Multiplayer, wheels locked, can't take off.
 

I've been away from IL2 for a few years, recently bought 1946 on Steam (to avoid having to go through the sequence of patches!)
Played a few UK multiplayer games ok (Via Xfire), tried joining a couple of different USA servers and I couldn't move iin any of them, full throttle, brakes off and the plane wouldn't budge an inch - could see control surfaces working etc. Is there a reason for this or is it just a bug, I don't recall this having ever happened in the past with overseas servers.

Release the chokes.

I believe you mean release the chocks ..

on carriers and some airfields, there may be chocks under the tires

check your controls .. might be custom keys, mine are set up on Alt+C for
"chocks away"

Haha, what a fool! (Me, clearly)
Cheers guys :)

thought this was funny "hey honey! I can't eat dinner right away.. I'm still trying to figure out why my plan is just sitting here on the runway not bugging full throttle..."