I’m currently doing the grind for the US Marines in the Pacific, and I find it very difficult to fly an SBD and take off from an aircraft carrier.
Even though the throttle is fully open, the aircraft that flies off the deck gradually descends and sinks into the sea. It’s like they aren’t fast enough.
There is no use in setting the flaps to “take off”. No matter how many times I practice, I can only successfully take off about 1 out of 5 times, so I can’t understand what the “takeoff” flap is for.
I don’t know if I’m doing something fundamentally wrong with the controls or if the SBD is trash. Do you have any tips?
2 Likes
I recommend not trying to gain altitude after leaving the carrier, once you’ve achieved a good speed you can go up
6 Likes
… he says and crash into the water.
2 Likes
My only excuse is it was the gremlins of the Kremlin.
1 Like
Thank you. I should have stayed level until I got up to speed. I will try it right away.
1 Like
It works for both SBD and Avenger, no flaps, nose down, don’t go less than 150TAS
1 Like
Unfortunately I also have crashed a few SBDs already while trying to take off from the carrier.
Other planes like FP-2 and FP-5 are easy, no problem there.
My SBD is currently upgraded 4/5, I use take off flaps, full throttle.
Starts to bounce while taxiing (unlike in the video), after take off retract gear, dont get enough speed, no lift off.
End up in the water.
Perhaps my tailgunner is just too fat.
Or perhaps I just need to practice more 
Thanks for the mentioned tips, it must be possible.
1 Like
Yeah, I got the hang of takeoff after that.
Once the engine is up to full throttle, I lower the nose, which is pointing up, parallel to the fuselage, and jump out of the deck. If the nose is up or if you tilt the plane immediately after leaving the deck, you will lose speed and crash.
I had a hard time with this too because there is no practice mode for takeoff.
1 Like
That works fine, thanks guys.
2 Likes