how to handle the spitIX??

[David198502]

hello guys!
as im a total beginner, but really looking forward to become a hunter and not the bait, i have some questions about the spitfires in general and the MKIX, which i prefer to fly.
i think to know that the spitfire is a really good turning plane and good at speed too.
but if i fly online, most of the time i cant catch up witch the enemy planes.
especially if they climb up and i try to follow, they either escape easily because they remain faster, or i even turn into a stall because i loose really fast speed.
and the other problem is that i cant outurn other planes if they are on my six.
even the bfs follow me.if i try to outturn a bf, first i turn tighter,but losing speed, so it catch up and shoots me down.
....so i guess im doing something really wrong with handling my spit.

maybe its because i dont know what the magnets are for, how i use propeller pitch,cowl flaps and compressor stages.
so my question, is there anywhere a thread which explains in detail, how to use the spitfires properly.
i would be very grateful for any information!!!!
by the way excuse my bad english.

[eddolgov]

Spit is very menacing opponent. If you like this type of planes, you should use its strongest sides. As I know from Russian servers where I played most of time, players used it as a hunter plane. They climbed to 3000-4000 meters and watched for a single planes then dived to them. After attack they smoothly climbed up to the altitude they were or even higher. Good pilots didn't engage in dogfight battle, because in small speed spit and in horizontal maneuvers spit become very pleasant target for axis and Russian planes. I think the main point is to keep your energy high, try not to lose it or you will be shot down.
I like axis planes but if I meet spit somewhere above me, I try to avoid fight because against a good skilled pilot the result is almost predictable.

[julian265]

hello guys!
as im a total beginner, but really looking forward to become a hunter and not the bait, i have some questions about the spitfires in general and the MKIX, which i prefer to fly.

Don't worry about pitch, radiator or supercharger for now - you should be able to out-turn most German types without touching them. Besides, radiator and supercharger are controlled automatically on the Spit IX.

Bear in mind that some online 109 pilots like to take off with 25% fuel if the fighting is close, and they become hard to deal with if your spit has 50% or more.

Secondly, the 109 G2 in particular is more manoeuvrable than the other 109s, and it's also an incredible climber, so you need to give it more respect than the others when in a turn-fight.

I suggest you use a slightly downward spiral to try to out turn them - the 109's low speed handling is very good, so try not to get stuck into a turn fight at very low speeds. If you turn hard, but have the nose pointed a little down, your speed will stay up, and you might keep your turn advantage over the 109. Obviously, you'll be losing altitude and energy, so don't continue too far if the 109 breaks off, or if there are other bandits around. You also need enough altitude to begin with...

Watch your fuel, try not to enter turn-fights if you've still got a lot.

Practise turning hard, and also riding on the edge of stall, and preventing the wing-drop with rudder (ie keep the slip ball centered). I guess you should experiment with flaps too.

[julian265]

One more thing - the speed and altitude (energy) each plane has before the first pass is extremely important. If someone dives on you and then climbs, you've never going to be able to follow them, because you don't have the energy they have. All you can do in that case is try to avoid their shots when they dive on you, and try to make it toward friendlies, or frustrate the enemy into pressing the attack too far, and hence lose too much energy when they try to get a shot.

[IceFire]

hello guys!
as im a total beginner, but really looking forward to become a hunter and not the bait, i have some questions about the spitfires in general and the MKIX, which i prefer to fly.
i think to know that the spitfire is a really good turning plane and good at speed too.
but if i fly online, most of the time i cant catch up witch the enemy planes.
especially if they climb up and i try to follow, they either escape easily because they remain faster, or i even turn into a stall because i loose really fast speed.
and the other problem is that i cant outurn other planes if they are on my six.
even the bfs follow me.if i try to outturn a bf, first i turn tighter,but losing speed, so it catch up and shoots me down.
....so i guess im doing something really wrong with handling my spit.

maybe its because i dont know what the magnets are for, how i use propeller pitch,cowl flaps and compressor stages.
so my question, is there anywhere a thread which explains in detail, how to use the spitfires properly.
i would be very grateful for any information!!!!
by the way excuse my bad english.

Hi David... now that you've been flying a bit you're going to start getting into the details which will make you worse for a while and then turn you into a much better combat pilot.

There are a lot of things that you can work on to improve your situation online. I would start by doing some searches online for combat maneuvers (air combat maneuvers also called ACM). Go here: http://www.simhq.com/_air/acc_library.html

Look up Discussion Of Boom And Zoom Tactics and all four of the Tactics 101 articles.

These tactics can be applied to ANY aircraft from a WW I biplane to a Spitfire in WWII to a F-35 Lighting II fighting in the future. The technology and capabilities change but the same basic tactics still apply.

I'll try and address two basic areas that you've identified:

Speed - Speed is definitely a key aspect of air combat. Speed is energy which can be spent like money on different moves. Every move will either cost you energy (i.e. climbing, turning, etc.) or gain you energy (i.e. diving). A really good combat pilot can take a slower aircraft and make it competitive with the right tactics and by maintaining a constant energy advantage over their opponent. With the Spitfire you have a relatively fast aircraft that gathers speed well but isn't always the fastest to accelerate so maintaining your energy is very important if you fight faster opponents. Planes that are faster are aircraft like the Fw190D-9, La-7, Ki-84, P-51 and so forth.

Turning - Turning is directly related to speed. Spitfires turn best at certain speeds (about 350kph IAS is about where I like to put it). A tight turn is not always the best turn in a Spitfire... work on balancing out your speed and tightness of turn so that you maintain some speed through the maneuver. Versus most 109 models you can out turn them at 300-350kph but when speed drops to 250kph their leading edge slats deploy and they can temporarily get a firing angle while bleeding speed themselves. Stay away from turning battles if you can and focus on using altitude, speed, dives and gentle climbs to engage the enemy.

[David198502]

hey guys thx!
i really appreciate your help. today someone told me online to use wep all the time. i thought that would lead to overheating, so i havent done it before, but it doesnt. and now its much more easier to follow the oponents.
i already recognized that supercharger and radiator are controled automatically. but what are the magnetos for?what is the difference if i use the first, the second or both together????

[IceFire]

hey guys thx!
i really appreciate your help. today someone told me online to use wep all the time. i thought that would lead to overheating, so i havent done it before, but it doesnt. and now its much more easier to follow the oponents.
i already recognized that supercharger and radiator are controled automatically. but what are the magnetos for?what is the difference if i use the first, the second or both together????
In the context of the game the magnetos don't mean much. There are two on all planes for backup and a typical startup procedure in a WWII warbird is to check both magnetos to make sure they are working correctly. Since they ALWAYS work in game you don't need to check them. Ignore them. In years of playing I've only used the controls for those once... and that was for fun only :)

[David198502]

ah ok thx!
i thought they are possibly important for the power of the engine in different altitudes or something like that.
oh man i love that game although i still get shot down most of the time!!but each kill is a real satisfaction!

[IceFire]

On some aircraft you do need to switch the supercharger stages to get best power. The Yaks, Corsairs, Hellcats and several other types require manual supercharger stage switching. The Spitfire IX has a two stage supercharger, however, this is a fully automatic unit so no manual intervention is required... it will switch appropriately (look for a red light on the right side of the cockpit when it switches to the higher altitude stage).

[rakinroll]

Normally, a Spit pilot can eat hamburger during dogfight. It is not a plane, totally a gift. If you have a problem on turning against any german plane with that plane, you should check your joy settings.

[IceFire]

Also this might be a good opportunity to point out the several variations of Spitfires that are available to you in game and which Spitfire you should pick for what occasion.

Spitfire VIII
- LF.VIIIc
- LF.VIIIc Clipped

Spitfire IX
- LF.IXc
- LF.IXc Clipped
- LF.IXe
- LF.IXe Clipped
- HF.IXe
- LF.IXc +25lbs

The Spitfire V is a totally different beast than the IX in many ways. Although they are both Spitfires the V has much better handling but is not as fast.

The Spitfire VIII I mention because it's the "same" as the IX. The IX was actually meant to be a temporary production model until the improved VIII could be brought to production. The VIII is more refined than the IX, however, the IX was used in larger numbers and gets essentially equal performance.

There is a HF.IXe model in game for the IX. This is meant to be a high altitude version. At lower altitudes it's performance is degraded compared to the rest of the IX models. Many people fly the HF online (no idea why)... do not make the mistake of picking this Spitfire unless your intended fighting altitude is 8000 meters or higher.

The highest performing version is the IXc +25lbs. This is a very late war modification where a higher quality of fuel allowed the Spitfire higher performance. Overall top speed remains the same, however, the top speed can be achieved at a greater range of altitudes.

Finally there are clipped wing versions which have a higher roll rate but the turn rate is somewhat degraded. I prefer the clipped wing versions myself as a rolling battle is more important to me than a sustained turn.

[K_Freddie]

There's just a teeny weeny missing ingredient that is never mentioned amongst the barrage of technical mumbo-jumbo that most are given.

Patrick always said it to Sponge-Bob - IMAGINATION ;)

If you do not have this, you'll find yourself at the 'wrong end' no matter how 'good' your aircraft is.

OFFLINE practice is your que here.....;)

[AndyJWest]

I'd say that if you want to learn how to fly Spits, you are probably better off practising with the Mk V versions - less grunt, but better handling. Set one up in the QMB with 50% fuel and no enemy, but ensure 'spins and stalls' or whatever it is called is on, at 3000m. Fly it around - practice tight turns, loops, slow rolls, inverted flight. When you feel comfortable with this, do the silly stuff - tailslides (pull up vertical, throttle back, and keep pointing upwards - if you get it right you will slide backwards for a brief moment, then flip round into a dive - allow plenty of altitude, as you can easily get into a spin). Do pretty well anything you can think of that doesn't involve either ripping the wings off in a dive, or hitting the ground. While you do this you will get plenty of opportunity to practise spin recovery, but more to the point, you will get to recognise how far you can push a Spit before it bites.

[AKA_Tenn]

find a squad with a good training program... there's some really good players that'd be totally willing to help you out, flying by yourself you don't have the feedback from the more experienced guys, so how can you really tell how well your doing if you don't have someone who can tell you if your doing it right?

in the end its whats between your chair and joystick that needs to perform well, and the plane your in has far less significance than you think.

[K_Freddie]

...in the end its whats between your chair and joystick that needs to perform well, and the plane your in has far less significance than you think.
...as Patrick says...:grin:

[Ikarus]

normally, a spit pilot can eat hamburger during dogfight. It is not a plane, totally a gift. If you have a problem on turning against any german plane with that plane, you should check your joy settings.

+1000

[BadAim]

Normally, a Spit pilot can eat hamburger during dogfight. It is not a plane, totally a gift. If you have a problem on turning against any german plane with that plane, you should check your joy settings.

That's usually what I'm doing no matter what plane I'm flying, that and drinking heavily. It's my secret for siming mediocrity, it keeps 'em guessing, and shaking their heads in disbelief.

[Skoshi Tiger]

That's usually what I'm doing no matter what plane I'm flying, that and drinking heavily. It's my secret for siming mediocrity, it keeps 'em guessing, and shaking their heads in disbelief.

Welcome to the "Fifteen Minuters"! It's a tough job but without pilots like us those point-whores couldn't rack up 1000's of points each mission!

Cheers

[rollnloop]

Keep in mind many online players have more than 10 years experience flying WWII combat sims, 8+ on IL2 alone, for some almost every day for several hours. These ones know their business, and can use their planes at their best. Those are the ones you can't reach, or outurn you in their 109, outrun you in their 190, kill you in one pass before you ever see them. They are even more dangerous when they hunt in horde, two or more planes against one is a fantastic advantage, even the best pilots struggle when caught outnumbered.

There's only one secret, practise and patience. While you experiment this, take a look at Il2 compare to see where your plane outperforms your foe's. For the SpitIX, it's best feature is its turning ability in the 300/330kph band. When turning, stay in this speed range, while slightly nosing down, and no German plane will outurn you, even the mighty 109F2/F4/G2. Don't run after a FW190 when he runs, climb instead. If he reengages he is then lower, you have the energy to catch him with a dive.

Note also that the Spit is one of the hardest planes to aim with, due to the position of its MGs and Cannons. Fire near convergence or aim only with one wing if you're much closer, don't fire at all if the target is much further, you'd waste your ammo for no result.

[IceFire]

Something else you can practice offline... setup some C-47s and use them as target practice.

Get to the point where you can cripple or kill a C-47 in a single burst of cannon and machine gun fire with virtually no missed shots. In reality there will be some shots that go astray but you should not miss with most of those shots.

Work your way towards doing that in combat. Find a target, setup the shot, kill it and keep going. What kills you is zooming around trying to get a few hits. The Spitfire and the Hispano cannon combination is great for killing almost anything in the first pass.

[322Sqn_Dusty]

S!

Ever flown with AI controlled planes in close combat escort formations? The AI always seem to cruise faster and you can't keep up even with the throttle at full? Try for cruising a setting of 70/70, 70% throttle and 70% blade pitch, depending on how you've trimmed and equipped the plane the numbers change and o.c. it's also depending on your own style. Only use 100% prop pitch when in combat or in need of full power. Lowering the pitch also helps in landing. On take off with heavy load you can also lower the flaps for lift.

If interested you can also ask questions at our forum http://www.322squadron.com

Picture of the MkIX of the Dutch Historical Airforce while serviced at her home base attached. Currently she's flying with the rounded wingtips but can also be fitted with the clipped.