Help! can't keep up........
 

I have started a campaign mode and, once airborne, I cannot keep up with the rest of the flight even though they have identical a/c. I tried setting 'complex engine management' to 'off' and they they still out pace me. Trying to catch up just ends up with an overheating engine. Spent an hour on one mission escorting bombers , got to the drop zone and ran out of fuel just as the enemy closed in, aaargh! Some tips for a greeny would be most welcome......:grin:

You need to spend some time on the Ubisoft IL2 boards, search and post about your issues. There have been thousands of discussions on your inquiry.

Learning to maximize your ability to fly a single aircraft very well with C.E.M. is the key. The AI does fully utilize the ability of each aircraft, because it is in the AI programming.

I guessed it was more than likely due to the CEM settings but was suprised when disabling this option (to confirm that this was the problem) made little or no difference. I was expecting a 'level playing field' so to speak but, from what you say this option only affects the players a/c. Anyway, found an article concerning CEM in the M4 forum so will read and digest. Thanks.

Maybe, you need to relax the joystick center settings - that will reduce the constant need of trim and improve your speed and energy saving + maksmanship.
My self use to play without deadzone and max sensitivity of the game input sliders but toned the sliders down - especially the first ones and wooalla,the p-51 becomes a fantastic plane:grin:

Cheers
gprr

I was under the impression that Oleg had confirmed once that the AI does have a bit of an advantage in this area, for an esoteric reason which escapes me at the moment.

Can anyone else shed light on this, or am I a rambling fool?

When I first flew this game (back in 2001 I think), I had the exact same problem.

I loaded up the default Soviet campaign (flying I-16's) and always had trouble keeping up with the AI planes. It took me about a week to figure out that the I-16 has a manual gear control, that is not pre-set in the controls. I was flying around with the landing gear down.

Could that in fact be your problem?

LOL;)

Stupot,please post in ATI thread if you tried to use Crossfire extention utillity.

Thanks gprr

Trim is also very important, you need good rudder and elevator trim to fly level with no effort on the stick. Also keep the radiator closed (see engine cooling thread) and try to use "only" 95% power, usually it should be enough to catch up and it will rarely overheat. The rest depends on mission makers to use realistic cruise speed for AI colleagues...

One thing that no one has mentioned is the tendency for newcomers to put the gunsight on the lead plane and ride 'er till she dies. This is in fact is not how aircraft work, you will need to push the nose down to get more speed so that you can catch up to your flight, then once you have built up overtaking speed, you can gently lift the nose and climb up to them from underneath. This will take some time to get used to, and some finesse as it's easy to rocket right by them, then you'll chop the throttle, lose altitude and have to catch up and repeat the process again. You'll look like a spaz porpoise trying to keep up with the rest of the group for a while, but you'll get the hang of it soon.

It will serve you well to learn "best climb" for your favorite aircraft, and there is no substitute for keeping the ball centered.

I do nose down to gain speed but I should of taken the time to read the ac guide and noticed that the Hurricane has a two stage supercharger that needs to be manually engaged. Anyway, lots of useful advice and thanks. I cut my teeth on MS CFS and I am discovering that IL1946 expects a far greater level of input and understanding from the pilot to squeeze the optimum out of the a/c (unlike CFS!). Case of bad habits and ignorance so a lot to learn from this game. Given that some of the missions are very long, even with time compression, flying in a low state of efficiency will result in failure.