[Need help] Tiger Moth - leading edge slats

[madan5474]

Hi friends,

Noob here... I am learning to fly the Tiger Moth on full realism mode using the flashcard guide and able to successfully takeoff, fly around for a while and land.

On final approach, I am unable to do the following step to reduce speed:

"19. Open leading edge slats (7) to 100% to slow the aircraft down"

I have assigned keys and also tried using my mouse to move this lever but it seems to be locked.

Please guide me if you are familiar with this plane. Thanks!

[ginger-welsh]

The slats are fully automatic, but are not working at the moment.
They will be fixed in a future update.

In the meantime, use side-slip to slow down.

..

[madan5474]

Thanks for sharing, ginger-welsh. Appreciate it. I will try the side-slip method :)

[Toprudder]

Elevator trim can also help to slow down though the lever animation for that function doesn't seem to be working.

[madan5474]

Thanks for the guidance, Toprudder. I tried it and you are correct. Pressing the default keys does the action of elevator trim while flying but I don't see the lever animation in cockpit view.

Btw, does the result of above action also display in the info window?

[RAF74_Buzzsaw]

Hello Madan

The fastest way to slow down besides zero throttle, is to sideslip.

You do this by applying rudder and ailerons in opposite directions.

So for example adding left rudder and then partially correcting the yaw with right aileron.

This will cause the aircraft to sideslip, i.e. move through the air with the fuselage at an angle to the direction of travel. This is highly inefficient aerodynamically, and therefore adds drag and slows the plane.

Be careful when you do this that you don't over do it and put yourself in a spin or a stall. Practicing at higher altitudes first is a good idea.

Exercise caution when sideslipping into a landing, if you lose control at low altitudes, you won't recover.

Only use sideslip in the approach, by the time you are over the airfield threshold, you should be straightened out with no sideslip or yaw.

[madan5474]

Thanks for the detailed guidance, Buzzsaw. Tried it a couple of times and will keep practicing :)

Sharing the link below of a tutorial that I have viewed earlier. Side-slip and landing starts at the 4th minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JX9Fme1Y4k

[DavePro]

The slats are not designed to slow the aircraft down. If unlocked, they extend just before the stall, to avoid stalling the outboard sections of the upper wing. They are locked for aerobatics to avoid them hammering in and out and extending at different times, for example in a stall turn.

One comment on sideslipping. My Tiger Instructor had spent WWII training pupils on the aircraft and was supposed to have 14,000 hours on them. He could do anything with them, but was surprisingly rough. For sideslipping he'd approach way high and put the thing into a full crossed control slip, at (or below) stall speed. The rate of descent was impressive. Much later I found that the best way to use slip was to approach just a little high in the glide, and use a very small amount of slip to just apply enough drag to keep the aircraft aimed at the landing point. Much more satisfying.

The same Instructor taught spins by slamming full back stick and rudder several knots above stall speed, resulting in the aircraft flipping inverted before dropping into a very nasty spin. That's never likely to happen, except if you fumble aerobatics. The more normal spin is off an approach turn when you allow the speed to drop off and the aircraft just slides smoothly into a spin. More pleasant, and much more useful to practice.