I got this for just £5 this week and I'm thoroughly enjoying it but since I'm a rookie to air combat/flight sims I have a few questions. I'm sticking to one aircraft right now to get familiar with CEM and flight in general, the Spitfire MK I.

I noticed I can't vary the amount of prop pitch and fuel mixture, it's either 0% or 100%, no in between, is this normal?

What is a good cruise speed at a given altitude, say 8000ft or below and what's the ideal rpm? I cant seem to go much faster than 250mph with coarse pitch, full throttlenand mixture at 2200rpm and about 40% radiator opened (any less the engine temps skyrockets. Is this speed fine?

I can take off fine but haven't been able to try landing yet because I cant even spot airfields Navigation seems very difficult, any tips?

I haven't tried much combat yet but I'm getting the same problem I had in Wings of Prey, sensory overload and generally feeling completely lost. The worst thing is not being shot down but being utterly useless at spotting and engaging enemies. Any general tips on combat would be hugely appreciated guys.

When in combat my CEM generally goes out the window and I just stick to fine prop pitch and opened rad so I don't have to worry too much about them, is this good practice? I noticed mixture seems to have little effect in the Spitfire and generally best left on 100% or the engine chokes, even at higher altitudes.

Many thanks.

Hi stendec,

The Spit Mk1 has fixed prop pitch - so that's normal.

For flight profiles, have a look at these checklists, although what your wrote sounds fine for cruise - http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3342810/UPDATE_7_OCT_2011_Aircraft_Ope.html

For airfields (and spotting other aircraft) it is pretty hard at first. Do you use the 'M' key for the map - it might be worth leaving icons on until you feel happy about the basic geography? After a bit it does become easier, as the channel makes an easy reference and then it's really the case of learning which town is which and where the fields are. There's a compass and nav guide here as well: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3436574/Navigation_tips.html

For combat it's worth tweaking the AI settings to get started, i.e. set up a quick mission against some unarmed flights and get used to tracking the target. http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3543389/Dummies_guide_to_skill_setting.html

Flying while keeping the horizon as the point of reference is good for learning, but once fighting then really it's a case of eyeballs on target and making the flying secondary. If you don't have a trackIR like device then it's worth considering one - it makes a big difference to combat. There are though some very good pilots that do fine without it though.

For CEM in combat, it's really just a juggling act - against a real person in MP it often makes the difference but with Single Player AI it's just about either (a) not blowing up yourself and (b) keeping your energy as high as possible and playing to your aircrafts advantages (i.e. don't try to outclimb a 109 in that Mk1 etc )

Hope that helps!

prop pitch is 'normal' for MK I, if you want a constant speed prop go for the MK Ia

Mixture simulates switching between auto rich and auto lean. Auto lean is only for cruising at reduced fuel consumption and will run rough if you try over ~+1 boost- so stick with rich for most of the time.

Airspeed is INDICATED airspeed (ias)- at ~10,000 ft this is equivalent to a TRUE airspeed (tas) of ~300 mph. Also make sure you are trimmed out carefully both rudder and elevator. Also be aware the modelling of the British ASI's has a (overdone imho) 'feature' of showing a much lower speed if there is any slip/deviation from unacellerated flight.

Mavigation- well you could 'cheat' and untick the 2 lower of 3 options for map display in options- you'll then have a white plane showing your position on the 'minimap'
get used to the way the compass works- this might help?
http://www.cixvfrclub.org.uk/downloads/DLFiles/miscellaneous/The%20P4%20Compass.pdf
Try keeping insight of your airfield an at fairly low level at first but take note of land marks then start to fly a little way out on a set heading for a minute or two then reverse heading, your airfield should appear? build this up slowly and you should find you can recognize where you are.

You are flying with CEM and you got into the air, that's already magnificent for a rookie! I'd even say you aren't a rookie anymore if you got that far.

As for airfields M for map is your friend. I find them pretty easy to spot, maybe you need to fly a little higher? Remember that the hangars often only pop into view when you are pretty close (draw distance), so just go for the big green areas.

I don't think you can learn anything from it, but maybe my Spit tutorial movie would be fun for you to watch (shameless plug), see my signature.

Thanks for the tips. Freycinet, I actually found your excellent tutorial page whilst browsing this forum and watched the Spitfire video before my maiden take off,very helpul thanks!

I did manage a very bumpy but safe landing just now, not bad for my second attempt. I'm getting more confident in general flight and can even recover from stalls comfortably (providing there's enough fresh air between me and the ground :D)

Still a lot to learn about CEM though and combat will take me a lot of time and patience to figure out, oh my there's so much to do in the cockpit and so much to think about, simracing is so incredibly easy in comparison.

A few quick queations: Whats the ideal rpm for cruise and for climib? I'm normally between 2200(for cruise) and 2600-2800 for climb.
Whats the optimum range for oil and water temp?

You do know Flea's Operations checklist, don't you? - All the numbers are in there, you just have to spend a little while getting your head around the graphs and figures. I have it posted on my site.

Are your referring to this?

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3342810/UPDATE_7_OCT_2011_Aircraft_Ope.html#Post3342810

Yes

Took a long, very enjoyable solo flight in the 109 over France, noticed that most of the CEM controls were automated. I know the engines were fuel injected but did they have auto prop pitch as well?

At the end of the hour long flight my revs and airspeed started to drop alarmingly, I hurriedly scanned the instruments and everything seemed fine until I realized I was out of fuel so I ditched ungracefully into the Channel. Great fun though

If you want a 109 without auto prop pitch try the E-3. Maybe you just flew in fine pitch the whole way? :O