Help! can't keep up........

[Aufklärer]

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...

[BadAim]

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.

[SEE]

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.

[BadAim]

I should have noticed your postcount, you've obviously been around a bit.

The mission builder really has to slow the AI down some for the mission to be easily playable, or any tiny mistake leaves you in the dust. In reality you'd never fly the way the AI does if they're not held in check by the mission parameters.

Anyway I'm glad you found the trouble.

[Mango]

Another suggestion, I've found that reducing the propeller pitch to 95% or 90% helps keep the speed up. True, the immediate effect is to lower the engine RPM, but it also takes a big enough bite out of the air to increase your speed a little.

Kind of like shifting to a higher gear in your car (or bicycle).

This would make all the difference when trying to catch bombers in an I-16.