Taxi with the Spitfire is a PAIN!

Make sure to read carefully the three-part essay in the sticky section of the SpitFire forum. That's how I figured out the Spitfire (and a bunch of other "hard to handle" taildraggers).

Hi Zim,

 

There is no tail wheel lock on the Spit; the effect of pulling the stick hard back is to use the propwash over the elevators to apply pressure to the tailwheel; the geometry of the tailwheel and it's supporting strut results in a tendency to self correct under this condition.

 

It's a common technique used in many tailwheel aeroplanes that do not benefit from having a lockable tailwheel.

Ditto! I confirm It does help, especially on landings.

If you think the FM is finished more or less, then you're very much mistaken. There is still more development to go and the current behaviour does certainly not match that of the many pilots who write in detail about it. That as much as anything else tells me that it's not finished.

I concur with Art-J as currently, only some stick forces implementation at high speed are mentionned to be missing. If one feels that taxiing isn't realistically modelled, he better talk now cause I don't foresee much changes in that department.

I actually find the spit to be the easiest aircraft to taxi, take off, and land in.

One thing that helps with taxi is the controls used.

This is what I do, set up your rudder pedals if you have them, then map the brake lever to one of the toe brakes on your rudder pedals.

This way you can have a smooth increase in brake pressure and can apply as little or as much as you need.

Another thing is to watch the pressure gauge for the brakes, this way you can see how much brake pressure you are applying to each wheel.

Practice makes Perfect.

I actually find the spit to be the easiest aircraft to taxi, take off, and land in.

 

One thing that helps with taxi is the controls used.

 

This is what I do, set up your rudder pedals if you have them, then map the brake lever to one of the toe brakes on your rudder pedals.

 

This way you can have a smooth increase in brake pressure and can apply as little or as much as you need.

 

 

Another thing is to watch the pressure gauge for the brakes, this way you can see how much brake pressure you are applying to each wheel.

 

 

Practice makes Perfect.

that's what I did also made the world of difference,I learned that with Mig-21

Mapping both brakes axes (left and right) to the brake lever make it easier,cause you can press the pedal you push.

Mapping both brakes axes (left and right) to the brake lever make it easier,cause you can press the pedal you push.

That's what I did. It has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is, that it works almost the same as with other aircraft, only that the rudder setting determines how much braking is applied left or right.

The disadvantage is, that if you get into a precarious situation and are trying to switch brakes between left and right quickly, and wind up pressing both toe brakes at the same time, the last one wins, with regards to how much brake you are applying, which can be confusing and unexpected at times.

One solution I tested was to set up a 'switch' under Modifiers. Then use the switch to bind an axis to the brake handle.

I have a TM HOTAS Throttle. Since when I'm on the ground, I always have the RPM's set to 3000, I have no need for that throttle until after take off. So, once the engine is started and I'm ready to taxi, I hit the switch to change the RPM throttle to work the brake handle.

This works very well, and allows you to apply very well dosed amounts of brakes, while using the rudder pedals exactly the way the Spitfire was designed. Once in the air, hit the switch again, and the brake hand is the RPM throttle again.

EDIT: Brain fart, strike that about editing, you don't need to edit anything. You can do it native.

The disadvantages are:

1. I have to use one hand to control both the boost throttle and brake lever, which can be trying at times.

2. I need to bolt my throttle to the table top, because the force exerted on the throttle levers when moving them both at the same time makes it easy to start pushing the throttle around on the table top.

Really, really ideal would be to have a brake handle on the control stick, exactly the way the Spitfire's spade-stick was designed. I think I saw that somebody actually modded their stick with exactly that, but I unfortunately didn't bookmark where I read it, and haven't been able to find it since :doh:

If you want to learn how to handle the Spit:

1. Use the P-51D (or TF-51). Get practiced on the tail draggers using the steerable tail wheel.
   
2. Continue using it, but don't lock the tail wheel any more.
   
3. Progress to the BF-109. You can't lock the tailwheel during taxi, but having it locked does help for T/O and landing.
   
4. Get back into the Spit. It'll then be easy :)
   

LOL, you guys like to complicate things. :)

I have VKB T-Rudder, so no "joe brakes", I set "British brakes" on joy trigger (trough DCS Switches), with little training I get used to this and not matter if Spit, P-51, Bf 109 or Fw 190 taxi is easy like in Mig-21 (that seems have brakes/rudder/nose wheel modeled in... generous way).

I read a lot about brakes, Brit Brakes, Joe brakes, Rudder Pedals. I only have a thustmaster -T X flighstick. It is a device with rudder in it, also slider thrust, and I have programmed one of the buttons as wheel brakes (W). Just wondering if with this simple setup its possible to taxi the Spit accurately since it just escapes me. If I use rudder only, the tail wheel gets stuck to the first turn I make. If I try to steer with brakes plus rudder its just about the same. So please tell me if Its possible to taxi the spit correctly without the use of rudder pedals or toe brakes. Thanks. :helpsmilie:

So please tell me if Its possible to taxi the spit correctly without the use of rudder pedals or toe brakes. Thanks. :helpsmilie:

I currently lack pedals. It is fine and easy to taxi with a twist stick.

Yes.

 

I currently lack pedals. It is fine and easy to taxi with a twist stick.

Thanks Buzzles, if you could share how you do I will appreciate it.

There's no secret, just pre-empt the aircraft turning, same as the Bf-109 and Fw-190, and only tap the brake button.

To make things clearer, press rctrl+enter. You'll get the control box up, watch what happens if you tap the brake button and when you hold it.

Don't get me wrong, while I find it easy it's not pretty.

It's a bit better if like most of us, you can assign something analogue to the brake lever. I have an X-55, so I use a rotary on the throttle. I only started doing that recently though, and spent a fair bit of time taxing fine without it.

 

 

1. Progress to the BF-109. You can't lock the tailwheel during taxi, but having it locked does help for T/O and landing.
   

Why can't you have the tail wheel locked when taxiing? I keep it kocked all the time, except when doing sharp (90°) turns.

As Buzzles says, pre-empting the aircraft's behaviour is the key to easier taxiing. As soon as you hit the right brake, get ready to give the left brake a little tap just to level things out. Know your aircraft and anticipate.

This is what they mean by dancing on the brakes, a one and a two....

Mapping the warthog joystick button 3 at the base of the stick gives a similar physical action to using the spade grip lever.

Why do people here keep talking about early access version of Spitfire? Is the current release not the final one?

Also, people talk about left and right brakes, but I don't see those listed in the control settings?

Why do people here keep talking about early access version of Spitfire? Is the current release not the final one?

Also, people talk about left and right brakes, but I don't see those listed in the control settings?

It is an early release version. There will be updates to the module. As for the brakes, if you have standard rudder pedals with toe brakes, you can bind both toe brakes to the brake axis, which makes it a whole lot easier and intuitive when pushing the rudders and the brake axis.

I would recommend taxing for 1 hour a day. No takeoffs, no landings just pure taxi all over again. After a week most of you will be able to do a slalom no matter which airport u choose ;)

There's no secret, just pre-empt the aircraft turning, same as the Bf-109 and Fw-190, and only tap the brake button.

 

To make things clearer, press rctrl+enter. You'll get the control box up, watch what happens if you tap the brake button and when you hold it.

 

Don't get me wrong, while I find it easy it's not pretty.

 

It's a bit better if like most of us, you can assign something analogue to the brake lever. I have an X-55, so I use a rotary on the throttle. I only started doing that recently though, and spent a fair bit of time taxing fine without it.

Thanks Buzzles!

It is an early release version. There will be updates to the module.

Really? I didn't know that. Where does it say that on the DCS site? I must have missed it.

As for the brakes, if you have standard rudder pedals with toe brakes, you can bind both toe brakes to the brake axis, which makes it a whole lot easier and intuitive when pushing the rudders and the brake axis.

Sorry to be so thick, but I'm not sure what you mean. What do you mean by 'rudders with toe brakes'?

The issue is blown out of proportion I'd say. I don't even own rudder pedals (use the ones from racing wheel as a cheap franken-subsitute), nor do I use any analog axis for braking (only the spade switch on my Warthog), and yet, taxiing is not really much more difficult than in other warbirds (plus exactly the same as in MiG-15, MiG-21 and L-39).

Just push the rudder and tap the brake to turn one way, than immediately counter-push and counter-tap to straighten or turn the other way. Nothing more to it. If I can do it, guys with more sophisticated hardware should do it too.

Just push the rudder and tap the brake to turn one way, than immediately counter-push and counter-tap to straighten or turn the other way. Nothing more to it. If I can do it, guys with more sophisticated hardware should do it too.

THIS

LOL, you guys like to complicate things. :)

 

I have VKB T-Rudder, so no "joe brakes", I set "British brakes" on joy trigger (trough DCS Switches), with little training I get used to this and not matter if Spit, P-51, Bf 109 or Fw 190 taxi is easy like in Mig-21 (that seems have brakes/rudder/nose wheel modeled in... generous way).

So your trigger works like an axis? IE it's analog?

Really? I didn't know that. Where does it say that on the DCS site? I must have missed it.

 

Sorry to be so thick, but I'm not sure what you mean. What do you mean by 'rudders with toe brakes'?

Most rudder pedals come with two toe brakes. One for each foot. You can bind both to the same axis in DCS, the brake axis. This makes it easier to turn as you will already be pushing the rudder with your foot in the direction you wish to turn, as well as applying as much brake pressure as you want with your toes.