Red Baron Flight & Combat Training Manual.

[Panzergranate]

Some (or most) are impossible in sim mode due to the fact that the pilot needs to have an eye on the prey and operate the rudder. Also the flight physics engine freaks the plane out in sim and realistic modes during some rudder / elevator / aerolons combinations no matter how carefully the controls are handled.

For instance, pulling a "Retournment" on a victim requires that the pilot keeps an eye on the victim in order to modify his plane's trajectory so as to end up with a good shooting solution. The true "Immelmann Turn" or "Stall Turn" requires the use of the rudder and elevators plus some opposite aerolon application whilst also watching the prey.

As in simulator mode players cannot operate the rudder and watch victims, and in aircraft without cockpit models, have a reference frame as the the relative orientation of their own plane in relation to the prey's flight path, both these are impossible to pull off, even without the hastles of going into a spin.

In realistic mode, I've managed to pull off a "Retournment", though not as sharply as in arcade mode or in IL-2 games on the PC.

Basically all are easily accomplished in arcade mode, some are doable in realistic mode, though in such a careful and leisurely manner as to make the point of executing them tactically dubious, and in simulator mode, the player is flying with blinkers, most of the time, so hasn't much of a clues as to what is happening.

Most crashes with me, in sim mode, are when I attempt to pull a modest aerobatic stunt and come up against the flight physics in BOP.

I always prefer to fly fighters with a high roll rate, when compared to others, as it comes in really useful for evading incoming fire.

Some aircraft also flat turn better than others, despite having poor turning circles conventionally. The Fw-190 A5 is a lot more responsive on the aerolons and rudder than any of the Spitfires, which is a great advantage in arcade mode but a real headache in realistic and simulator modes until players become used to it.

If playing with the control sensitivity set at 100%, which is what I fly with, the Fw has a 360 Degree roll rate of 2.8 seconds compared to any of the Spitfires best of 4 seconds. Test with Widar Thule have proven that reducing one's control response to 50% increases the Spitfire's roll rate to 5 seconds.

It also flat turns tighter than a Spitfire.

It is far better to practice a steady hand on the controls then to handicap one's aircraft with reduced control sensitivity.

In dogfights it is more important to master the skill of dodging incoming fire first and then learning how to shoot things down second.