Spitfire Performance

[rhewett01]

Very much enjoying playing around with the Scramble demo and impressed with the modelling; just a query about how the Spitfire I performs.

I'm very conscious that:

(a) This is still a demo!

(b) I have no idea what the underlying performance model assumptions are in terns of fuel octane level, variable speed/constant pitch propellor, maximum permitted boost etc

(c) I am probably missing out some really obvious steps to fly better.

That said I am struggling to get more than 270-275 mph, straight and level(ish) at between 3000 and 3500 feet which seems to be a bit short of the A+AEE/RAE testing curves that I've seen.

I'm sure that the designers have done far greater research on this that I have so pilot error is quite likely. What am I missing?

[Athos1660]

Maybe IAS (Indicated Air Speed) vs TAS (True Air Speed) ?

[Skylandrial]

The ME-110 was a dog in combat and hurricanes regularly shot them to pieces. They were fast and heavily armed but the turned like pregnant cows, in this game they are more maneuverable than the Spit which is just stupid. In fact the Spit was on par with the ME-109 and could out turn it.
In the game it flies like an anvil.
The ME-109 could not dive with either the Hurricane or the Spitfire.
There are some obvious changes to be made to the physics of these planes.

[Klahn]

The ME-110 was a dog in combat and hurricanes regularly shot them to pieces. They were fast and heavily armed but the turned like pregnant cows, in this game they are more maneuverable than the Spit which is just stupid. In fact the Spit was on par with the ME-109 and could out turn it.
In the game it flies like an anvil.
The ME-109 could not dive with either the Hurricane or the Spitfire.
There are some obvious changes to be made to the physics of these planes.

Until the Spitfire Mk IX, the 109 could easily outdive both the Spit and the Hurricane. In fact, diving out was the most common way for 109s to disengage. A lot of sources talk about "bunting" to escape by initiating a negative G dive to take advantage of the float carburetor on the Spit and Hurri. But that was rare. The 109 could roll into a standard dive and outrun it's opponents quite easily. The 109 was generally superior in vertical combat both ways. It could also climb-turn better than the Spit. But the Spitfire was superior in the pure horizontal. While both aircraft could turn in roughly the same circle, the Spit could roll faster. Especially at high speeds.

Also, be wary of the 110 in an initial turn. It can actually turn very quickly. It's issue is that it can't sustain a turn fight. It loses speed too quickly. But if a 110 needs to snap it's nose into a turn to bring it's guns to bear, and doesn't care about dumping speed, it can turn shockingly fast. Faster than a Spitfire even. It has a lot of wing. And with it's gun package, it doesn't need to keep you in it's sights for long.