[Ltforce]

Not sure if this is the right forum but I have been having this problem with all bombers when I want to do level bombing at high alt.

In real life most British bombers cruised at 20K feet. American cruised at 25K (B17 + B24) or higher (B29).

I try to play as real as possible when it comes to cruise speeds, throttle, prop pitch settings etc...I usually also fly planes by using trim only but when your trying to setup your bombing run you need to use level stab.

IRL the Halifax cruised at 210 mph TAS at 20K feet. I do exactly that which is about 145 mph IAS at 20K feet. I get to the start of my bombing run and I engage the level stab, even with the trim set to full up (since trim has an effect on level stab for elevators, ailerons and rudder). It starts to descend at about 3-500 feet per minute...I assume the game engine is saying wow that's close to stall speed better descend to gain speed but this in turn messes up my bomb run since you have to be straight and level for the bomb sight to work.

Is there any way to edit the level stab problem so it will fly straight and level at closer to stall speeds than now??? I also have the same problem with the b17 at 25K. For some reason AI B17's cant seem to fly properly past 20K either..... as soon as I'm at 22K they usually start falling back....

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks

[HansHansen]

yes, that sucks.... it seems the level stabilizer is jjust made for a small range of speed, if youre above that speed you climb, under that speed you descend.

i think the level stabilizer takes the IAS as speed, thats of course low at higher altitudes

[ROSOBORONEXPORTCORP]

It is a limitation of the Il-2 engine.

Il-2 Sturmovik was intended to model only Il-2 variants - then three fighters were added - then... it got bigger (until we got to 1946).

As a result of this the engine was never designed to model high altitudes. This can be seen both in the horizon rendering and in limitations to the flight model engine. If you get above a certain altitude in Il-2 (eg. using a rocket powered fighter in a series of yo-yo manoeuvres) you can actually break the flight model and fly into space. hock:

So, Oleg created a barrier that no plane can fly above (with the aforementioned exceptions). :oops:

But SoW:BoB shoudl fix this problem

The end :roll:

[Ltforce]

It is a limitation of the Il-2 engine.

Il-2 Sturmovik was intended to model only Il-2 variants - then three fighters were added - then... it got bigger (until we got to 1946).

As a result of this the engine was never designed to model high altitudes. This can be seen both in the horizon rendering and in limitations to the flight model engine. If you get above a certain altitude in Il-2 (eg. using a rocket powered fighter in a series of yo-yo manoeuvres) you can actually break the flight model and fly into space. hock:

So, Oleg created a barrier that no plane can fly above (with the aforementioned exceptions). :oops:

But SoW:BoB shoudl fix this problem

The end :roll:

Thanks for your response, I was wondering why such a good game had crappy high level flight characteristics and a crappy horizon....

Is SoW BoB going to be like the next version of IL2 or is it separate and wont work with all these mods??? Im not really up to date on its development.

[Guest]

It's not game engine problem...I've tried to put level stab at various planes and they flew straight maintaining altitude (most of them)...fm of the Halifax needs some adjusting.

[Ltforce]

It's not game engine problem...I've tried to put level stab at various planes and they flew straight maintaining altitude (most of them)...fm of the Halifax needs some adjusting.

Now if you read what I wrote word by word and payed attention you would see I said at *LOW* IAS but above stall speed the plane will not fly straight and level. At higher speeds its no problem at all but with a large bomb load and 50% fuel your not going above 165 mph IAS in a halifax and below that the plane will not fly straight and level with the level stab on.

[DBG_Lakota]

I am a Dedicated Bomber Pilot, my group mostly flys B-17,B-24 and
some times B-29. We fly mostly about 20,000ft+. As for the level stab
once you get to your Alt. hit level stab. and trim your Elvel. all the way
up. Maintain your throttles at 80% or more. We have never had any
problems that you talk about. We have even bombed from 30,000ft
with no trouble. There is one thing to remember once you put level stab
on, the bomber will lose some Alt. but that will strightern out. Main thing is
too keep your throttles at 80% or more.

[ColHut]

So are you saying that they eventually(?) stop losing altitude? I'v had these problems too - especially with the b-25 and just assumed the plane would sink slowly to the ground and the level stab couldn't cope with the plane.

regards

[DBG_Lakota]

Yes that what I am saying. For some reason, the Bombers do lose some Alt. after
engageing the Level Stab. The best thing to do is the following:
1) Climb to your bombing Alt. go another 3,000ft if bombing Alt. is 20,000Ft.
so your Alt. should be about 23,000ft.
2) Level off and turn towards your Target area. Try to maintain your Alt. at 23,000Ft.
3) Once you have turn towards your Target Area heading level the Bomber and let
the air speed build up to about 185 mph. Then engage your Level Stab. Trim your Elev.
all the way up.
4) Make sure your Throttles are set at 80% or more, in order to keep plane speed up.
5) Your Bomber will lose some Alt. in the end it will level off and not lose Alt.
I can not emprize enough to maintain your throttle sitting at 80% or more. This helps
keep your level stab. at the Alt. you want.
We use these steps and do not have problems when bombing.
As for the B-25 I have flown them at 50-100ft off the water or land and never had problems
maintaining the level stab., only time I had problems is if plane is hit by enemy fire.

So just practice these steps and you will find it easy then to maintain the level stab. when
flying.

Also here are two links to a couple of mods that might help you with bombing:
The first link is to the Bombsight Table_2. This little program gives you all the information you need
such as TAS, Alt. and Bombsight angle you need for bombing.
(The link is inoperative)
This second link is for the Norden Bombsight mod which replaces the game default bomb
sight. The Norden mod bombsight is much better then the game default sight.
(The link is inoperative)

[Ltforce]

80% or more is a pretty high throttle setting....I guess that is just what I will have to do....Ill see how it works...funny thing is I only need another lets say...10 mph on the halifax to keep it straight and level.

[Ltforce]

Yes that what I am saying. For some reason, the Bombers do lose some Alt. after
engageing the Level Stab. The best thing to do is the following:
1) Climb to your bombing Alt. go another 3,000ft if bombing Alt. is 20,000Ft.
so your Alt. should be about 23,000ft.
2) Level off and turn towards your Target area. Try to maintain your Alt. at 23,000Ft.
3) Once you have turn towards your Target Area heading level the Bomber and let
the air speed build up to about 185 mph. Then engage your Level Stab. Trim your Elev.
all the way up.
4) Make sure your Throttles are set at 80% or more, in order to keep plane speed up.
5) Your Bomber will lose some Alt. in the end it will level off and not lose Alt.
I can not emprize enough to maintain your throttle sitting at 80% or more. This helps
keep your level stab. at the Alt. you want.
We use these steps and do not have problems when bombing.
As for the B-25 I have flown them at 50-100ft off the water or land and never had problems
maintaining the level stab., only time I had problems is if plane is hit by enemy fire.

So just practice these steps and you will find it easy then to maintain the level stab. when
flying.

Also here are two links to a couple of mods that might help you with bombing:
The first link is to the Bombsight Table_2. This little program gives you all the information you need
such as TAS, Alt. and Bombsight angle you need for bombing.
(The link is inoperative)
This second link is for the Norden Bombsight mod which replaces the game default bomb
sight. The Norden mod bombsight is much better then the game default sight.
(The link is inoperative)

I gave it a try....see...I strive for realism and its not real, most likely a game limitation. Your usually not keeping your throttle above 80% especially on a bomber during cruise and secondly as soon as I would reduce prop pitch the plane would start to loose speed....Your not going to fly a 6 hour mission to german at full prop pitch, depending on your engine you will reduce 3-500 rpm for cruise. I guess I'll leave level bombing for now until BoB. I tried with the Halifax at 20k and also the B17 at 25K (dont worry I was in second stage of the superchargers.) at 85% + full prop pitch it was fine but as soon as i dropped prop pitch below 90% speed dropped and aircraft started descending slowly. (50% fuel and 8000 LB load)

[ColHut]

I didn't know the Halifax had manually variable pich props - I thought they were constant speed auto adjusting types - de Havilland Hydromatic propellers .

Consider you are only flying the interesting 20 minutes of the 6 hour mission and assume you throttle back and let George do the rest.

cheers