Useful plane to learn?

[BluesmanSF]

Hi! 
 

I’ve recently dug my 15 year old simming gear from the garage and would really much like to learn to fly and fight again. I upgraded my pc and it feels like a lost love to look at the sim now that I finally can run it.

 

What would be a useful plane to learn the ropes again? I’d like to learn the engine management, radiators, rpm and such, and to be comfortable with the sim. 
 

By useful I mean maybe some single player campaign to learn the plane and for it to be useful on one of the more popular servers.

 

Maybe the IL2? Or some variant of 109? I tried the U-2 as it was a trainer plane, but almost soiled my pants when checking my six the first time. 

 

anyways, feels extremely good to be back! I’m hoping to be a live target practice on the servers with you veterans soon enough!

 

S!

[FTC_Davies]

I would just pick any plane you feel drawn to. Don't overthink it too much and just enjoy the game! Maybe try out the different planes you got and get a feel for the differences and quirks.

There's plenty of good tutorials out there for all planes so no shortage of info Welcome back to IL-2 btw!

[=FEW=fernando11]

I would say, dont miss the chance to try the il2, 1941 version if you can! Good for basoc stuf, slowish but responsive, good tempered, tough, can train on guns, bombs and rockets. Also a decent view with the canopy open.

 

And for SP, Ice Ring scripted campaign is a must in my opinion.

 

Not a good training for MP dogfighting though. But yes for the basics of take off navigate and landing.

For MP there are 2 basic trainings, joing Berloga, and do a lot of fast dogfights to get the feeling of it. And then try to find a fellow pilot that is willing to fly some sorties with you. There is not a more eficient way of learning MP than DOING MP with or against another pilot.

[AndyJWest]

Got to agree that the early IL-2 is a good plane for a beginner. Or if you want a fighter, and don't mind paying for a collector plane, there's the Hurricane if you are looking for something that shouldn't bite you unexpectedly. Once you get comfortable in one aircraft, experiment with the others, and find out how they differ. Us armchair pilots have an opportunity that few real-world pilots (Winkle Brown excepted) ever did, when it comes to variety, and experience with lots of different types helps when it comes to recognising the virtues and vices of an aircraft, and how to get the best out of it. 

[BluesmanSF]

Thank you for the suggestions! I tried the hurricane briefly and found it fantastically stable and easy platform as you said. Is it a viable plane in mp or am I instantenously turned into a bonfire flying it?

 

The IL2 41’ also felt great, like I am home again as it was the very first plane I flew a lot in the original IL2. 
 

Maybe I’ll try those and do some low level attack sorties and just try avoid being seen.

 

..After I have figured the millions of keybinds and learn to use the old hotas all over again.

 

S!

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

If you wanna learn yo manually manage everything yourself in a plane that's easy to handle on the ground and in the air, Yak's are a good choice too.

 

-throttle

-rpm

-mixture

-supercharger

-oil rad

-water cooling rad

 

All is manually controlled and require your attention depending on different conditions like altitude, weather etc etc but the aircraft is easy to fly and very forgiving. Also, Yak's with M-105 engine dont have combat/boosted/wep engine modes with limited time so you can technically run your engine at 2700rpm and full MP until you overheat. With rads fully open and in cold weather you might not even overheat at all.

 

 

[BluesmanSF]

28 minutes ago, I./JG52_Woutwocampe said:

If you wanna learn yo manually manage everything yourself in a plane that's easy to handle on the ground and in the air, Yak's are a good choice too.

 

-throttle

-rpm

-mixture

-supercharger

-oil rad

-water cooling rad

 

All is manually controlled and require your attention depending on different conditions like altitude, weather etc etc but the aircraft is easy to fly and very forgiving. Also, Yak's with M-105 engine dont have combat/boosted/wep engine modes with limited time so you can technically run your engine at 2700rpm and full MP until you overheat. With rads fully open and in cold weather you might not even overheat at all.

 

 

Thanks! I’ll try the Yak. Do you use those radiator controls combined, or separately? I find there’s a metric ton of bindings concerning different planes and their radiator systems, don’t know how I am going to learn all those..

[RNAS10_Mitchell]

Albatros or Spad good starting planes

[BlitzPig_EL]

For the Yaks, just set the oil rad to 50% and forget it.  Open the water rad fully while cruising then close them down while initiating combat to gain speed, then keep an eye on the temp gauge and open water rad as necessary to keep temps in the safe zone, say 80 to 100 degrees C.

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

36 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

For the Yaks, just set the oil rad to 50% and forget it.  Open the water rad fully while cruising then close them down while initiating combat to gain speed, then keep an eye on the temp gauge and open water rad as necessary to keep temps in the safe zone, say 80 to 100 degrees C.

 

Careful when cruising with the water rad fully open, during winter at altitude you could very well overcool your engine. It happened to me when trying to intercept a recon Ju88 at high alt.

[PatrickAWlson]

Fighters:

Me109.  Once you learn one you can (mostly) fly them from beginning to end.  If you start with the E then you have to learn a bit more engine management and later on you have to learn how to use methanol injection.  Still, it is basically one plane that takes you through the war.

 

As noted above, the Yak is another one that has many versions allows you to learn one and (mostly) fly through most of the war.  Both the 109 and Yak are also relatively easy to fly if you are just getting back into things. 

 

Ground attack: IL2 is a plane that lets you go a long way. 

 

Bombers: Any of the flyable bombers will be useable pretty much through the time period covered by the game.

 

I would avoid the quirkier planes at the beginning.  Get to know one of the staples in the area that you want (fighter, attack, bomber) before moving on to something with odd characteristics.

[Jade_Monkey]

+1 for the Yak.

 

It will teach you the basics. Easy to taxi and manage the engine for beginners.

[Irishratticus72]

P38, like driving a bus. That has cannon and heavy machine guns. And turbochargers. And wings. And bombs, rockets too. Like an A-Team bus, I suppose.

[PB0_Roll]

For someone who just comes back, 109s are viable in MP, and have pitch/radiator/mixture auto managed, so you can focus on outside better.

 

Allies are more complicated, but P-51s have auto radiator, that's comfy too. Never fly with more than 60% fuel and it'll handle pretty nice. Very viable in MP, but found only on west front scenarii, when 109s can be found everywhere.

 

Other planes may overwhelm with too many command to bind and remember, even with a HOTAS.

 

If wanting to specialize into ground attack, Typhoons or IL2s are the easyest, Typhoons are faster so can help in MP with hit and run. But more controls to bind/remember than 109/P-51.

 

[=FI=Blue2]

Some great suggestions for you here already, OP, but I noticed your comment about the daunting list of key bindings.

It may take you a little time to figure it out, but it's actually a little simpler than it looks at first glance, at least where the engine controls are concerned.  That's due to the different needs of each plane.  For example, the same hotas controls for opening & closing the water radiator can also be assigned to the engine inlet cowl shutters, since no plane in the game has both (i.e. water-cooled versus air-cooled engines).  There are a few other similar cases for other controls too.  Welcome back & good luck!

[Dragon1-1]

*Shameless plug*

 

I've started a slowly expanding aircraft guide that includes, besides a detailed review of each aircraft's capabilities, including the necessary bindings for each one. I don't include ones needed for every aircraft, that is pitch, roll, yaw, throttle, flaps and gear (most aircraft without the latter two are from WWI, for which there's another guide).

I currently don't have BoN, so that's not on the review list at the moment, but everything else should make the list sooner or later. 

[BluesmanSF]

2 hours ago, Dragon1-1 said:

*Shameless plug*

 

I've started a slowly expanding aircraft guide that includes, besides a detailed review of each aircraft's capabilities, including the necessary bindings for each one. I don't include ones needed for every aircraft, that is pitch, roll, yaw, throttle, flaps and gear (most aircraft without the latter two are from WWI, for which there's another guide).

I currently don't have BoN, so that's not on the review list at the moment, but everything else should make the list sooner or later. 

Instant bookmark! And thanks for everybody for the suggestions.
 

I tried the IL2 on the Finnish server, noticed a Heinkel over our tanks, got rid of my bombs and went after him. Managed to shoot down the Heinkel which seemed to be even more lost than I. As my adrenaline bumped through the roof I instantly started to egresss the he** out of dodge, frantically trying to check my six while flying as low as I possibly could. Bumped a tree a bit, damaged the engine but the Sturmovik being Sturmovik it wasn’t the least concerned about the whole shenanigan, as opposed to me. Now I was panicing a tad and trying to find the closest airfield, while simultaneously trying to find out how badly the engine hit the aforementioned tree. Only damage I could find was that both the tachometer and the engine boost meter or whatever, were trebling more than they used to. 
Nevertheless, I managed to find myself and the mistreated Sturmovik back to the base, God only knows how as I accidentally also flew into a cloud, and lost my position for a while.

 

As I stopped the IL2, a Junkers 52 came ever so graciously to a beautiful landing, and supplied the base, and that drove me to buy the Junkers.

 

Feels so good to be back.

[Gambit21]

I second the Yak. It's a nice balance of simple engine management, versatility, fun, and relatively easy learning curve.

IL2 is an 'of course' still a great aircraft.

 

 

[Skycat1969]

I assume you only have Stalingrad at this time? I frequently point to the Chuck's Guides for IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad aircraft found here:

https://chucksguides.com/#il2-gb

 

I have the Mudspike.com version that combines all the GB aircraft guides into one PDF. It seems to have been removed from the site. If there is interest I will upload that version here.

 

As for aircraft to learn with, I speak 'Merica (MpH, U.S. gallons, inches and feet, and degrees Fahrenheit) so the P-47 was my advanced trainer. The Thunderbolt is a poor dogfighter in this sim but there is plenty to learn and practice if you don't mind using it as a fighter-bomber. The Thunderbolt is a very hands-on aircraft and requires management of just about every facet of engine management that you'll find in other aircraft across the sim. Useful guides are easy to find:

 

  - Several vintage P-47 manuals are here: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/p-47-thunderbolt-manuals.5081/

  - Chuck's Guide for DCS P-47D-30 has a lot of great general information: https://chucksguides.com/aircraft/dcs/p-47d/

  - The A2A Simulations Wings of Power III P-47D Razorback (for FSX) operating manual covers a lot of basics in an easy to understand document: https://www.a2asimulations.com/public/downloads/manuals/WOP3 P47 Razorback Flight Manual.pdf 

  - YouTube tutorials including vintage training films (See P-47 Thunderbolt WW2 Training Film Live Online in Streaming Video (zenoswarbirdvideos.com).

[Paul_RSXK]

if you haven't tried it, or even thought about it yet VR is the most amazing and immersive experience imaginable, provided you have PC horsepower to run the sim at a decent framerate and graphical quality. balancing those two elements can take a bit of time but once you find the sweet spot for your PC and headset you'll wonder how you ever thought of flying without it.

I fly the Bf 109 primarily. 

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

 

[BluesmanSF]

3 hours ago, Paul_RSXK said:

if you haven't tried it, or even thought about it yet VR is the most amazing and immersive experience imaginable, provided you have PC horsepower to run the sim at a decent framerate and graphical quality. balancing those two elements can take a bit of time but once you find the sweet spot for your PC and headset you'll wonder how you ever thought of flying without it.

I fly the Bf 109 primarily. 

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

 

I have my trusty old TrackIr which is chugging along fine! 
 

And to the P47 recommendeer above, I’ll take it into consideration. It’s a plane I truly adore as in the ol 1946 it was a splendid boom n zoom machine. It seems to me to the most daunting as well because of the systems but I’ll take a look. Thank you for all the helpful links!

 

S!

[Lusekofte]

IL 2 is a gem. In special with scripted campaigns. I miss that. And I start to think about installing this again just for that

[Sgt_Joch]

Best plane to learn on is the Yak. It is easy to fly and manage and has simple controls, also very maneuverable in a dogfight.

[BFBunny]

For single player the best plane to learn is the one you want to learn even if it's the most complicated you will put the time into using it and over time, the personal achievement of mastering it. Everyone will reply with what their ideal plane is in the game, but for the OP. What is yours? Use what you want.

 

For Multiplayer - Most of the 109s are a good start because of the nose cannon (landings are a bit harder because narrow track and visibility takes time to get used to) or the tempest because cannon, power, ok turning and wide track for landing, good visiblity, instruments make sense. The yaks are pretty good fun.

 

Generally - Other planes not mentioned have their own set of strengths and weaknesses depending on your play style really. If your only skill is to turn fight down low then potentially a spit or yak.

 

The best way imo to play this game is to press H to turn off the hud, learn your favourite aircrafts instruments, learn a bit about map reading and navigation, get the feel for how yor chosen plane lands, etc then after a while other things like spotting, finding your target are a lot easier when you have to think less about how the plane functions.

[RossMarBow]

Like a lot of people have said the yaks are good.
Specifically the yak9T is what I recommended it teaches you a lot of things and you have full control over everything. 
But it is still friendly to use and competitive even with less than ideal settings in multiplayer.

Edited January 29, 2023 by RossMarBow

[Jaegermeister]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:08 AM, BluesmanSF said:

What would be a useful plane to learn the ropes again? I’d like to learn the engine management, radiators, rpm and such, and to be comfortable with the sim. 
By useful I mean maybe some single player campaign to learn the plane and for it to be useful on one of the more popular servers.

 

Since it appears you own almost all the modules, whatever you do... don't fly the P51-B5! Especially not with the British MKII gunsight and a Malcolm hood.

 

You'll be instantly spoiled and really won't want to fly anything else again. It's only downside is just 4 .50s, but that will teach you to shoot straight.