The Bf-109 Is Completely Unsteerable

[Rex]

Well I asked this about a year ago and in that time I've kept trying, to no avail.

In DCS, I'm probably in the top 1% of users of the Kurfurst, and I can drive that thing around the airport taxiways all day.  It's my main DCS aircraft and I have many hundred, if not over a thousand hours in it.  I can drive that thing on the ground like a freaking race car. It's second nature at this point.

Yet, when I get in the Bf-109 in IL-2, I cannot steer the aircraft on the ground.  At all.  At .... all.

Case in point, I just tried to get in a plane and take off about 10 minutes ago.  I needed to turn right to enter the taxiway.  I unlocked the tail wheel, locked the right wheel brake, slowly applied throttle, and once the aircraft started moving, it began ground-looping to the left.  Wait, what?  I tried it again, this time I switched to manual prop pitch, rockered the pitch to 12:30, locked right wheel, slowly applied throttle, and ... ground-looped left.

To be clear ... the plane ground-loops to the left ... with a locked right wheel ... from a stop.

Now, I probably don't need to say this, but in meatspace, that doesn't happen.  There is no universe or laws of physics in which this makes ANY sense.  I mean, what EXACTLY are you supposed to do if you want to turn right?  I literally can't.  I had to turn left 270 degrees in order to go right.  I'm watching the pedal animations, and sure enough, when I toe down the right pedal, it toes all the way down.  Frankly, I have no idea what is being modeled here.

That said, I know other people steer the thing.  I've seen it happen.  I just don't know HOW they do it.  If completely locking the right wheel from a standing stop, while slowly apply throttle, initiates a LEFT turn, then I don't know what IL-2 is going for here.  And yes, to be contrarian, I've tried locking the left toe brakes instead, and in this case it makes sense ... it goes left.  Despite being a near-expert in DCS, I cannot make the Bf-109 do anything I want it to do on the ground in IL-2.  To say the models are different is a massive understatement.

Forgive me, I'm a bit frustrated at the moment as the whole thing seems completely insane.  I mean, lock the right wheel and turn left, seriously?  ... Hello, McFly?!  Yes, I know the 109 has immense amounts of torque, and yes I know it's famous for ground-looping, but good grief, it didn't ground loop from a standing start with a locked right wheel.

Can someone, anyone, tell me how you steer this thing in IL-2?  In the physical world, the 109 was/is steered with differential braking until about 60kph when the rudder starts coming alive, but I can't get this to work on any level in IL-2.  Would appreciate feedback from anyone who knows the secret handshake for this thing.

Edited September 19 by Rex

[Gutholz]

Hi

also see this related recent thread:

Adding to what was posted there: There are three main effects and their directions and strengths varies depending on various factors like speed and rpm. Some pull to the right, some pull to the left. The trick is to develop a feeling when one effect is getting weaker and the other is getting strong, changing the direction of the pull. Also have to get a feel for the moment when you can stop applying corrective rudder or you will overcorrect in the other direction.

Tailwheel, if it is not straight then at low speed it will but what decides the direction. Note that just locking the tailwheel does not mean it is straight. It can still be rotated and will only lock to straight position if it has rotated to the center.

The engine torque wants to pulls you to one side, it is most noticeable when adjusting throttle.

Propeller wash and effectivness of rudder, both get stronger with speed/rpm.

It is very much something that you will do automatically once it has "clicked." Right now from top off my head I could not even tell if the 109 pulls left or right on take-off, it has become so automatic. 

Yesterday I was flying the I-16 (not something I do often) and I messed up the first two take-offs. Then I had adjusted and could taxi/take-off.

[BlitzPig_EL]

Go to your external view and see where the tail wheel is pointing before you begin to roll out.  

On the whole, the behavior of aircraft on the ground in Great Battles has always been a point of contention.  The ground looping is very over exaggerated. 

[jokash]

nonsense 

[Art-J]

Brakes in GB series are much weaker than in DCS, while rudders are much more effective even in light propwash. Thus, over here one does taxiing using exactly opposite method compared to DCS - i.e. relying primarily on rudder + adding brakes. As long as taxiing speed is really low, that method works just fine in both directions (or should work if nothing's messed up with control assignments). Takes a bit to get used to, bo so does DCS implementation, which has its own issues.

[R33GZ]

On 9/19/2026 at 7:08 PM, Rex said:

Well I asked this about a year ago and in that time I've kept trying, to no avail.

In DCS, I'm probably in the top 1% of users of the Kurfurst, and I can drive that thing around the airport taxiways all day.  It's my main DCS aircraft and I have many hundred, if not over a thousand hours in it.  I can drive that thing on the ground like a freaking race car. It's second nature at this point.

Yet, when I get in the Bf-109 in IL-2, I cannot steer the aircraft on the ground.  At all.  At .... all.

Case in point, I just tried to get in a plane and take off about 10 minutes ago.  I needed to turn right to enter the taxiway.  I unlocked the tail wheel, locked the right wheel brake, slowly applied throttle, and once the aircraft started moving, it began ground-looping to the left.  Wait, what?  I tried it again, this time I switched to manual prop pitch, rockered the pitch to 12:30, locked right wheel, slowly applied throttle, and ... ground-looped left.

To be clear ... the plane ground-loops to the left ... with a locked right wheel ... from a stop.

Now, I probably don't need to say this, but in meatspace, that doesn't happen.  There is no universe or laws of physics in which this makes ANY sense.  I mean, what EXACTLY are you supposed to do if you want to turn right?  I literally can't.  I had to turn left 270 degrees in order to go right.  I'm watching the pedal animations, and sure enough, when I toe down the right pedal, it toes all the way down.  Frankly, I have no idea what is being modeled here.

That said, I know other people steer the thing.  I've seen it happen.  I just don't know HOW they do it.  If completely locking the right wheel from a standing stop, while slowly apply throttle, initiates a LEFT turn, then I don't know what IL-2 is going for here.  And yes, to be contrarian, I've tried locking the left toe brakes instead, and in this case it makes sense ... it goes left.  Despite being a near-expert in DCS, I cannot make the Bf-109 do anything I want it to do on the ground in IL-2.  To say the models are different is a massive understatement.

Forgive me, I'm a bit frustrated at the moment as the whole thing seems completely insane.  I mean, lock the right wheel and turn left, seriously?  ... Hello, McFly?!  Yes, I know the 109 has immense amounts of torque, and yes I know it's famous for ground-looping, but good grief, it didn't ground loop from a standing start with a locked right wheel.

Can someone, anyone, tell me how you steer this thing in IL-2?  In the physical world, the 109 was/is steered with differential braking until about 60kph when the rudder starts coming alive, but I can't get this to work on any level in IL-2.  Would appreciate feedback from anyone who knows the secret handshake for this thing.

I cant comment on DCS, never played it and I cant comment on realism as I've never flown a 109 in real life. In Il2 though, once that tail wheel is unlocked, you have to be very precise and stay ahead of the aircraft, it really is a feel thing. Ground speed is probably the main thing. Keep it slow and use rudder and brakes to keep that nose.going where you want it. A slow ground speed means you should be able to stay ahead of the groundloops, the faster you go the faster the swing will happen and you end up chasing it.

The spitfire is probably more of a nightmare in my opinion, followed closely by the P-40. In all cases though, keeping your ground speed low makes it much easier.

One extra thing is wind. Strong ground winds will puch you around a bit and make things a bit less predictable.

Edited September 22 by R33GZ

[Shooter1-1]

I had the same problem.  See where GUTHOLZ  posted a link (above) to my post about this very issue.  One thing I also learned was to adjust your curves for both the throttle and pedals.  I do this in DCS as you probably do.  Just flatten the curve so your inputs have less of an effect in the cockpit.  I also learned to be extemely gentle when appling thrust as it will spin you if you apply it too quickly.  Patience and practice with gentle movement on your pedals and your throttle is the key.  BTW, I still on occassion, spin my planes and have to restart the mission.😄  

Wait til you try landing. Once down on the hard your plane is gonna want to spin like crazy.  I'm still working on getting this one under control.☹️

[TheTonester]

Never had an issue…and im a dreadful pilot

[Boaty__McBoatFace]

This is a skill issue. 

I can barely fly the BF109 in combat but I can race around on the aerodrome all day, zero issue.

Brakes are not modelled not as powerfully in this sim to prevent everyone nosing over, so act accordingly, simple as that. 

[Sashka13]

19.09.2026 в 10:08, Rex сказал:

Я задавал этот вопрос примерно год назад, и за это время продолжал пытаться, но безуспешно.

В DCS я, наверное, входжу в топ-1% пользователей Kurfurst, и могу весь день кататься на этой штуке по рулёжным дорожкам в аэропорту. Это мой основной самолёт DCS, и у меня на нём сотни, если не более тысячи часов. Я могу ездить на этой штуке по земле, как на гоночной машине. Это стало для меня второй натурой.

Однако, когда я сажусь в Bf-109 на IL-2, я не могу управлять самолётом на земле. Совсем. В .... всё.

Например, я только что пытался сесть в самолёт и взлететь минут десять назад. Мне нужно было повернуть направо, чтобы войти на рулёжную дорожку. Я разблокировал хвостовое колесо, заблокировал тормоз правого колеса, медленно нажал на газ, и когда самолёт начал двигаться, он начал петлять по земле влево. Погоди, что? Я попробовал снова, на этот раз переключился на ручной наклон винта, увеличил углыш до 12:30, заблокировал правое колесо, медленно нажал газ и... Земля по кольцу налево.

Чтобы было понятно... Плоскость заземляется влево... с заблокированным правым колесом ... С остановки.

Наверное, мне не нужно это объяснять, но в мясном мире такого не происходит. Не существует ни вселенной, ни законов физики, в которых это имело бы хоть какой-то смысл. Я имею в виду, что ИМЕННО нужно делать, если хочешь повернуть направо? Я буквально не могу. Мне пришлось повернуть налево на 270 градусов, чтобы поехать направо. Я смотрю анимации педалей, и действительно, когда я нажимаю на нужную педаль, она полностью опускается вниз. Честно говоря, я понятия не имею, что здесь моделируется.

Тем не менее, я знаю, что другие люди управляют этим устройством. Я видел, как это происходило. Я просто не знаю, КАК они это делают. Если полная блокировка правого колеса из стояча, медленно нажимая на газ, начинает поворот НАЛЕВО, то я не понимаю, к чему стремится IL-2. И да, чтобы быть противоположным, я пробовал заблокировать тормоза левого носа, и в данном случае это логично... Он идёт налево. Несмотря на то, что я почти эксперт по DCS, я не могу заставить Bf-109 делать всё, что хочу на земле в IL-2. Сказать, что модели разные — значит сильно преуменьшить.

Простите, сейчас я немного расстроен, ведь всё это кажется совершенно безумным. Я имею в виду, заблокируй правое колесо и поверни налево, серьёзно? ... Алло, МакФлай?! Да, я знаю, что у 109 огромный крутящий момент, и да, он известен заземляющим петлем, но, боже мой, он не заземлял с места с заблокированным правым колесом.

Может кто-нибудь, кто-нибудь, объяснить, как управлять этим в IL-2? В физическом мире 109 управлялся с дифференциальным торможением до примерно 60 км/ч, когда руль начинает оживать, но я не могу заставить это работать ни на одном уровне в IL-2. Буду признателен за отзывы от тех, кто знает секретное рукопожатие для этой вещи.

Для руления по земле на 109-х надо переключиться на ручное управление оборотами винта и установить винт на малый шаг. Далее отключить блокировку хвостового колеса и плавно увеличивая наддув двигателя рулить с помощью отклонения педалей и использования тормозов. Всё прекрасно управляется и вправо и влево. Надеюсь переводчик с русского на английский язык тебя не подведёт. 

[Kubert]

I've recorded a demonstration for you. For the right turn you need a little bit forward movement and more throttle and break as for the left turn, to counter torque. 

For this video I choose BF-109E, because in my opinion it's torque is the most noticable from all BF-109s, due to lighter weight and smaller wheels in comparison to later versions. In the end of the video I did two full right turns and one left turn. I tried to capture my pedals input as much as possible to show what I am doing. Most of the time my tailwheel was locked, only before a turn I unlocked it for a moment. Propeller was set to automatic entire time.

 

Edited September 27 by Kubert

[Kubert]

Also, if we look at a real BF-109 during taxiing, the pilot was also moving a rudder to the same direction as he wanted to turn. So, he was always pressing both the brake and the rudder at the same time. Which is similar what I've need to do in my video. I don't know if the rudder at such a low speeds has any effect, but the real pilot was using it anyway.

 

Edited September 27 by Kubert

[Gutholz]

Even at slow speed the rudder has some effect, depending on propeller RPM, because the propeller is still moving air over the rudder.

Good video, you can also see him doing what I meant in the other thread: Using elevator to put more/less weight on the wheel. It is not strictly necessary but can be helpful.

At 1min40 he starts moving with elevator up (stick back -> more weight on tail) and when beginning to turn at 1min50 he does elevator down. (stick forward -> less weight on tail)
At 9min30-10min10 it can be seen again when he does the turn towards the parking spot.

 

Shooter1-1, not sure what is happening with the spins on landing. It can be tricky in the Spitfire because it has no tailwheel lock. In the Fw190 it needs some timing when to lock the wheel, which works by pulling the stick back. Of course that still operates the elevator so if you do it wrong then the aircraft will want to pitch up again. Do you spin right after touchdown or when slowing down?

[Eisbaer]

After touching down in the Spitfire, maintain enough thrust so that the rudder remains responsive. Slowly apply the brakes while still maintaining thrust. This prevents the plane from skidding out during landing.