Recommended RPM/Boost settings for approach/final?

I'm having some speed issues with my approaches and landings, and the manual doesn't give any info on RPM/boost settings for landings. Chuck's guide says to enter the patter at 2600rpm and +6 boost, reducing throttle to +2 boost on downwind. The problem with this is that my aircraft does not slow down at all. 2600rpm and 0 boost, I am steady at around 220mph. To slow down to 150mph or so I have to reduce throttle all the way to something like -2 (or less!) boost, and then on final I inevitably come in too fast at around 120mph crossing the threshold.

The real manual doesn't suggest any boost&RPM combo either, probably because:

a) they would be different for Spits with interlinked quadrant and non-interlinked quadrant anyway;

b) they're not needed, really.

You're doing everything fine. Drop the boost way low and the plane looses speed most rapidly of all DCS warbirds, by a huge margin. Then with gear and flaps down adjust to maintain recommended 110'ish indicated on approach and you'll be allright. With such sudden decceleration and acceleration characteristics at low speeds, the speedo is the most important gauge anyway and you don't need to check boost & RPM gauges anymore, nor should you.

I'm having some speed issues with my approaches and landings, and the manual doesn't give any info on RPM/boost settings for landings. Chuck's guide says to enter the patter at 2600rpm and +6 boost, reducing throttle to +2 boost on downwind. The problem with this is that my aircraft does not slow down at all. 2600rpm and 0 boost, I am steady at around 220mph. To slow down to 150mph or so I have to reduce throttle all the way to something like -2 (or less!) boost, and then on final I inevitably come in too fast at around 120mph crossing the threshold.

Full fine pitch. - you might need this to go around, so keep it full fine in the circuit.

For landing, ignore the RPM. Just focus on airspeed. RPM will drop anyways with low throttle.

Throttle down to about -2 to -4 boost (yes, minus 2 to minus 4)

Reduce throttle to maintain 120 top 140 mph on long final

Once dirty, aim for 100-120 short final.

Cross threshold at 90 to 100 ish....

Thanks guys I'll try those out. On a related note, does anyone else have trouble seeing the speedo needle? There are many times when I glance down and cannot see the needle at all from the FOV I need to see out the windscreen.

Speedo is pretty hard to see Petsild made a mod that helps a little

See here about 1/2 way down

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=189399&page=3

Personally I only look at it until threshold after that I just judge the landing by feel, as the speedo is pretty much on the peg by the time you are leveling out/flaring. I actually try not to flare at all but hold the Spit level until she lands herself, then back on the stick

Everybody has their own way of doing it though & you just need to try some suggestions and practice until you find what works for you

Full fine pitch. - you might need this to go around, so keep it full fine in the circuit.

For landing, ignore the RPM. Just focus on airspeed. RPM will drop anyways with low throttle.

Throttle down to about -2 to -4 boost (yes, minus 2 to minus 4)

Reduce throttle to maintain 120 top 140 mph on long final

Once dirty, aim for 100-120 short final.

Cross threshold at 90 to 100 ish....

Full fine pitch puts you in danger of torque management and can set you on your head.

Recommedned is 2500 rpm on approach. Set boost to maintain speed you have indicated. The lower pitch setting to maintain 2500 rpm will prevent torque issues initiating wing dips. In the book somewhere.

Full fine pitch puts you in danger of torque management and can set you on your head.

Recommedned is 2500 rpm on approach. Set boost to maintain speed you have indicated. The lower pitch setting to maintain 2500 rpm will prevent torque issues initiating wing dips. In the book somewhere.

This is actually a good recommend Catseye (nice to hear from you, btw).

I guess that in game we typically just accept a bad landing and slam it down even if IRL, we would normally go around. In practice, however, you are right, we should really use the lower RPM value (but not too low) in order to give acceleration without the risks from nasty torque effect.

Don't worry about boost/rpm too much.

Instead try doing a military overhead break (google it) approach.

It involves putting the throttle to idle, hence why I say don't worry about boost/rpm.

I do overheads all the time in jets, but what's the entry speed/bank angle for an overhead with an old warbird?

The manual says full fine pitch before turning on to final. It gives you maximum braking effect. As for the boost settings: it depends. Hold a 100 mph with your elevator. If you are fast, pull back. If you are slow, push the stick forward. Then look at where your plane is headed. If you are sinking too low, increase power. If you are too high, decrease power. As simple as that.

You probably realise by now that everyone has a different approach to this. I do the following, which is following WAGS video here https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=178896&highlight=producer+note+tutorial

Set boost to +6, Propeller RPM to 2600. Rudder trim to word 'rudder' at 11 o'clock (same position as on entering pit) nose trim to 1 notch up. Remember to close carburettor flap as descending below 1000ft. Run in and break as per wags video. Once you have got yourself into the climbing turn, look in the pit and set your boost to +2 AND LEAVE IT THERE. Now watch the altimeter as you climb up to 1000ft while continuing to turn. Roll out at 1000ft, ensure runway is under the wing aileron as per wags video, open canopy and lower undercarriage. No need to rush in lowering undercarriage, once you roll out at top of turn and are comfortable drop the gear. Keep nose up to maintain speed of around 120 to 115 mph. Don't worry about descending and don't touch the throttle! Leave at +2 boost. Once the runway threshold appears behind the wing, give it a second or two and then enter a descending turn as per wags video, immediately on entering the turn lower your flaps and push the propeller speed control lever fully forward. Wags ends his descending turn quite low and short of the runway and risks landing short of the runway. On a modern runway aim for the piano keys, and on the Normandy runways aim for where the piano keys would be. If you run out of air before the runway you fail, if you land beyond the piano keys, even half way down the runway you still pass! Here is the key - adjust your attitude to maintain a speed of between 90 and 110 mph in the descending turn, that will make your rate of descent correct. Go for a fairly wide circle to allow you to cross the runway threshold pointing straight down the runway with a bit of altitude left to play with. This might take some trial and error but if in doubt maintain altitude by keeping speed down and land further down the runway. As you approach the threshold adjust your attitude to cross the threshold at approx. 90 to 100 mph. Once over the runway lower your nose slightly to put the top of the front edge of the engine cowling (just behind the propeller) in line with the end of the runway and assuming that you are now very low knock off the throttle, or if a bit high, wait until 40 or 50 ft and knock off throttle but don't let speed increase in a long descent. If this is all that you do, you will land ok but maybe with a couple of bounces. Look at the Turn Indicator needle and keep it centred with your rudder, even through the bounces and you should roll out ok. But to finesse it, after knocking off the throttle watch the ground rising and slowly pull back on the stick to achieve an attitude no more than what it looks like when you are sat in the pit on the ground. This also takes a bit of trial and error as if you are too high when you pitch you may end up bouncing. Let the ground come up and seem like you must surely be about to touch down. For me the correct attitude is when the horizon is in line with the metal work directly below the glass of the front windscreen. So as the ground approaches slowly pull back to move the attitude from having the end of the runway on the top of engine cowling (or thereabouts) to an attitude equal to the aircraft being sat on the ground. When you hear the wheels touch, immediately set your focus on the Turn Indicator needle and work the rudders to keep the aircraft straight. Don't touch the brakes, and don't stop watching the needle and working the rudder until it has slowed right down. A great landing can be screwed up right at the end by thinking that you have slowed enough and taking your eye of the needle, resulting in another swerve and wing scrape. I pretty much let it roll to a stop, or transition straight into a taxi without using the brakes. If you need to brake, apply gentle brakes otherwise you will end up on your nose!

Again, it is better to keep your turning descent tighter and land half way down the runway while learning, than to run out of air!

If you are landing in a fairly straight line you can safely keep your head down watching the turn indicator needle as keeping this straight will keep you on the runway so no need to look up, and if you run off the edge of the runway at some point it will be ok as the spitfire will roll on the grass ok, whereas if you look away from the needle because you have gone on the grass, the resulting wing scrape will damage the aircraft!

Now taxi around and do it again!

From the pilot's handling Manual for the IX.

RPM of 3000 (full fine pitch) is stated from the point where gear is lowerd.

Flaps are lowered at 2650 RPM, the the pitch is moved to full fine when the gear is lowered.

Throttle setting for an overshoot is +7 lb, as opposed to full whack.

I'm having some speed issues with my approaches and landings, and the manual doesn't give any info on RPM/boost settings for landings. Chuck's guide says to enter the patter at 2600rpm and +6 boost, reducing throttle to +2 boost on downwind. The problem with this is that my aircraft does not slow down at all. 2600rpm and 0 boost, I am steady at around 220mph. To slow down to 150mph or so I have to reduce throttle all the way to something like -2 (or less!) boost, and then on final I inevitably come in too fast at around 120mph crossing the threshold.

If you look at the DCS video by Matt Wagner about take off and landing, during the “spitfire landing” approach he says the same thing: +2 halfway in the upward turn and the spit’s speed goes down to 160, then wheels down. Watch the video closely, the boost gauge indicates -2 !

(He later does some adjustments to about 0 boost, then back down to -2).

I think its a typo from the start. And weirdly enough Matt rools back to -2 all the while saying +2...

Odd, but I use -2 and it works fine.

I wish the replay tracks worked so I can figure out what works best in my case. Tacview has never played nicely on my computer unfortunately--also typically has odd terrain errors and such simplified visuals that seeing all that's going on with my flare, control surfaces, etc. is impossible.

I'm having a whole bunch of weird issues with general flight controls which may be making things more difficult. I set deadzones and curves on my pitch/roll/yaw, but does anyone have curves on their throttle or other axes used for the RPM lever/rudder trim? Even the slightest throttle movement will result in a large boost change (and thus unwanted yaw/roll). Same for my rudder trim, which I have assigned to a rotary: minute movements of my rotary end up knocking my nose all over the place.

RPM of 3000 (full fine pitch) is stated from the point where gear is lowerd.

Flaps are lowered at 2650 RPM, the the pitch is moved to full fine when the gear is lowered.

Is this adjustment from 3000 to 2650rpm done via the RPM lever, or does the RPM just drop to that level when at -2 boost?

Is this adjustment from 3000 to 2650rpm done via the RPM lever, or does the RPM just drop to that level when at -2 boost?

You will most likely need to manage the RPM manually to get 2650 or so.

To get up to 3000 when you drop the gear, you will need to go FULL-FINE pitch. It's unlikely that you will actually achieve 3000 rpm at max fine pitch, with the low boost setting, so just set full fine and forget about it.

On the subject of curves for throttle also; YES, I use a curve for this.

My curve is designed to reduce the responsiveness of the boost at low throttle settings. I did this speccifically so I could have more fine control at lower Boost settings.

This is actually a good recommend Catseye (nice to hear from you, btw).

I guess that in game we typically just accept a bad landing and slam it down even if IRL, we would normally go around. In practice, however, you are right, we should really use the lower RPM value (but not too low) in order to give acceleration without the risks from nasty torque effect.

Hi philstyle:

Always nice to read your posts.

I'm too busy ducking my head far inside the cockpit as I watch the center-line paint job zip by while I'm perfecting my upside-down braking technique. :)

I read most posts but refrain from participating because of the "enthusiasm" of differing opinions but couldn't resist this time. Hoping to save someone from having scrape marks on their canopy. :)

Cheers Mate

Cats . . .

My landings are starting to get better now; not tipping over so much any more. Still some bounce occasionally.

Now I just need to figure out how to track runway center on takeoff/landing rolls when I can't even see the runway center.

Hey all,

Sorry about that stupid typo for the Boost. It's MINUS 2, not +2. I made the small correction in the guide. Sorry about that.