Locking the tailwheel and runways?

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Yeah, I was talking from a lazy in-game perspective!

yeah, it's just that my head is jammed with procedures procedures procedures and even if it's manageable I wouldn't do it in the sim. It's like driving your car and trying to keep your door open: it's feasible, but makes things just a bit trickier

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by SEE

I don't use it as I am trying to perfect using the rudder (by watching how the AI set theirs when taking off) but was locking the Tailwheel a function that was actually available to pilots?

I also notice that quite a few on-line players manage to take off without using the runway but if I try that my plane falls apart. I always use the runway now but how do they manage to do that?

Try an IL2 series or I16 they have heavy torque, most "virtual" pilots will firewall the throttle and go slewing all over the runway and everywhere else ending up in a smoking crater declaring their stick was playing up

Some of the Bf109 variants tail wheel lock was engaged by pulling the stick fully towards the pilot, I'm not sure exactly which ones though.

Here's some interesting take off facts regarding the Bf109 series.

Bf 109 D:
"The ground control was excellent. Without using the wheel brakes, on the way out to the take-off position, I found that a propeller blast on the rudder brought a surprisingly pleasant reaction, in spite of the fact that the vertical fin and the rudder were both rather small.
The take-off was normal, and I estimated that the ground run was fully one-half the distance used by the Hawker Hurricane and about one-fourth the distance used by the Supermarine Spitfire."
- US Marine Corps major Al Williams. Source: Bf 109D test flight, 1938.

"Care had to be taken to prevent any swing as the combination of narrow-track undercarriage and minimal forward view could easily result in directional problems."
- Eric Brown

Me 109 E:
"(Takeoff) is best done with the flaps at 20 degrees. The throttle can be opened very quickly without fear of choking the engine. Acceleration is good, and there is little tendency to swing or bucket. The stick must be held hard forward to get the tail up. It is advisable to let the airplane fly itself off since, if pulled off too soon, the left wing will not lift, and on applying aileron the wing lifts and falls again, with the ailerons snatching a little. If no attempt is made to pull the airplane off quickly, the take-off run is short, and initial climb good."
- RAF Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough handling trials,Bf.109E Wn: 1304. M.B. Morgan and R. Smelt of the RAE, 1944.

Me 109 E-4:
"The tail felt like it should be raised just as the airspeed started to register i.e., at 50-60 kmh. Once the tail was off the runway the familiar extreme change in directional stability became apparent - from almost absolute stability to almost absolute instability. The aircraft flew herself off at 110 kmh."
- Charlie Brown, RAF Flying Instructor, test flight of restored Me 109 E-4 WN 3579. Source: Warbirds Journal issue 50.

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/feature/...myths/#takeoff