Mosquito control on takeoff

[Stone]

I just installed the Mosquito and have looked at the various resources on how to configure the plane for takeoff. But when I follow the recommended setup (RPM @3000, stick back, elevator 1/2 division nose down, aileron neutral and rudder slightly right, move stick forward 1/2 inch at 35 MPH) I find that once the plane rotates it immediately rolls and yaws to the left uncontrollably and crashes. I have to crank the rudder "and aileron" trim very far to the right in order to prevent this from happening. Curious to know if anyone else has experienced this, and if maybe I'm doing something wrong. I've checked and rechecked axis mappings and everything seems fine. Thanks

[Tshark]

I find I need 1 1/2 notches nose down trim, the rudder trim set right into the "TRIM" label, and aileron trim right about 2 notches.  Also avoid rotating too soon.  With the Mossie, more speed means more stability.

[Stone]

Yep, that did it. More trim in all directions and slow rotation seems to be the ticket. Thanks.

[valleyboy]

Apply power slowly, If you firewall the throttles from the get go - thats a lot of torque to deal with!

 

apply a bit of power, let the aircraft accelerate gently at first - holding same throttle, then once you see the speedo needle moving start applying more power.  Do that a few times and you’ll get use to it.

Edited October 10, 2021 by valleyboy

[No1sonuk]

And you might need a bit of differential throttle adjustment to control the line on the runway.
Mine still veers a bit left after takeoff - particularly while messing about with the over-complicated landing gear lever.

[tweet]

The "over-complicated landing gear lever" is easily de-complicated by releasing the latch as the last item in your Before Takeoff flow. Problem solved.

[Holbeach]

13 hours ago, tweet said:

The "over-complicated landing gear lever" is easily de-complicated by releasing the latch as the last item in your Before Takeoff flow. Problem solved.

 

Release that rather important safety catch and an accidental knock of the wheels up lever, in a busy cockpit, will result in a very difficult take-off.

 

..

[Stone]

Because I use VR I actually use VoiceAttack to control the bomb doors, landing gear/latch and flap latch. Simplifies things a bit while flying... 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Dave23913

[tweet]

Oddly enough in 38 years and over 23,000 hours of flying jets I've never managed to raise or lower the gear by accident. I've had students try but I also never had a student I wasn't way ahead of. The sim might offer more risk. I'm careful to not map the gear ("G" key usually) to anything that can be activated unintentionally. Besides, this is a PC sim. What difference would it make?

[Holbeach]

4 hours ago, tweet said:

 Besides, this is a PC sim. What difference would it make?

 

This one is easy to answer.

 

Realism.

I don't have a real Mosquito, so this is the nearest I'm likely to get and I want to make the most of it by operating it as I would the real thing.

The catch is there, because people did raise the gear whilst still on the ground.

The catch is released after lift off, as I'm sure you would tell your students and that is what I do.

I have the switch button on my right hand side. This leads to a wobble when raising the gear, as it did IRL.

 

I also use the stick lever to operate the brakes, not pedal brakes.

Do 3 point landings, not wheelies, because that's how it was done in WW2. Etc,etc.

Research manuals and historical books endlessly to to try to replicate the real thing and get it right.

 

All this leads to immersion. I'm not in a sim, I'm in a Mosquito.

 

But this is your sim. Fly it however you like and enjoy it.

 

Regards.

 

..

 

[Bremspropeller]

1 hour ago, Holbeach said:

The catch is released after lift off, as I'm sure you would tell your students and that is what I do.

 

The catch is released with your thumb, while grabbing the gear-leaver, while raising the gear. It is one movement.

There's no need to make two different actions out of this in the game.

 

 

[Holbeach]

It is 2 movements.

 

1 with the thumb on the catch to release the lever.

2 with the hand on the lever.

 

Not that difficult.

 

..

[ARM505]

He probably means IRL, it would be one action - in game it must be mapped to two actions for cockpit builders of course, but there could be a keybind that allows both actions to be completed to be more in line with practical use. There is precedent for this - I believe the MiG21 and maybe the Hind (going from memory) need a safety lever to be moved to allow gear lever movement, but the normal keybind does this as 'one' action (although all controls are mapped individually as well).

 

And yes, IRL it would be a one hand, one movement action, easily accomplished - in the sim as it is now, I can completely understand flipping the safety lever before takeoff (something I wouldn't dream of doing in an actual aircraft). It grinds my 'reality' gears, but let's face it - IRL it's easy.

[Bremspropeller]

42 minutes ago, ARM505 said:

He probably means IRL, it would be one action - in game it must be mapped to two actions for cockpit builders of course, but there could be a keybind that allows both actions to be completed to be more in line with practical use.

 

That's a bingo!

 

47 minutes ago, Holbeach said:

It is 2 movements.

 

1 with the thumb on the catch to release the lever.

2 with the hand on the lever.

 

Not that difficult.

 

If you grab the lever correctly - with the thumb on the catch -  it's one movement.

 

Even less difficult.

[tweet]

You're dead right Holbeach. People should fly in DCS as they wish. I'm not unlike you in desiring realism. Up to a point. Things are like the latch which can be operated along with the gear lever using one hand approach meaningless. In a crew airplane like the Mossie, I suspect the nav raised the gear on command. If so, wouldn't it be more realistic to have an intercom voice command? Regardless, the latch is a nice touch but in function is also what I put into a special category: Practice bleeding. You and others may like to bleed just for realism but most of us don't. At some point a lifetime of "been there, done that" makes the feature little more than a curiosity. There are enough important features that are harder to do in DCS due to the limitations of the sim and our controls than IRL. I'd much rather focus on making them function realistical from a functionality standpoint rather than OCD like attention to minute detail or cartoonish simplicity. Achieving a balance that approaches realistic levels while compensating for the simulation of simulation and control is possible. The neat thing about DCS is that these features are put into the sim leaving it up to us to choose which are practice bleeding and which are important to our experience. We can decide the work arounds and adaptations. It's none of our business which is which to the point where an unfair advantage is reached.

 

Which are important and which aren't is up to individual interpretation of course. Binding the latch and a gear lever function to a HOTAS is unrealistic. On balance it's no different that unlatching prior to beginning the takeoff. So is using a keyboard. The pedantic purist might demand an instrument panel with the gear lever and latch to be truly realistic. Too often discussions like this become a means of claiming superiority to boost ones ego or soothe feelings of insecurity. I'm not suggesting that is your motivation. I don't know anything about you. It's just that a long life of seeing these kind of posts and personality quirks is a bit tedious.