Most Difficult Aircraft to Fly & Most Difficult Aircraft to Land?

[Weegie]

Wanted to solicit opinion on what aircraft the more experienced think on the subject

 

I'm useless and spending a lot of time with the Spit XIV.

 

I've found it a bit of a handful, prone to stalling quite viciously in tight turns and was/is difficult (for me anyway) to land without ground looping

 

I'm getting pretty good now at keeping the flaps on after landing but its taken a lot longer than I thought.

 

I've got most of the aircraft but have yet to fly (let alone master) all of them and it set me to thinking

 

If it's not too much trouble I'd like opinions on what modules are the most challenging to fly and land

[DD_Arthur]

12 minutes ago, Weegie said:

If it's not too much trouble I'd like opinions on what modules are the most challenging to fly and land

 

For myself; Lagg3. It’s challenging because it’s so horrible. It can’t climb, it can’t turn, it can’t dive.

It’s happiest plummeting earthward. 

It’s the only ‘plane I have trouble landing too.

In my opinion just getting in the cockpit makes you a hero of the Soviet freakin’ Union.

[Sandmarken]

The sopwith camel and fokker dr1. It hurts my wrist just thinking about how they need constant downpitch while having no trim to ease the work. ?

[Eisenfaustus]

I find landing the Me 262 most difficult to land - very high landing speed, bad low speed handling and no option real way to do a go around means you only have one try to do a difficult landing right. 

[BlitzPig_EL]

Gotha on both accounts.

[Asgar]

16 minutes ago, Eisenfaustus said:

I find landing the Me 262 most difficult to land - very high landing speed, bad low speed handling and no option real way to do a go around means you only have one try to do a difficult landing right. 

Sorry, can't relate. speed on final for the 262 is around 250 and touch down around 190-200 ish km/h. With proper trim and flaps it handles like a dream even at low speeds. 

not sure why you'd need a go around, but if you land "fast" whatever that means exactly for you, you shouldn't have trouble getting her back in the air, unless you wasted half the runway before touching down.

Maybe this video can help you

Spoiler

 

[Eisenfaustus]

8 hours ago, Asgar said:

Sorry, can't relate. speed on final for the 262 is around 250 and touch down around 190-200 ish km/h. With proper trim and flaps it handles like a dream even at low speeds. 

not sure why you'd need a go around, but if you land "fast" whatever that means exactly for you, you shouldn't have trouble getting her back in the air, unless you wasted half the runway before touching down.

Maybe this video can help you

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Yeah - I‘m propably quite sloppy - but most planes forgive my sloppiness - the me262 doesn’t ^^

[Hanu]

As WW2 planes go the Me-262 is perhaps the most challenging plane to land; but only because you need to concentrate and commit yourself to the task. Most other planes you can bring in very quickly, reduce speed with some quick turns, and wave off easily if you need to.

The Ju-88 is somewhat challenging as you cannot lock the tailwheel and you have to keep very closely a eye in sideslip indicator; if you are careful and dance on the pedals, she will go nicely but once again you have to concentrate. The same goes with Spitfire and other planes without lockable tailwheel of course. I find myself doing the end-spin with Typhoon and Tempest also if I relax too early.

Oh! The honorary citation goes to Ju-52! Taxiing with Tante Ju is like drunken driving... You always overcorrect it.

 

But if you take WW1 planes into account also the only answer is surely the Gotha.  

Edited May 10, 2022 by Hanu
Forgot Tante Ju

[Zooropa_Fly]

If all planes are included then yes, I agree - Gotha for both awards.

Paradoxically - the Handley Page is the easiest to land.

It practically lands itself !

[percydanvers]

Any of the WWI planes. I can't stand not having even elevator trim. Everything breaks, the view out of the cockpit is horrible. I get it's a challenging classic experience, and it's a matter of personal preference but I just find the whole concept exhausting. 

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Gotha touchdown not less than 100km/h, reduce throttle than an the way to roll out is shorter than you think?

I have more problems with landing the camel, this light jumping nanny-goat on the small ww1 airfields ??

[=EXPEND=Dendro]

I almost always stall the PE2 on touchdown. 50% flaps and constant power management until you've stopped.

[Livai]

•  My experience flying the B-25 „Mitchell“ is indeed the most difficult aircraft to fly and to land, I hope his older brother B-26 „Marauder“ will be better

[Sandmarken]

1 hour ago, Livai said:

•  My experience flying the B-25 „Mitchell“ is indeed the most difficult aircraft to fly and to land, I hope his older brother B-26 „Marauder“ will be better

I have never even been able to take off in the B-25.  ?

Edited May 11, 2022 by Sandmarken

[IckyATLAS]

1 hour ago, Livai said:

•  My experience flying the B-25 „Mitchell“ is indeed the most difficult aircraft to fly and to land, I hope his older brother B-26 „Marauder“ will be better

I thought the B25 is not flyable. Maybe I missed an update. Is it flyable now?

[BlitzPig_EL]

40 minutes ago, IckyATLAS said:

I thought the B25 is not flyable. Maybe I missed an update. Is it flyable now?

 

No, it's just Livai being Livai.

[ShamrockOneFive]

I am generally useless in the I-16. I know people who can work wonders with it but I just can't get the feel.

[BornToBattle]

15 minutes ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I am generally useless in the I-16. I know people who can work wonders with it but I just can't get the feel.

I swear to God if I bang my head on the desk one more time flying that thing in VR in order to try to see the cockpit gauges…

[Avimimus]

On 5/9/2022 at 3:34 PM, BlitzPig_EL said:

Gotha on both accounts.

 

Yeah. The Gotha. It definitely doesn't want to fly. The combination of being severely underpowered with terrifying adverse yaw from the ailerons means that it takes a lot of training to not simple fall out of the air.

 

As for the other aircraft listed by people here - most of them are actually quite a bit better than people think. The I-16 is a darling of a plane. Ju-52 lands nicely. LaGG-3 is actually a good aircraft. I'll admit that the Me-262 takes some getting used to, and that the high wing-loading of the Pe-2 makes landing require some skill though!

[=621=Samikatz]

2 hours ago, BornToBattle said:

I swear to God if I bang my head on the desk one more time flying that thing in VR in order to try to see the cockpit gauges…

 

You kinda just have to fly it on general vibes and ignore all the distracting gadgets other planes are burdened with. Speed is easy, if the aircraft is falling out of the sky you are too slow, if the control surfaces rip off you are too fast. For altitude you look over the side of the cockpit and if it makes you feel a bit funny then you're up high, squirrels at eye level means you're low. Don't fly into clouds.

[Asgar]

21 minutes ago, Avimimus said:

Yeah. The Gotha. It definitely doesn't want to fly. The combination of being severely underpowered with terrifying adverse yaw from the ailerons means that it takes a lot of training to not simple fall out of the air.

I really disliked testing that plane ?

[Avimimus]

43 minutes ago, Asgar said:

I really disliked testing that plane ?

 

I eventually learned to fly it in Rise of Flight... I remember doing armed recon as a circling gunship, attacking Felixstowes over the ocean etc. But, after a couple of years break (flying only FC instead of RoF), when it was released for FCII... I... well, I immediately fell out of the sky. Three times in a row.

 

It wasn't dignified.

 

It can be flown. I must've figured out how. But, for the life of me, I can't seem to remember it yet  Kind-of makes me want the AEG G.IV as a flyable bomber (although I'd personally prefer a DH.5, Morane AI, or several others as collector aircraft first). Part of me still hopes that FC will do well enough for an Adriatic module someday (Italy vs. Austria-Hungary has a lot of surprisingly well documented and fascinating aircraft).

[Jaws2002]

On 5/9/2022 at 3:34 PM, BlitzPig_EL said:

Gotha on both accounts.

You don't land the Gotha. You fly it down! 

Only when you are on the ground you cut throttle. 

At least that's how it was in ROF. My controllers are not connected now so i didn't have a chance to try it yet in GB.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Jaws2002

[Lusekofte]

On 5/10/2022 at 7:20 AM, Hanu said:

As WW2 planes go the Me-262 is perhaps the most challenging plane to land

Flown it a lot, its a darling to fly, bitch to start but never really needed to land. 

 

5 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I am generally useless in the I-16. I know people who can work wonders with it but I just can't get the feel.

 

Also a plane I never really practice  landing with. I mostly spiral to death over eager that I finally got on a enemys six

On 5/9/2022 at 9:13 PM, DD_Arthur said:

 

For myself; Lagg3. It’s challenging because it’s so horrible. It can’t climb, it can’t turn, it can’t dive.

It’s happiest plummeting earthward. 

It’s the only ‘plane I have trouble landing too.

In my opinion just getting in the cockpit makes you a hero of the Soviet freakin’ Union.

Nah it has improved a lot, but also a plane I never gotten to land

[ATAG_Headshot]

Every aircraft is extremely easy to land. Whether you or the plane can ever fly again is an entirely different story though...

[IckyATLAS]

A successful landing is a controlled crash where the plane must stall at the instant your wheels touch down. 

Extremely difficult indeed to execute perfectly.

It is also called a kiss landing. Mother earth kisses you ❤️ Sometimes it is the kiss of death ☠️

[twilson37]

For me the P-40 is the toughest airplane to fly, constantly blowing the engine for seemingly no reason on just about every mission, it is the only plane on my no fly list.  

[BlitzPig_EL]

Keep the revs around 2600, keep it out of combat power unless you need it for short bursts, and it will fly all day long.

[Vishnu]

8 hours ago, Asgar said:

I really disliked testing that plane ?

I guess while testing the Gotha, you couldn’t differentiate between what was a feature, design flaw or bug, eh?

[Cpt_Siddy]

I-16

[oc2209]

My personal nemesis is the 190A-8.

 

Everything it does just feels like a slug in a mud puddle. The stall-flick threat is constant until your ammo is nearly gone. I can't comfortably loop one unless I'm well over 250 MPH. Landing it isn't difficult, but the whole plane does seem like a lead brick just before touchdown.

 

Flying against AI in a P-51B with all the bells and whistles, it takes me around 10 minutes to shoot it down in an A-8.

 

In an A-3, I can get the kill in 4 minutes or less. Same starting conditions.

[Asgar]

 

2 hours ago, oc2209 said:

My personal nemesis is the 190A-8.

 

Everything it does just feels like a slug in a mud puddle. The stall-flick threat is constant until your ammo is nearly gone. I can't comfortably loop one unless I'm well over 250 MPH. Landing it isn't difficult, but the whole plane does seem like a lead brick just before touchdown.

 

Flying against AI in a P-51B with all the bells and whistles, it takes me around 10 minutes to shoot it down in an A-8.

 

In an A-3, I can get the kill in 4 minutes or less. Same starting conditions.

use less than 85ish % fuel and the A-8 should feel much better

[oc2209]

12 hours ago, Asgar said:

 

use less than 85ish % fuel and the A-8 should feel much better

 

I flew both at ~50%.

 

The problem with the A series is that its zenith of dogfighting capability was early on. As the war progressed, the plane simply got fatter with worse stalling characteristics and a larger turn radius.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the true fighter's Fw-190 is the A-3/A-4. Everything after that point is a compromise in favor of things besides dogfighting.

 

Despite the later 109s being infamous for bloat and bulges, in terms of pure handling, I think the 190 actually aged worse relative to its origins. At least until the D comes along.

[KevPBur]

I'm really enjoying the A8 at the moment once I got used to it's strengths.

 

@oc2209 It sounds to me like your problem is trying to dogfight in it. It is not a knife fighter stay straight with quick snap turns to get those rediculous guns on target. Anything you can get in the cross-hairs is going down and I find it a really stable platform so I am able to snipe from +600m range. I'm finding both P51's and Spits have precious wings. Any damage really effects there handing. Then you can follow them and finish the job if the first hits didn't do the job.

 

And I'm a guy who generally much prefers a knife fighter and considered the peak of WW2 planes to be around 1941/2

[RossMarBow]

duck is hardest to fly 
88a4 is hardest to land

[Asgar]

Depending on what you mean as in hardest to fly, literally: I can’t really say, I think all planes are nice to fly.

if it is more about doing well in the sim in performing a task or doing well in a dogfight.m, the I think it would be the A-8 for me. It’s the heaviest Anton with the most powerful adversaries.

 

theb ist difficult to Land are the spitfires for me. Simply cause they’re so floaty with the flaps down and I just can’t get used to it. Darn things just don’t want to touch the ground ?

[Avimimus]

On 5/14/2022 at 9:11 AM, Asgar said:

Depending on what you mean as in hardest to fly, literally: I can’t really say, I think all planes are nice to fly.

if it is more about doing well in the sim in performing a task or doing well in a dogfight.m, the I think it would be the A-8 for me. It’s the heaviest Anton with the most powerful adversaries.

 

theb ist difficult to Land are the spitfires for me. Simply cause they’re so floaty with the flaps down and I just can’t get used to it. Darn things just don’t want to touch the ground ?

 

The fact that you say this means that I know you don't have FC2 and the Gotha ?  No one would be so optimistic and focused on mission-oriented tasks if they have experienced it! Seventy percent of my focus is on 'remember you are in the Gotha and can fall out of the air if you forget' the last 30% goes to all other tasks. It is way worse than flying a helicopter for me... in the Mi-24 I can just get into the zone and have a conversation with the beast... but the Gotha... nope... you take your eyes off it and you are stalling into a death spin.

[Asgar]

26 minutes ago, Avimimus said:

 

The fact that you say this means that I know you don't have FC2 and the Gotha ?  No one would be so optimistic and focused on mission-oriented tasks if they have experienced it! Seventy percent of my focus is on 'remember you are in the Gotha and can fall out of the air if you forget' the last 30% goes to all other tasks. It is way worse than flying a helicopter for me... in the Mi-24 I can just get into the zone and have a conversation with the beast... but the Gotha... nope... you take your eyes off it and you are stalling into a death spin.

I mean….the bars under my name tell you that ?

[spreckair]

When it comes to landing, I have wrecked so many Mig-3s, but still walked away.  I love flying the Mig-3, but hate landing it.  I am an embarassment to my squadron.

[Avimimus]

4 hours ago, Asgar said:

I mean….the bars under my name tell you that ?

 

IDK... maybe you have a copy on Steam (r)(tm) or something... or another account sir! Lots of ways to get around that.

 

Your lack of Gotha based night-terrors on the other hand is definitive evidence ?