BI-6
This plane is powered by three engines: D-1-A-1100 rocket engine in the fuselage (engine #1), and two DM-4-S ramjets on the wingtips (engines #2 and #3).
The wingtip ramjets have independent fuel source stored in the wings. They are effective at speeds above 320 km/h and have limited throttle control. Ramjets offer better fuel economy than the rocket engine, and are used to achieve better range at cruise speed. The main engine is to be used for take-off, acceleration, and maneuvering.
The ramjet engines are engaged / disengaged with the throttle lever. With the throttle at 100%, an engine cannot be shut down; with the throttle at 0% it cannot be turned on. Correspondingly, to control the use of the ramjets, use the engine selection keys to select / deselect the throttle input.
Having the same basic airframe as the BI-1, the aircraft is prone to enter uncontrollable dives at speeds in excess of 800 km/h.
MiG-9 (MiG-9FS)
When using the 57(37)mm cannon above 3,000 meters the gun exhaust may get sucked into the engine air intake. Above 6,000 meters using the cannon is prohibited.
Note: this information is different from what may be found in other sources; however it is based on the pilot operating handbook for the MiG-9.
Please note that the Soviet variant of the BMW-003 used as the engine for the MiG-9 was not a 1-for-1 copy of the venerable German design. Several modifications were made, most importantly the use of advanced alloys which were unavailable in late-war Germany. This greatly increased the reliability and service life of the engine. Also due to the innovative air intake design, the engine temperature was much less of a problem with the MiG-9 than with the German jets.
I-250 (MiG-13)
The tail unit of the aircraft contains a turbojet engine, driven by an extension shaft connected to the main piston engine. The tail engine is used as a regular jet, and has no specific limitations; however it should be used sparingly as it is burns through fuel very quickly (about 10 minutes at cruise power). As such, the jet engine should only be used in combat and other non-routine conditions.
The engine starting procedure is as follows: first start and get the piston engine to low RPM. The jet engine cannot be started otherwise, as it requires the crankshaft to rotate, which is powered by the piston engine. After successfully starting the piston engine, you may engage the jet. If you lose the piston engine due to battle damage or other failures, the jet engine will not operate even if it is completely intact.
Ar 234B
The aircraft has no forward-firing armament. The trigger fires the twin MG-151/20 cannons situated in a stationary tail stinger. They can be fired at any time by pressing the trigger, and can be aimed by pressing the “Toggle Gunsight” button (Shift-F1 by default) when seated in the pilot’s seat. This will switch your view to the telescopic sight located in the cockpit.
The bomb-aiming equipment consists of the Lofte 7K level bombing sight, and the BZA-1 dive-bombing sight. In order to switch to the bombing mode, press the “Pilot or Gunner Position” button (C by default), and use the “Toggle Gunsight” button (Shift-F1 by default) to switch between the dive and level bombing sight optics.
The BZA-1 modeled in the game is simpler than the actual sight used in the Blitz; the details cannot be modeled at this time due to inherent game engine restrictions. In the game, it’s a simple point-and-shoot periscope that requires no parameter input. The horizontal “bone” shows the projected impact point of your bombs. The dive procedure is standard.
The procedure for using Lofte 7K level bombing sight is the same as in the He-111 bomber. Please refer to previous documentation for details.
The aircraft is also equipped with rocket-assisted-take-off (RATO) packs, which give it extra boost when taking-off, and are especially needed at heavy combat loads. The RATO packs are fully automated, and cannot be interacted with by the player. They will be automatically engaged should there be the need for it, and automatically jettisoned once they are expended. The lack of player’s control is due to inherent game engine limitations.
Heinkel Lerche III
The aircraft is quipped with automatic stabilization auto-pilot that keeps the aircraft vertical during take-off and landing. The system is toggled with the “Airbrake” key. The white indicator lights on the instrument panel illuminate when the system is switched on.
Unlike most other fighters, the “Toggle Gunsight” button (Shift-F1 by default) switches the view to point downwards, at the instrument panel and the ground below.
Take-off procedure in the aircraft is simple. Toggle the stabilization auto-pilot on and slowly increase engine power. Reaching 200-300 meters of altitude push the nose down slowly to convert to horizontal flight, and disengage the stabilization auto-pilot.
The landing procedure is more involved. Firstly, select suitable area for landing. Landing approach is standard, with speeds of around 250-300 km/h, with the stabilization auto-pilot turned on (one white indicator light). At 25-30 meters of altitude begin a flare at 10 to 20 degrees nose-up attitude. The active stabilization auto-pilot will engage (second white indicator light). Level the elevators at that time. The stabilization auto-pilot will attempt to keep the aircraft vertical. Do not increase engine power at this time, as this may cause too much altitude to be gained. Do not chop the throttle below 25%, as this may lead to a stall or loss of effectiveness of the gas-powered stabilization mechanism.
After the aircraft is stabilized vertically, slowly decrease power to descent. Aircraft with expanded ammunition and low fuel will hover at approximately 35 to 40% of throttle. When descending, vertical speed of no more than 5 m/s is recommended. The aircraft is also equipped with ultra-sound altimeter, which should be used alongside the vertical speed indicator during descent.
Before touch-down decrease the vertical speed, momentarily opening the throttle. When the aircraft touches down, three green lights will illuminate on the dashboard. Immediately decrease power to avoid bunny-hopping.
When using auto-pilot, or performed by AI planes, the landing may not look smooth due to inherent game engine limitations.
X-4 Rocket
The X-4 air-to-air rocket is wire guided. All rocket-carrying aircraft (Ta-152C, Ta-183 and Heinkel Lerche III) have a single rocket control module, and as such can guide only one rocket at a time. When launching multiple rockets simultaneously, only the last rocket fired can be guided.
To guide the rocket, use the “Increase Sight Attitude”, “Decrease Sight Attitude”, “Adjust Sight Control to Right” and “Adjust Sight Control to Left” keys. We recommend assigning them to the Up, Down, Right, and Left arrow keys correspondingly.
The easiest way to guide the rocket to target is to fire from the target’s six-o-clock level while flying on the same course. Guide the rocket to keep the lights on top of the target with no visible lateral movement until the moment of impact. Use gentle taps to provide last-minute guidance. The rockets detonate remotely, so no direct impact is required.
This method should be used to attack non-maneuvering heavy bombers from 3,000 to 3,500 meters away.
watch your six, i'm behind you
