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#2469153 - 03/13/08 06:28 PM Flying problems in IL2 1946  
Joined: Feb 2008
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Jay Hall Offline
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Jay Hall  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2008
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Hello Fellow Simmers,
I am fairly new to IL2 (this is week two) and for some reason, I seem to have some simple problems that I am sure some of you more experienced pilots will know how to quickly remedy. They include:

1 - Every time I choose single mission with the US Navy and try the carrier landing missions, I seem to have no ability to select my landing gear to unfold. Therefore, I can almost always get aboard the carrier with my tailhook but my engine is always 'inoperable' and my prop is torn up. In almost all other single missions, I can just toggle my appropriate joystick button to raise or lower my landing gear, but that does not seem to work in the carrier missions. What am I doing wrong?

2 - Using my CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle (without the CH Manager software) in the game works fine but I cannot get the Input section of the game to recognize my sticks. I do not see the little red square and changing the filters or dead band seems to do nothing.

3 - When I do a normal landing on the ground, I get my airspeed correct, and glidepath, deploy my landing gear and flaps, then touch down (with a 'flare'), hit the wheel brakes while pulling back on the stick, and then toggle the engine to off (to help slow down) but I still either pitch forward into a somersault or tear off the propeller eight out of ten landings. What am I doing wrong?

I know this sounds like stupid noob questions, but that is what I am at this point, so any help would be appreciated,
Jay

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#2469177 - 03/13/08 07:01 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Jay Hall]  
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RAF Moustache Offline
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RAF Moustache  Offline
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For Q1 - I'm assuming you must be flying Wildcats! For the Wildcat you have to set a key to manually lower the undercarriage since in real life the Wildcat pilot had to manually lower the undercarriage with a crank. The undercarriage should come down automatically with the normal key for most of the other US navy aircraft (Hellcat, Corsair etc).

I don't know much about Q2 but Q3 sounds like you just need to keep practising. I'm not an expert pilot myself but it sounds like you are landing with too little power. If you glide down you often hit the runway and start bouncing which means you can pitch forward. Rather you should aim to kind of 'hover' just above the runway until your wheels touch down on the runway but keep the power up until you have control of the aircraft on the runway. The amount of throttle needed differs according to the situation but I say most of the time you should be looking at 20 to 30% throttle for a normal landing.

Also don't keep the brakes pressed down, best just to tap them, though to be honest I rarely need to use brakes when I land, at least on the bigger paved airbases. Just keep the stick back and pull back the throttle.

I'd explain that better but my dinner is ready!


Last edited by RAF Moustache; 03/13/08 07:18 PM.
#2469217 - 03/13/08 07:36 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: RAF Moustache]  
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Tolwyn Offline
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Tolwyn  Offline
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1. See Moustache

2. This is a known issue for non-Gameport devices (Direct X devices). Calibrate with your HOTAS software and you're good to go. You may need to manually configure your curves in the conf.ini file.

TIP Always back up your conf.ini file (use naming conventions like: conf_20080313.ini, conf_original.ini) often and before you make changes.

TIP Your joystick settings and "pilots" are located in the users folder. Back these up occasionally, too. Especially if you create any new pilots. The joystick / keyboard mapping file is called settings.ini respective for each pilot. Backup the default one, and if you like, copy over the default one with your specific settings in order for your custom settings to auto-carry over to each new pilot you create.

3. Brakes, unless mapped to a slider or axis, are either 100% on or 100% off. Hold it for a bit, release, Hold it for a bit, release, etc. Takes some just getting used to. Keep back-pressure on the stick.

These are not stupid n00b questions.


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#2469262 - 03/13/08 08:22 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Tolwyn]  
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RedToo Offline
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Wow, there is always something new to learn about this sim. I have CH gear and up till now thought I had to reassign the axes every time I started something new. Now I know that I can copy over settings.ini files to new campaigns and by renaming a good settings.ini file to default.ini I can make the default.ini file match my hardware! (Yes I did back up first ...). Thanks Tolwyn for the info and thanks Jay for starting this thread.

As Tolwyn said there are no stupid questions.

RedToo.


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#2469267 - 03/13/08 08:27 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Tolwyn]  
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Murph Offline
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Murph  Offline
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Get to know your CH Control Manager software- it works great for Il2. Set up a button routine to control your pitch (elevator) trim- it is critical to get a good balance between your rate of decent and you airspeed on approach, especially on carrier landings. You want to come over the stern at about 90 knots.


Intel i5 2500K CPU @4.0,Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 MB (turbo) GTX 1060 6G, 16G DDR3, Windows 10 Home 64 bit- "N�or bhris focal maith fiacail riamh."
#2469509 - 03/14/08 02:02 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Murph]  
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Jay Hall Offline
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Jay Hall  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 90
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the great responses. With the throttle at about 30% and only feathering the wheel brakes, I am now landing correctly 8 out of 10 times, so that's great ! I also read what Moustache posted about the single mission carrier landings with the F4F Wildcat, but I do not see anyway to set a key to manually lower the landing gear. I went to controls, and set on of my hat switches on my CH Products Pro-throttle to manually lower and raise the landing gear, but it does not seem to work in the single missions. Regardless of what I do, I cannot seem to get any landing gear lowered in those single missions with the US Navy. Could someone kindly tell me step by step how I might go about it?

Thanks for the improved landings and good tips,
Jay

#2469525 - 03/14/08 02:36 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Jay Hall]  
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Skycat Offline
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Skycat  Offline
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Pennsylvania or Montana
If manual landing gear works in QMB it should work in single missions. My theory is that the function isn't compatible with a HAT switch. When manual up/manual down is mapped to a keyboard key you have to tap the desired key about 20 times to fully lower or retract the landing gear. (Maybe you have to contiinuously bump your HAT switch to make the gear move in increments?)


Remove before flight
#2469598 - 03/14/08 05:07 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Skycat]  
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Murph Offline
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Murph  Offline
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I use a hat switch/CMC script to raise and lower gear manually- To do either one requires that one push the button repeatedly 20-30 times to get the gear up or down. Using the script
all I need to do is hold the button down and the command is automatically repeated.


Intel i5 2500K CPU @4.0,Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 MB (turbo) GTX 1060 6G, 16G DDR3, Windows 10 Home 64 bit- "N�or bhris focal maith fiacail riamh."
#2469629 - 03/14/08 08:38 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Jay Hall]  
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WWSandMan Offline
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WWSandMan  Offline
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Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.A.
As the fellows above mentioned, tap the "manually raise" or "manually lower" landing gear control repeatedly (20-30 times) until the "landing gear up" or "landing gear down" message is displayed on screen (same area where "engine started" and other similar messages appear).

Note that if you fly the Russian I-16 fighter, it also has manual landing gear. As does the FM-2 (the later variant of the F4F). And... isn't there at least one more with manual gear?

Last edited by WWSandMan; 03/14/08 08:38 AM.
#2470030 - 03/14/08 06:33 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: WWSandMan]  
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Jay Hall Offline
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Jay Hall  Offline
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Posts: 90
Gentlemen,
Thank you for the info and I am now able to land on the carriers without destroying my prop every time. Perhaps I missed it at some point but it would've been nice if they could have let us know about the manual landing gear for specific aircraft some place.

Thanks for the help,
Jay

#2470672 - 03/15/08 07:24 PM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Jay Hall]  
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Tolwyn Offline
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Tolwyn  Offline
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I'd have started with the readme.

From the Pacific Fighter's readme:

 Quote:

F4F, FM-2 Wildcat Variants
Switch supercharger speeds at 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) and 4,800 meters (15,750 feet)
Flaps are automatically retracted at 250 km/h (155 mph)
Gear can only be operated manually; you have to manually assign keys for it in the Controls section.


I'm fairly sure this was also included with 1946?


My personal licensing agreement: In exchange for my hard-earned cash for your product, you agree to the following terms: No part of my hardware may be used as a mechanism to verify or reverify my economical patronage. My receipt will serve that purpose. If you disagree with this license, you may return my money to me, and I'll return your product. \:\)
#2470863 - 03/16/08 01:39 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: Jay Hall]  
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piers Offline
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piers  Offline
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Hey... they kinda do tell you about manual gear in the aircraft booklet. Of course, they don't explain the key assignment, or the repeated tapping thing. Personally I went through the same issues before eventually nutting it out, but I now keep it on the 'multi tap' thing... a bit more authentic for me as the pilots had to hand crank at the same time as trying to maintain a glide path...

This isn't an easy game to jump into. I went from CFS2 on full difficulty to IL2 on full authenticity and managed to stall and crash my Me109 any time I tried a steep turn. Made dogfighting a horror story. Now I can actually hear the turbulence building on the wings and recognise the small shudders, telling me I'm skating on the edge... not scary anymore, just a rush.

Keep it up, and happy flying!

P

#2471006 - 03/16/08 10:59 AM Re: Flying problems in IL2 1946 [Re: piers]  
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Jay Hall Offline
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Jay Hall  Offline
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Posts: 90
Thanks guys for the facts from the readme; to be honest, I just haven't had a chance to get through all of that gigantic document yet.
And if you guys would like to have a laugh at my expense, this is what I have learned in my first three weeks of IL2 flying (which is also my first sim experience ever):

Week 1 - You know you are not in an arcade game when you have to do research and read two page documents just to figure out how to bring your game up to date with the latest patch. More research was also required to get my CH Products up and working with the game and then come to realize that there does not seem to be any type of standardization for assigning the various functions to the numerous hat switches and toggles. It is also a relief to realize that the input section does not respond to my CH sticks and that there are separate guides on the net just in case you do not have a wife or job for things like complex engine management.

Week 2 - While no particular fan of Finland, I find myself selecting single mission and Finland just because I do not want to do anymore research (I keep telling myself that some aspect of this sim is after all meant to be a game ! - Dammit !) and am eager to get to the air. Only then do I find that I have to manually start my engine and yet still manage to pitch forward in the first dozen flights only to have my engine become 'inoperable'. Or even better, I can analyze what wrong in those face forward somersaults as I lay roasting in my upside down cockpit. When I finally do reach the air I am amazed at how quickly my stick yanking can cause my airframe to suddenly twist abruptly straight into the ground. Friendly Finnish fighters, cars, tanks, oil tanks, town buildings and cattle quickly come to fear my deprivations. It is quite possible that even an innocent schoolchild or two were sent heavenward by my sudden attempts to land VTOL style on their family homes. I even manage to land on the main street of downtown only to have my wing tips torn off by the buildings and end up in my favorite upside down on-fire position. Hey, no big sweat for me as every regular landing I attempt either ends in fatalty or engine 'inoperable'. Carrier landings also begin with much amusement as I find that no matter how fierce my Kamikazee attack, the carrier keeps right on moving just like the Energizer bunny.

Week 3 - Someone for God's sake tell me what the bloody hell, 'trim' is all about. I already have so many damn switches and dials that I might as well apply for a job at CH Products. Why would I need to trim anything, except my beautifully styled nose hair. And now that I have found the Royal Navy section in the single missions, I can land the Spitfart or whatever it is called, without having to manually tap some damn key like you do with the Wildcat on the carrier. Jeez, no wonder it took the US Navy a year to become competitive in the Pacific, first they had to figure out how to fire all the idiots that kept designing planes with hand cranked landing gear! My first beautiful correct trap on the carrier without my engine becoming inoperable was greeted with tears of joy, until I promply tried to take off again without remembering that 'chock' thing. As I said, you just gotta love the amount of commands to can assign to stuff in this game. Seriously, isn't there an Xbox 360 version of this game that I can play while I eat my chips and rub my navel or something? My dog fighting, well let me say that again, in true aviation speak, my ACM skills are improving, but why is it that every 'ace' I happen to face in the quick mission builder wants to either attack straight on or ram my aircraft. I thought 'aces' were supposed to be the wolves of the sky coming in with the sun at their back and hitting you from above. I guess alot of my 'ace' opponents were trained by Al-Qaeda apparently. I am sure I have much more to learn, but at this early point my totals are something like:

Perfect Carrier landings with aircraft in perfect condition - now about 40% (on full realism mode)
Carrier landings made but engine is inoperable - about 55%
Carrier landings with a joyous bloody spray onto the bow - about 5%

Success rate of landing on Finnish airfields - now about 90% (thanks to the guys in this forum)

Finnish Cattle killed - none known for sure, but would if the opportunity presents
Finnish children killed - perhaps one to four, but unsure (their houses did catch fire though and smoke, so things are looking up)

Only Oleg Maddox could predict what week four will bring,

Jay

Last edited by Jay Hall; 03/16/08 11:58 AM.

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