Learn to fly the Sopwith Camel 

The new IL2 games and Rise of Flight are by the same developers.

2 years later, I see this video on air power. I was ready for a samo-samo documentary on the subject. Instead, I was drawn in as well as better informed. Thanks for the tip, albeit belatedly.

It's all good Rap. I didn't even know RU-vid had the alert system until well after they started using it! That bell icon is so obscure, especially if you subscribed before the change.

Thanks again Barry :-) It's a pretty squirrely plane to fly initially, but once you get the hang of it you'll find it extremely maneuverable.

Yeah the WWI birds are different for sure. As airplane speeds slow down, BFM speeds up and becomes less and less forgiving. This makes BFM in jets the easiest as you can quickly tell when you're beginning to lose and have ample time to react and make a decision to bug out. If you're not on top of things in a WWI bird, by the time you realise you're losing you'll be getting shot at a second or two later and probably end up dead.

Oh the E.III....it's like dancing in slow motion when fighting a DH2 in that thing

@@RequiemsACTL And Sikorsky S-22. Is this an airplane? It is more like a bus. Look like a bus. Drive like a bus. No! It is not a bus. Because driving real bus on road is faster than Sikorsky S-22. -_-|||

Yeah the spin recovery in the Camel is extremely weird...

Not yet Ben, Flying Circus is still in Early Access

Ok, thanks.

There are no flaps on this one. You can get away without using the blip switch if you don't want to use it.

Its the slip/skid indicator but it works backwards compared to a modern version. So to stay coordinated in the Camel you look at the bubble and step on the rudder pedal away from it, unlike a modern version when you step on the ball to stay coordinated.

It It sounds like you may need to move backwards in your seat position. I think the END key will do that

Once I touch down I don't think the rollout is excessive, but in the Camel you may need to add bursts of power to stay straight which can increase landing distance a bit. If you're bouncing it means the airplane isn't ready to land so your approach speed is probably too fast and/or you're not reducing your vertical speed enough before touchdown in the flare

@@RequiemsACTL Probably too fast. I find it really difficult to get slow enough. I suspect this is a mental block from flying faster planes and thinking that I'm about to stall.

Yeah that makes sense. You could practice some slow flight up at altitude, seeing how slow you can get while maintaining altitude with your wings level. Then bring it back for landing and bring that throttle to idle and use the blip switch to control your speed, you'll find you should develop a nice feel for how slow you can get on your approach.

RoF has a good glide slope/path for camel allowing controlled, safe landings. IL2 however has it so you cannot lose altitude and maintain or lose speed in the camel at the same time, what that means is their is no glide slope/path for a camel in IL2. You can literally float at 48-50mph forever at level flight in the sopwith and maintain alititude and speed. The only way to get the camel on the ground in IL2FC right now is to risk the left wing dip stall, like in this video, which is dangerous af, or land fast and bounce for awhile. With that said, if you search for sopwith camel videos you would find that in real life they have a really, really short rollout distance, a bit less than fifty yards if you do it exactly right, and without risking the plane to do so. IL2FC has some way to go in their FMs as long as they're willing to accept their FMs are not complete. It is sad because I watch videos of camels landing and the pilots are barely working to do their landing, they almost dive to the ground, level out and in no time are safely on the ground with the camel stopped quickly or taxiing-- something impossible with current il2fc FM. Proper glide paths are essential to flight.

There is no trim in the airplane so other than flying around at reduced power at slower speeds you'll need to hold the stick forward. In Rise of Flight you could adjust the center position of the pitch curve but I can't remember if we can do that in Il-2 now.

@@RequiemsACTL Thank you!

They fly convincingly for a PC simulator for stalls/spins (I don't believe stall/spin behaviour is scripted). My main two complaints are that the airplanes could be a little stronger on the left turning tendencies and braking strength could be increased but the feeling of flight and dogfighting is excellent.

@@RequiemsACTL That's great, thank you very much, now to try and figure out a decent rig to run it on and some VR. Your videos are so good, you have a real knack for the tactics and the way you talk through is spot on. I had many instructors who could learn many things from you!

@@badhammermotorworks810 how did that go 1 year later?

@@dong7474 I'm broke mate. After my medical discharge I can't work so a VR gaming setup just isn't even remotely dream able these days :S

Reduce power when you're diving, it's likely the excess speed is increasing your RPM above the safe limit

@@RequiemsACTL Will try that, thanks.

Exactly! If you try the "Step on the Ball" method you're gonna have a bad time :-)

@@RequiemsACTL Nah, this is what I usually tell my visiting friends who keep staring at my last survival ration of dope. Merry Christmas!!!

Please explain 'Step away from the bubble'.

@@Perktube1 Extremely late response but with turn and slip indicators on more modern aircraft you should 'step on the bubble' so to say which is a term for basically pressing the pedal of your rudder in the same direction the bubble is slipping off to. So if it moves to the right you give right rudder to bring it back to center. The Camels slip indicator works the other way around, think of it as guiding the bubble with your rudder pedals instead. So if it goes off to the right you give left rudder to bring it back in line. All of this helps to keep the aircraft as 'clean' as possible thru turns and maneuvers. Which means you'll lose less speed and just generally fly better.