Dummies Guide to Flying the ME 109

The information that I am passing on is what I have learnt from in the game (IL2 Sturmovik

Cliffs of Dover), learning by myself and gathering information from other players. Enjoy!

Hopefully this guide will give you a good idea on how to fly the 3 variants currently available

on IL2 Strumovik Cliffs of Dover. If anyone feels that I have made a mistake or would like me

to add information – contact me on the 1c forums “mcler002”. Many thanks, Ross.

Getting the aircraft ready

1. Set the throttle to 5 – 10% - Hopefully you have an ‘axis’ assigned for this.

2. Turn on the fuel cock – Would recommend that you have a key assigned for turning this on

and off

OFF ON

3. Set elevator trim nose up – usually already set between 5 and 6 (0.3 when you hover your

mouse over the numbers) – The turn wheel closest to the seat controls the trim, the one

furthest away is the flaps

4. Set propeller pitch to 12:00 (or closet to) – The blue knob in the centre of the console

controls the pitch. It is ‘spring activated’ so you need to hold the knob up (or down) to move

the pitch – I would recommend assigning either two keys or an axis to this function.

5. Start the Engine. You can do this two ways; a) press I on the keyboard (or the button you

have assigned to engine start) b) Turn on the magnets first (just right-up from the fuel cock),

marked m0 to m1+2 – you want it all the way to ‘M1+2’, then press I.

6. Let the engine warm up then open radiators. This aircraft (so far) can take off pretty much

straight away! However you can let the engine warm up a little beforehand. If you note in

the two pictures below, I have allowed the oil to raise above 40 degrees C and the water to

almost 80 degrees C (maybe a little too high before take-off). Either way just before take-off

you should open both the water and oil radiators. The first image shows the water radiator

(spin wheel) and the second image shows the oil radiator (lever). Spin the water radiator

fully open (a couple of circles round anti clockwise) and push the oil lever fully forward - I

would recommend assigning either two keys or an axis to these functions.

7. Take off!!! Full throttle and use slight adjustments on the rudder to keep straight on the

runway. You may also wish to get the tail up as soon as possible by push down on the stick

slightly! Take off at around 170 – 180 KPH. Do not stay on the runway for too long at speeds

of 170 – 200 KPH as your tires may burst on the runway!

Flying the aircraft

8. Gears up! The key G is the default for the undercarriage function. Press G once to allow the

gears to come up. On the console, the two green lights should turn off (this is an indication

that the gears are in motion – up or down). When the two orange/ red lights come on this

means that the gears are up! Press G again to place the undercarriage function (motor) into

neutral. Use the two pictures below as reference. The handle to the right of the gear

indicators is the undercarriage control on the console; you may wish to use this function via

the mouse.

gear motor still running “up” gear motor in neutral

9. Reset elevator trim nose. I typically move it down to about 2 (0.0) after take-off/ climb, but

set it how you like, depending on your situation (if you are climbing, you may wish to keep it

as 5 – if you are descending, you may wish to move it to 1 or 0). The turn wheels do require

that you hold the mouse (or assigned button) down to keep them moving.

10. Engine Management!

I have included this screenshot because it is very important for you, the pilot, to monitor this

area very closely. You will need to watch the;

A – The ATA (The engine manifold pressure)

B – The RPM (The revolutions per minute)

C – Fuel gauge

D – Oil temperature gauge

E – Water temperature gauge

F – Propeller pitch gauge

G – Fuel and Oil pressure gauge

Attention! The propeller pitch should be adjusted to help maintain a contest/ suitable RPM

depending on your situation (in combat, landing, cursing etc.)

- When landing or taking off – Set to 12:00

- Diving – Set between 09:30 and 08:30 – Maximum aircraft speed is around 700 KPH

You will have to fly the aircraft in “offline” mode for several hours to get a good feel and

understand of the aircraft (performance/ limits) and the importance in pitch/ ATA

management. I shall give examples shortly of what may happening if you don’t watch certain

gauges etc.

But to help out, I have made a table below with the aircraft limits when flying in certain

situations.

Situation

What I do

Climbing ATA – 1.35 max (emergency 1.4 with after burn on) RPM – 2400-2500 max Oil – 40 to 80 degrees C (95 to 100 degrees C for a few minutes max) Water – 90 degrees C or below (110 Degrees C for a few minutes max)

Cursing ATA – 1.20 to 1.25 max RPM – 2400-2500 max Oil – 40 to 80 degrees C (95 to 100 degrees C for a few minutes max) Water – 90 degrees C or below (110 Degrees C for a few minutes max)

Combat ATA – 1.35 max (emergency 1.4 with after burn on) RPM – 2000 minimum, 2600 max Oil – 40 to 80 degrees C (95 to 100 degrees C for a few minutes max) Water – 90 degrees C or below (110 Degrees C for a few minutes max)

Diving ATA – 0.80 to 1.30 max RPM – 1500 to 2600 max Oil – 30 (minimum!) to 80 degrees C Water – 30 (minimum) to 90 degrees C or below

What most likely will happen if…

A. Let the water overheat

I allowed the engine water temperature to hit 120 degees C. This caused damage to the

water raditor itself… which will lead to loss in engine power later on! Return to base!!!

B. Let the oil overheat

When I managed (took a little time) to get the

oil temperature to above 105/ 110 degrees C

nothing appeared to happen. But after a

couple of minutes and without a message

appearing on the screen, the engine began to

slowly lose power (went down to 1500 rpm

even though I had full throttle and 12:00

pitch)! This can happen in the game! Though I

had got the oil back down to a suitable temperature, the damage was done and from looking

outside the aircraft I had a small amount of flames appearing from the exhausts. A definite

return to base action, but I was only just hitting 200 KPH!

C. Diving from a great height, without changing the propeller pitch from 11:00/ 12:00 and

gaining speeds up to 500/ 600 KPH.

As you can see from the image I have allowed the RPM to go above 3000! Anything above

3000 can lead to engine damage so I would suggest you keep it below 2900 at all times! As I

hit 3300 RPM I caused governor failure and created an oil leak! Depending on what damage

you create, you may need to ditch or bail out of the aircraft!

Landing the aircraft

Hopefully by this stage you have a good understand of the aircraft and how it works. So landing

should be fairly simple! Steps to remember:

Pitch set to 12:00

Approach the airfield at a reasonable height, direction and speed

Lower gears (wait for the two green lights) but make sure your airspeed is below 250 KPH

Flaps – this is controlled by the turn wheel fair left of the pilots seat. It is up to you whether

or not you use flaps in this aircraft, if you do, set them all the way down to 40 degress.

Again, keep your airspeed below 250 KPH before using.

Trim the nose down to 1 (-0.05/ -0.1) (or your prefrence)

Touch down speed around 150 – 180 KPH

END