Simply Can't Take Off

[gporto]

I've just started this game an I am on mission 3 of the campaign that requires you to take off. When I apply throttle, even slowly, the plane spins to the right. I have tried Left Shift-G to lock the tail wheel and that does nothing. I have removed my joystick and am only using the keyboard to ensure it isn't a joystick thing.

Any ideas what is going on before I give up? I've tried countering it with rudder, but it's almost impossible. I've pressed / to ensure it isn't a brake that is on. Very frustrating.

[Sir Lag Allot]

try using z x , and .

[Trupobaw]

I don't believe it's joystick thing...

Locking a tailwheel is a must. Turn the technochat (the text messages that display plane's systems, like throttle etc) on to see when it's locked and when it's not.

Set the propeller pitch to the finest (maximal).

The rule is, the more speed you have, the more control of plane you have. The faster the engine works, the less control you have. Add throttle slowly as you pick up speed. Pull the stick to push tail wheel into the ground, to improve control, and raise the tail as you pick up speed and gain control. Use rudder for steering.

[Dr Jebus]

You need to use the rudder to steer in the opposite direction to the way the engine turns the plane during take off. Stab the rudder fully in the opposite direction repeatedly. On German aircraft you can also hit the brake for a moment while engaging rudder to tap one wheel brake.

All single propeller planes will naturally do this. It can be made far worse in the case of a cross wind, take a look at the Tutorial Library in the Guide section of the Steam page for more details there.

[Dr Jebus]

Oh, and if you are flying the FW-190, the tail wheel is locked by pulling back fully on the joystick and holding it there until its time to lower the nose.

[Simon1279]

Welcome to what is a flight simulator and not a flight game , also the engine+prop torque effect are normal in prop planes, usually they turns you to the left and you have to use the rudder to make the plane going straight forward

[ethan]

That's on all prop planes. It is torque from the propeller spin. A prop spinning clockwise is going to make the plane roll to the left. Counter with right rudder. FYI russian planes turn right because their props spin counter clockwise! counter with left rudder!

You need to use rudder and rudder alone to counter this, it's the only way. Keep in mind as you take off, the effect will diminish with speed, you will need to gradually return the rudder to neutral as you gain speed. Using brakes or diff steer will only slow down your plane you will run out of runway. Give it more practice, you'll find it is not 'impossible'

Reference:
http://avstop.com/ac/flighttrainghandbook/imageh1n.jpg
http://wiki.flightgear.org/Understanding_Propeller_Torque_and_P-Factor

[Thiccolas Cage]

Originally posted by Simon1279™:

Welcome to what is a flight simulator and not a flight game , also the engine+prop torque effect are normal in prop planes, usually they turns you to the left and you have to use the rudder to make the plane going straight forward

I have exactly the same issue and it's nothing to do with being new to flight sims. With several thousand hours in DCS World and every other flight sim ever made, it has me absolutely buggered why I cannot take off in BoS (but if I do a quick mission in the air, it's straight flying). I've held the nose up, locked the tailwheel, slowly applied throttle with full left rudder (like the P51-D Mustang) and all I do is uncontrollably spin. This isn't torque, unless I'm missing a simple fundamental?

Does anyone have any new ideas?

[Hadji]

I think takeoffs in Il-2 BoS are pretty similar to DCS takeoffs. Have you checked that you aren't using takeoff assists in DCS? They have a nasty habit of setting themselves in ON position after DCS updates...

Key is to to let the planes fly themselves off the ground without pulling the stick. Apply a bit of flaps, lock tailwheel and balance the plane with rudder (having pedals help A LOT here) as you accelerate down the runway. As the plane begins to takeoff be prepared to counter any rolling with stick input. Use TINY stick inputs and DO NOT pull the stick back. The only time I pull back on the stick a bit is when I takeoff in heavy loaded bombers or when it is required to lock the tailwheel.

[Thiccolas Cage]

Thanks for the reply, but that still aint it!

Definitely don't use take-off assist in DCS or any other sim and I figure if I can take off in the DCS Mustang then any plane in BoS should be a doddle. Even with full left rudder, locked tailwheel, gentle acceleration, the second the aircraft moves it starts turning in a circle. No control inputs seem to be able to counter this. Getting really confused by it and am thinking that maybe one of my peripherals (xbox contoller, saitek pedals, warthog stick) has a rogue axis somewhere forcing the rotation? But then when I load up DCS (or when i just do a quick mission in BoS) all inputs are straight and the aircraft perfectly controllable.

So confused!

[Nonolem]

This is what happened to me the first time I played BoS, when it was first early released more than one year ago...

It's a propeller pitch problem : on Russian planes, you must to set the pitch to max RPM (100 % on the technochat), else your propeller is not producing enough airflow on your rudders, which become inefficient in that case. The propeller torque will make you spin, and you could not correct this.

With the (not so) new start procedure, you set your engine management (mixture, throttle, pitch) to what you want to be after the engine start, else the mixture and propeller pitch will go back to 0% after the engine has started, causing the engine to stop, or to produce an inefficient airflow.

Doing that, after the start procedure, your engine will be setted as you wanted it to be before the start procedure.

When you start already in air, the engine is already setted correctly, so no problem.

[Thiccolas Cage]

As soon as you said propeller pitch problem, I realised that I have mixture set on my left throttle but nothing matched for propeller. I'll give the keyboard commands a go and report back.

Cheers Nono (and everyone else who pitched in).

[Major Problem]

I think you guys touched on a couple of points that happened to me before:

Conflicting inputs with another controller that´s plugged in (gamepad)
Prop Pitch not on 100%

Let us know if you figure it out!

[pentium]

make sure you look at the right hand side to see if you are foing straight

[Vincini]

I like the adjust my trim to where the plane gets off the ground by itself and requires minimal input done by me. Also remember that smooth controls are highly needed on the ground, jerky movements with the stick can cause you to spin, don't just let the stick snap back straight, slowly twist it back to position. You'll get the hang of it

[DarkFib3r]

Originally posted by Nonolem:

It's a propeller pitch problem : on Russian planes, you must to set the pitch to max RPM (100 % on the technochat), else your propeller is not producing enough airflow on your rudders, which become inefficient in that case. The propeller torque will make you spin, and you could not correct this.

I was having the EXACT problem: LaGG-3 spinning out of control on simple, slow forward movement on the runway. My prop pitch was indeed 0%. Setting it back to 100% fixed the issue.

Thanks for the great tip! That was getting frustrating :-)