Take off issues-advice requested

I have the TM WH and TM rudder pedals. I have only flown jets until now. With the soon to be released Normandy map, I dusted off my P51 module and started to learn it.

However, taking off is proving to be more of a challenge than I anticipated. I have put more holes in the airport than have the gopher holes in my front lawn.

I currently have no curves set in any of the axis' including the rudder pedals. I set the rudder trim in the cockpit to 5. In the special features, I have set the auto rudder to on and to off and I have set the take-off helper to 0 and to 100, all with the same result. I go down the runway fairly straight, start to climb and then the plane veers to the left, flips over and crashes. I have tried to give it more right rudder on taking off but the same result occurs. In the beginning, I did have the rudder accidentally assigned to both the throttle and rudder, but I cleaned that up.

I have asked my wife for help, but she just looks at me and walks away. The dog has also been of no help. So I am turning to this forum for advice.

Hi sobe,

sounds to me like you've got most of the usual suspects covered.

First question what are your rudder controls assigned to? Twist stick or pedals?

Second point - I would suggest you dial in about ~ +20 curvature on the elevator control axis as it can be a bit twitchy on the pitch axis otherwise.

Third recommendation - the veer left flip over and crash is a full on stall; you're leaving the runway in ground effect; it's an aerodynamic effect both a blessing and a curse. Gives you a lift boost if you're low level (within about a wingspan of your aircraft in altitude) but once you leave that zone it disappears.

What's happening is you are lifting off whilst in that zone at an airspeed not high enough to sustain the lift as soon as you climb out of it; result = stall!

My advice is to lift the tail and keep her on the main wheels on the takeoff roll till you get to 100mph IAS, then lift off very slowly and make sure you climb through that GE boundary slowly and with more airspeed.

Good luck!

Hey Sobe,

It can be a bit of a pain in the beginning. But it's like learning to ride a bicycle. Once it clicks, it'll never let go.

First I would really advice you to turn off take-off assist and rudder assist.

If you get the Mustang in the air, then you're past the hard part as far as I'm concerned. Don't climb too fast, and keep the wings level with the stick. Also make sure your throttle movements are very gentle at low airspeeds.

That was the answer. I was taking off to early. I still cheat a little by having the auto rudder and t/o helper on, but that is so that I can continue on my lessons.

"Third recommendation - the veer left flip over and crash is a full on stall; you're leaving the runway in ground effect; it's an aerodynamic effect both a blessing and a curse. Gives you a lift boost if you're low level (within about a wingspan of your aircraft in altitude) but once you leave that zone it disappears. What's happening is you are lifting off whilst in that zone at an airspeed not high enough to sustain the lift as soon as you climb out of it; result = stall!"

Now I keep the nose down a little longer until I reach the speed I need and then up and away.

The first and last time I had my Mustang suddenly stall, flip and crash on climb-out was when I forgot to raise flaps, but I guess You've got that covered. I also had a fair share of uncontrollable moments before I realized that mini-mouse stick of Warthog throttle was assigned to pitch and roll by default (what kind of an idiot came up with this idea?) and I was touching it by accident. I'd suggest double checking once again if some duplicate assignments don't mess up Your controls. Then again, maybe You're pulling the stick too early and too much indeed. From my own experience - unmodded Warthog itself is not really a good stick for WWII planes in any flight sims and I wouldn't even bother trying to fly without any curves (used to use 20% all around, switched to linear only recently after installing a 30 cm extension).

If replay tracks weren't very unreliable again in 1.5.6, I would also suggest saving one and posting it here, so we could see what really happens, as the description is a bit too vague. You know what, do it anyway. But save a track after a "takeoff from runway" type of a mission, to avoid usual track corruption related to taxiing. Maybe run directly off the runway it will play correctly.

Third recommendation - the veer left flip over and crash is a full on stall; you're leaving the runway in ground effect; it's an aerodynamic effect both a blessing and a curse. Gives you a lift boost if you're low level (within about a wingspan of your aircraft in altitude) but once you leave that zone it disappears.

 

What's happening is you are lifting off whilst in that zone at an airspeed not high enough to sustain the lift as soon as you climb out of it; result = stall!

But airplanes have no cruise control you say.... of course they do.... elevator trim. Elevator trim determines the speed at which the plane wants to fly without control input.

If you're dropping a wing on takeoff add in a bit of nose down trim.

I have found that 3.5 units of nose down trim works very well for take-offs. You have to use those rudders, too.

Unlike turbofan aircraft, you can expect significant turning tendencies as you add power during the takeoff roll. You have torque effects, spiraling slipstream, P factor, and because the P51 is a talwheel airplane you can also expect a sudden tendency for the airplane to yaw left when the tail wheel lifts off due to the gyroscopic effect of the prop, and the P51 has a huge prop. I remember the strength of the gyroscopic effect surprising me the first time I piloted a conventional gear airplane, and that was a small 1947 Stinson with a fraction of the power and prop size of a Mustang.

I think flying tail wheel airplanes in a sim is extra challenging because there is no seat of the pants feel for how the airplane is moving, only visual cues.