Newbie in the skies

[Allen]

I'm pretty new to IL-2 Sturmovik and have a few questions. I'm using the Saitek Cyborg Platinum joystick and have the same problem in both IL-2 and MS Flight Sim 2002 in which I can't seem to keep the plane at a steady level. I have made sure the joystick is calibrated correctly and I have also checked flaps but am wondering if there is anything that could be wrong with my hardware. When trying to fly level I either have to hold the joystick all the way forward to keep the nose down and stop myself from climbing, or all the way back to keep the nose up and stop myself crashing as if the joystick is calibrated off centre. This makes it almost impossible to land properly and dogfights totally impossible, as I can’t keep her level.

Please help as the game is fantastic (IL-2 that is!) and I can’t wait to fly online (with a bit of offline practice first) once I get broadband in my room next week sometime.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Al.

[Hat]

Sorry if this may be a bit obvious to you.... but seeing as it wasn't mentioned......

Are you using the elevator trim?

[Allen]

Originally posted by Hat
Sorry if this may be a bit obvious to you.... but seeing as it wasn't mentioned......

Are you using the elevator trim?

Umm, as I said, I'm a newbie! Nothing is obvious to me! I'm at work now, so I'll check at home. What is elevator trim anyway? Is that to do with the game or the hardware? Coz I get the same problem with IL-2 and MS Flight Sim '02.

[Hat]

Assuming that your joysitck is fully functional and calibrated correctly.....

It's to do with the game...

You will invariably have to trim your plane for level flight... and then constantly retrim your plane as the speed varies.

The more speed, the more air passes over the wings - the more air passing over the wings, the more lift that is generated etc. etc

Trim is a fine adjustment .. and keys can be assigned to it's use. I personally use the up/down cursor keys for elevator trim...and the left/right cursor keys for aileron (left/right roll) trim. And I use Z and X for the rudder ( yaw) trim.

Gotta go out now... but im sure opther ppl will explain what it actually is .. and how to use it..

GL

[Allen]

Thank you for your help, Hat.

If anyone else can help with this please let me know. I'll have a look at the manual on the CD tonight too.

[Nick]

Yeah, the planes in IL2 are modelled pretty acurately.

No plane will fly straight and level unless its trimmed up. There are many things that can affect this, such as imbalance in the amount of fuel in the wing tanks, prop wash over the wings and onto the rudder etc etc.

Trimming a plane helsp combat this and allows the pilot to not have to keep making adjustments on the stick to keep the plane where he wants it to go.

Trim tabs are like mini versions of the elevator, ailerons and rudder which are attched to the aforementioned control surfaces.

Say for example you want to trim the plane to climb at a certains speed. First set the throttle and manually fly the plane until you get the rate of climb and speed you want. Now you have to trim the plane to maintain that attitude without having your hands on the stick.

This involves winding the elevator trim back and what this does is to push the elevator trim tab up into the airflow. This small tab has the effect of making the plane fly ever so slightly nose up... so you keep adding elevator 'up' trim until you get the flight attitude you want.

Planes with big rudders compared to their body length, (the IL2 is one), benefit from a bit of rudder trim prior to take off as the prop wash smacks one side of the rudder, and although easy to correct using the rudder pedals, its easy to just trim for it beforehand.

To trim a plane for level flight, set your throttle to say 80%, set the target reticule on a point ahead of you to give no rate of climb. Let go of the stick and see which way the reticule starts to creep (usually up). Reset the reticule back to your point giving no rate of climb and now give some down elevator trim. Let go of the stick again and see what happens. Repeat this until there is no change when you have your hands off the stick.

Be aware though that as soonas you increase/decrease speed the airflow over the wings changes which in turn changes your amount of lift which in turn affects the balance of the plane.

I usually fly with a bit of up trim as this helps in a turning fight to have the plane trimmed like that... better to fly right on the edge of a fast stall than have the trim stop you turning hard and let the 109 on your tail....

[Allen]

Jeez, I didn't realise that it was gonna be that complex to fly a plane straight! I know it's real and all, but can you lower the difficulty level for novice's to make it a little bit easier?

The last flight sim I played was back in the early 90's in the days where Amiga's ruled (cough) and I used to play FA/18 Interceptor on my A1200 till the cows came home. I used to love it!

Hope I can get the hang of this, I'll have a few hours on it tonight. Thanks for your help!

[Zak33]

Chill dude....when you drive a car on a straight road it doesnt GO straight for miles.... without touching the wheel....small corrections are needed...same in flying

But as the guys up there/\ state....if ya go FASTER, you climb...then as the speed goes down cos youre climbing, the nose goes low and you start to loseheight again...BUT....as you gain speed, your wings gain lift again!

ta daaaa

Try it..get into an IL-2 (whichever one...no worries) and set power to 80% ish..then let go...

go external........(F2) ...click on the mouse and drag yourself around the side....from a reasonable distance.

Now hit T (for Wing tip Trails)...so you can see your flight path...

now go make tea! and watch.....up she goes.....then down she goes.....and up....and....well....I'll go now


By the way.....Hold down CNTRL and then rapidly tap the Up arrow and the down arrow....it sets the trims......play with them...get itlevel..

BUT remember....every plane,at every different speed, with all different loads of bombs/guns etc..is different!

Lots to learn mate.....its better than life you cant really die!


Luck

[Nick]

Yeah, you can make it easier.

Go into the difficulty screen and change the options in there. I'm not sure if there is a simple flight model one, but there is one to tunr off wind effects, torque effects etc etc which will cancel out most things making a plane veer off course.

[Stoo]

there's also a flight level stabilister setting that you can assign to a key, which will auto level the plane, but apparently that's going to be gone in the next patch

Mucho annoying as I find it handy when I need to nip off for a wee or change another setting or something..

[Dakaras]

yep dont over trim as you find when you wander off to make tea on what you though was a battle climb ends up as smoking hole in the ground time.

Nice tag btw Stoo