Flying The Ju52

[Gothkrieger]

Been trying my hand at flying on the JU52, just to add some variety.  Nice bird, very short takoff. 

 

How do I get to sit in the co-pilot seat?  My “C” command only will get me to the gunner position, which I can’t seem to control either; (move gun and fire) I will have to figure that out as well.  I could do that at one time, I must have changed something along the way.

 

At what alt. do I drop the mixture at?  Seems like somewhere just above 1000m it should drop from 100 to 80.  What alts. after that?

 

 

The radio beacon compass is a nice feature, too bad no radio transmitter towers in current SEOW.

[FoolTrottel]

Co-pilot seat is not available in the Tante Ju.

Once in the gunner seat, press the key for 'AutoPilot' to get control over the gun.
(Will depend on the current state of the 'Toggle Level Autopilot' control.
If it's on, autopilot will switch automatically off for the gunner and on for the pilot - in single player, not in coops/df's - when you jump to the gunner seat.
It switches gunnerAP back on when leaving the seat, and PilotAP back off when returning to Pilot seat.
Yours appears to be off, check what key has been assigned to it, press it once and it's all automatic.
But, like I said, it works differently online, when in Coops.)

I'm not in the know with switching of mixture at all... the times I've flown it, to save fuel, I think I even set it as low as 60% ... even at lower altitudes.

One more Ju52 tip: Taxi by only using the center engine.
If you try it with all three selected, or the outer ones, it gets very weird.

When running up only the 1 (left) engine, one would expect the aircraft to turn to the right.
But no, it turns left.
Same with right hand engine (3#), spool it up and the thing turns right.

[Crash]

How do you land it? I have managed a couple of times but I am sure that the way I did it was VERY unrealistic. I shut the center engine off and reduced the prop pitch to about 40%. It was the only was to slow it down. I was also landing at a very shallow angle as every time a dropped the nose the speed built up very quickly

[Gothkrieger]

Humm, I am no expert but I had no problem.  I set up a left hand pattern to drop altitude and speed.  I like to be on final at 200kmh, prop pitch at 100 (fine) if you need the power you want it now, not wait for it to slowly pick up speed. I keep all 3 engines running during the landing.  I have it to takeoff flaps on final, as I actually approach the beginning of the runway I hit landing flaps, going about 150kmh now.  I watch airspeed, chop throttle and flare just above ground.  If tail does not drop for some reason I raise flaps to get it down, but that does not seem to be a problem.

Found this site for an explanation on what the gauges are, as I fly with the inflight gauge info in the lower left corner of the screen turned off and you have to be able to find the gauges to fly.

 

http://www.ju52-3m.ch/diverse/Ju52_v60_ref.htm

 

At the bottom of the page is a link to the aircraft’s checklists.  Nice page.

 

I also found the rather opposite engine / turning plane response as well when on the ground. If you know the peculiarities of the engines on the ground (seems to work opposite to logic) you can turn “control all engines off” and select the engines individually to really get you turning around on the ground pronto.

 

Still have to fiddle with the engine mixture settings as of right now, as I don’t have the drill down yet.

[Crash]

Thanks for that, I will have another play later.

[Perfesser]

You know how fast you're going when you take off and just get in the air. This is landing speed. Add 20 - 30 k for the flare and you have approach speed. 

While flying level, raise the nose and slow down enough to drop flaps and gear. Now use elevator trim to get the plane flying at approach speed and dirty (flaps and gear) and no back pressure on the stick. Without touching the trim raise gear and flaps, add throttle to fly level. This is pattern speed.

 

Landing:

Like any airplane, once I get near the base I cut throttle and hold altitude while it slows down, roll in elevator trim to get it flying at pattern speed and 600m along the downwind leg. As soon as I turn base leg I reduce throttle, drop gear and flaps. The extra drag will automatically bring me down to approach speed and now you gently turn final. Got to be careful on bank angle here, you'll be sinking fast if you bank too much. You should hardy have to put any pressure on the stick. Resist temptation to pull back on the stick.

Add a bit of throttle if you think you'll land short. I use takeoff flaps on landing most of the time, full flaps if it looks like I'll land long for the extra drag. Again, no pulling on the stick. Use rudder to pick up a low wing on final.

 

Once you're at the runway and a few feet above, level off and hold there(flare). The plane will slow down by itself from approach speed to landing speed and then stop flying. To hold level you'll smoothly keep adding more and more back pressure on the stick as it slows, ideally you'll hit the stop(full back stick)  just as the plane stops flying.