Navigation tool

[wombatBritishBulldogs]

After noticing some wayward navigation errors on one of the multiplayer Server I frequent  I thought i'd share this tip for those just starting starting out with icons off ! Buy yourself a cheap nothing to fancy 360 degree protractor like this ! then  placing it on your screen aligning 0deg to north on one of the  boundary lines near your given target or airfield(when your map is up ) take the corresponding bearings both too your given target  and back to your airfield !   This way you'll be going in the right direction and the rest is up to sightings of landmarks along the way , good luck  hope it helps . 

[tekn1cal]

Thanks for the tip!. I have been having issues with navigating without GPS. 

 

I've just ordered the protractor above and will practice a bit more.

[RedKestrel]

That's a good idea! I often know my own position on the map but can't plot a course to a distant objective, so I end up landmark hopping too much. 

The best thing about the maps in Il-2 is how accurate they are. The shapes of cities, towns and built-up areas are extremely precise so even small towns make great landmarks.

IRL your maps would be out of date, towns would be missing, shapes of towns might not be there at all. rivers may have changed course in a flood. etc.

Most of the time now I only get lost after a high speed dogfight. After a few dives, turns, yoyos and running hell for leather across the steppe, its easy to get much, much farther away than you really think you have.

When I get lost, I follow these strategies:

-If you're over enemy territory, separated from your flight buddies, alone, and low, head East if you're VVS and West if you're Luftwaffe. First priority is to get over your own lines in case you need to ditch or bail out. Just hold at cardinal east or cardinal west, stay low and fast to hide against the ground clutter, and when you think you've flown far enough, start a shallow climb to get altitude and start looking for landmarks.

-Find the most distinctive landmark you can - an unusual river confluence, a weird shaped or large town, or a set of a couple bridges. Road intersections are fine but I find them hard to see from high up so I mostly stick to other things. Then start a gentle spiral climb above it until you're high enough to see the lay of the land. Note as many nearby landmarks as you can and the direction they are in in relation to your first landmark. This is easy to do in a  gentle spiral because as the landmark disappears beneath your nose you'll know what direction its in in general because of your compass bearing. Once you've established the spiral you can keep your controls in the same position while you check your map and you'll keep going up and stay in the same spot, knowing you won't crash. While its not GREAT for avoiding being bounced, at least you aren't in a straight line flying level.

-At this point you check your map and look for  a cluster of landmarks that resemble your situation. So if you're orbiting over a T-shaped town with a railrood bridge over a river to the east, a square town roughly north of you, and an airfield to the southwest, you pan around the map looking for that, starting from your last known point and extapolating your course if possible. Like I said you can get far afield sometimes so don't be afraid to look far! Always use more than one landmark. to confirm your position. Just because that river system looks really distinctive, doesn't mean it's unique. 

Anyway thats' what I do. Some of it may be ill-advised but it works for me. I've been working on navigating by dead reckoning (using course, speed and location) and I've been reasonably successful. It helps that the sim doesn't model declination, turning errors, compass errors, etc.

[Legioneod]

One of the reasons I was hoping to see some basic in-game map tools eventually. Just the ability to plot a visible course on the map would help alot, with some basic info on heading and distance.

[Zippy-do-dar]

I use a very basic version of this a post it note with a circle marked with every 45° stuck to the screen edge   Just so i can visualise on the map the direction i need to find land marks

Distance i use the clock in the cockpit, speed divided by 60 (minutes) multiplied by minutes travelled to give a rough distance travelled so i can start looking for my land mark or turn point

Each square on map is 10 kilometres (6.2Miles ) i believe

 

Still get lost on winter maps though