Absolutely hated it... for the first ten minutes

I really thought I had wasted $40 for the first ten minutes. I could NOT get the thing to track straight down the runway to get airborne! I crashed and burned about a dozen times and said allot of very bad words that I don't normally say. Then I finally realized that a very small bit of differential braking seems to do the trick. So... I finally got it airborne. Once. For about ten minutes. Until I stalled/over-G'd/slammed into a lake tail first. Not sure how that happened...

You would think I would have figured this out very quickly because of the weird hand grip bicycle brake arrangement similar to what the L-39 has. Not only do I own the DCS L-39 and fly it regularly, I have also worked on L-39s for a living for the last ten years and have many hours starting/taxiing/riding in them so I know how that all works. That being said, an L-39 obviously doesn't take near as much differential braking to get it pointed down the runway.

So, I will try it again tonight and hopefully not crash and burn too many times before I get in the air. Seems to me I had a similar issue with the P-51 when I first got it. And maybe, just maybe, I won't hate it anymore.

The manual says, any tendency to swing is easily corrected with rudder, so that's what I do and it is.

GL..

I seem to find lightly dancing on the rudders, as "Chief Instructor" said, like they're hot coals, regardless of whether I need them or not, tapping them back and forth and then as speed picks up and noticeable swing kicks in I give a little extra touch on the opproriate pedal. If I wait until I notice the aircraft yawing it's often as not too late. It's probably not strictly correct but seems to help me at least.

Watch this as well, This is Yo-Yo showing what time in seat does for you :) Not the control display on the bottom left corner.

[Yo-Yo's video]

The non-stick T/O at +8lbs was the most impressive.

Think I need to finally invest in some pedals.

Well, I got it off the ground first time tonight although I did scrape a wingtip once or twice. The landing wasn't so pretty...

I suppose I'll get it in time but at least for now I still prefer the Mustang. Maybe once I get the controls dialed in like I have on the P-51 so it's not so twitchy in flight...

Watch this as well, This is Yo-Yo showing what time in seat does for you :) Not the control display on the bottom left corner.

 

8lbs fairly quickly was the only way I was able to not wind up all over the place.

Thanks for posting this. Now I don't feel like quite such a jerk :thumbup: