I fired up a mission, picked a random paintscheme, grabbed my stick and rudder and took off (gulp!).
Thankfully I "RTFM" to get some rough numbers and had listened enough to Ray talk about his tailwheel takeoffs that I didn't ground loop this Pony on the first try, but after some rather ugly takeoffs and bouncy landings (still working on those), including side-loading the main gear and a bent prop resulting in a belly landing while flying too low down the runway on a high-speed pass, here's my first full flight in the P-51D...Ray, I need that tailwheel endorsement... BAD!
Takeoffs and landings are the most challenging part, but I love how the sim feels oh so right. Most of it is coming together natural for me, no need to "go uninstall" (yet). It took me a while to map my controls and setup curves (currently using the left throttle for my prop control) and I haven't flown a single engine prop IRL or in a sim for more than eight years I think, haha. This was fun!!!
