled lock and steering (MiG-3) 

 

Soon we'll have 2 planes with different types of nose wheel and one with just a tail skid.

[madcowz]

I struggle taking off in the 109 and end up, 90% of the time, spinning round in circles.

If I practice it gets better and I can take off but if I don't play for a while then I'm back to pretending to be a spinning top.

I know I just need to work on the locked tail wheel, toe brakes and rudder.

[Finkeren]

I struggle taking off in the 109 and end up, 90% of the time, spinning round in circles.

 

If I practice it gets better and I can take off but if I don't play for a while then I'm back to pretending to be a spinning top.

 

I know I just need to work on the locked tail wheel, toe brakes and rudder.

 

 

I have some general points about taking off:

 

Don't use toe brakes (or really any kind of brakes) during take off.

 

Always lock your tail wheel, if possible.

 

Your rudder input becomes more effective as airspeed increases, you will need to ease off the rudder during take off.

 

Use careful and deliberate rudder input. If you find yourself veering off to the side DON'T kick the rudder in the opposite direction, you will spin like a top if you do. Instead ease off the pressure on the rudder to find the balance.

 

For the first half of the take off run keep the stick pulled back to keep tail on the ground. Only when you feel the tail wanting to rise on its own should you return to neutral.

 

Use the lightest possible back pressure on the stick to leave the ground, you literally cannot "pull" the aircraft into the air, it needs to be flown off the ground.

 

As soon as you leave the ground, if you are still applying a lot of force on the rudder (as is the case when you take off in the MiG-3 and some others) you want to immediately ease off on the rudder. Otherwise your rudder input will cause the plane to roll, and if you try to counter this with the ailerons but keep the pressure on the rudder, you will just end up side slipping, lose airspeed and crash. At take off speed your rudder and elevators are much more effective than your ailerons (especially on single engine aircraft or twin engined with a twin tail) because of the airflow from the propeller, so you might not even be able to counter the rudder induced roll at that point.

 

Hope this helps. 

[19//Moach]

some advice here as well:

 

 

Do not "blip" the throttle.  Doing so creates wild torque and propwash variations that can easily send you spinning like a happy drunk. This is not safe and also not good for the plane.

 

 

Use slow, gradual applications of as little power as needed to start rolling.  Stand ready on the brakes, as you need them almost constantly to detain any turning moments the rudder alone cannot.

 

Mind your speed, do not taxi faster than you can turn.  And you cannot turn very fast, remember.   If you need to make a sharp turn, slow down before getting there, then use the brakes and gentle power to spin the aircraft in the desired direction.

 

When taxiing straight, try to find a neutral rudder position.  This varies with crosswind and power conditions (another reason to be gentle with the throttle).  Use the rudder mostly to keep the aircraft straight.  Use differential brakes for sharp corrections and turns as needed.   If available, set the tailwheel lock on long straightaways. It really helps.

 

 

Another thing that helps, keep the canopy open and lean over the side.  That way you can see the edge of the taxiway and keep it at a steady distance from you without having to s-turn all the time. 

 

 

Go slowly at first until you start feeling more confident.  Then continue to go slowly anyways. It's always safer to take it slow.  

Edited December 1, 2017 by 19//Moach

[[APAF]VR_Spartan85]

You know, in Rise of flight there was a lovely training intro and little video "Dicta Boelcke" list of aerial tactics.. basic how to stay alive in combat..

There should be something like this for new pilots in il2 also including control setup and basic ground/flight tutorial.

Hopefully when the new campaign is implemented there will be something like this included...

 

 

And welcome ReginaldSneasel!

 

You're in good hands!

[indiaciki]

just taxi on an concrete airport for 30 min. taxiways, runway, taxi the full circle a coulpe of times. that will do. And dont forget to keep your head outside the cockpit in the direction you are turning. when going straight, watch left - right -left etc. with your canopy open, head outside.

Edited December 1, 2017 by indiaciki

[busdriver]

For the first half of the take off run keep the stick pulled back to keep tail on the ground. Only when you feel the tail wanting to rise on its own should you return to neutral.

 

Just so you know, if you keep the stick full AFT the tail will NEVER want to rise on its own. My technique differs from yours in that I start with full aileron into ANY crosswind and full aft stick. Once I have full power established I apply forward stick (just forward of neutral) to allow the tail to fly up and then minor adjustments (fore/aft stick) to hold the flat attitude to takeoff speed. 

[Finkeren]

Just so you know, if you keep the stick full AFT the tail will NEVER want to rise on its own. My technique differs from yours in that I start with full aileron into ANY crosswind and full aft stick. Once I have full power established I apply forward stick (just forward of neutral) to allow the tail to fly up and then minor adjustments (fore/aft stick) to hold the flat attitude to takeoff speed.

You can absolutely do that, and I do something similar to that myself in most plane types, as it makes the take off run a lot shorter. However, for a newbie, keeping the tail down makes it a lot easier to keep a straight run and you avoid the risk of a prop strike. Of course I’m not talking about full back pressure on the stick, just enough to keep the tail on the ground, as soon as you feel the tail beginning to rise, you can then ease off pressure and let the tail rise on its own.

 

There are still planes that I insist on keeping the tail down until I’ve built at least 100 km/h. Chief among them is the MiG-3, with that plane you need all the directional stability you can get.

[sniperton]

I guess there's a major difference here between users of FFB sticks and non-FFB sticks. Having an FFB stick, you apply an initial rudder (which is intuitive, but works fine after a few tries), give full throttle, release on the rudder to keep direction, release on the elevator as you feel the tail wants to lift, adjust a bit with the rudder once the tail is lifted, then rotate, then adjust with the aileron to stabilize the plane which is already airborne. The key is initial rudder, then full gas (to have rudder authority), then adjusting as needed. But I admit it's easier than taxiing.

Edited December 2, 2017 by sniperton

[6./ZG26_Klaus_Mann]

Well, for the 109 1200RPM were advised for taxiing. And this will allow you to make very wide right turns with Rudder. 

But the 109 is definetly not the Bird to learn to fly in. A Stuka is much better to learn the basics.