My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

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Styggron
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My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Hello everyone,
Looking at videos etc for almost a year now I always though I'd be in BIG trouble with the Spitfire. Well I now have one (without Accu-sim) and you know what ? I didn't have the slightest problems flying or taxiing. Sure to taxi I had to weave a little or cheat and get external view but I know the airfield so it's no problem.

:D :D :D

I took off and landed. No problems. Not sure if the accu-sim add on changes the base model sounds of engine start up. Probably not. From what I see on you tube, the engine sounds appear to be the same whether you have accu-sim or not. I am not 100% on this though. Only A2A would know for sure as most people would not even think of not getting accu-sim. :wink:

I of course noticed that whilst I can go to the maintenance hangar I cannot change the prop but there is a patch I can put on for that from A2A another user told me about, no biggie. I noticed some sounds are not there as they would be accu-sim however I still got things like the cockpit fogging up. I thought that was accu-sim only but nope, it's in the base model. :D

Like a real spitfire I had to be careful about overheating but just watching the Engine temp is all you need to be careful of. I kept the vents open. Everything seemed fine. "G" still works for the undercarriage. Not tried to use the "pump" yet. So I only really immediately noticed a few things missing due to accu-sim not being there (from watching you tube videos as all A2A Spitfire youtube vids seem to have accu sim of course). Have not put the aircraft into a situation where it would shake so I don't know if the base model does this. I shall soon find out.

Of course I have accu-feel but I will turn that off for the present as I want to see the base model completely "as is" for a good comparison. Then I will try accu-feel and then maybe accu-sim.

Everyone needs to make their own decision if adding accu-sim for that particular plane is "worth it" to them because it is an expensive combination. I'm not here to discuss the merits of what should or not be, each to their own. I just really want to have a good fly with the Base Spitfire and then with AccuFeel and maybe.....lastly accu-sim and see if, for me and me alone, is worth the cost of that add on for that particular plane and then base that on whether I would get accu-sim for others or not because the base would be enough. I might do some livestreams doing the comparisons. As accu-sim cannot be "turned off" I need to do all the tests with the base model first as I don't want to get into uninstalling accu-sim if I go ahead with that test (as it would probably mess up my other A2A planes that have accu-sim).

The only way to do the comparison is to not have accu-sim else you don't know what you are missing, it's all just "there".

From videos on youtube what I can see instantly are:
  • Accusim will add vibration to the cockpit upon startup. Base model does not do this.
  • When you turn off the fuel, with the base model, the engine stops immediately as does the prop. On videos I see on youtube, the engine does not immediately stop, it runs for a while still. Again this is how a real one would work I gather
Excellent experiences with the base plane so far. I am still SO surprised it was not hard to start/fly at all. (Although the realism with starting would definitely be accu-sim as it models all the engine and oil systems etc). The modelling of the cockpit is just :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :D :D

Who knows. I might be quite happy with a non Accu-sim Spitfire. :shock: Remember, with a customer making a purchase, only 1 person has to be happy with what they have, the person buying it. Everyone is different with their needs and expectations. :) I know many people reading this would be in utter shock. Please don't be. :) Remember, whether I put on accu-sim or not I am still supporting A2A's amazing products. I will always make an informed decision and research and test things myself at every opportunity, I will never just "accept", I need to see and experience it.

Onward with the test. Stage 1. Base plane only.
I'll be saying hello to Duxford shortly !

Wish me luck chaps !

:D
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DC3
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by DC3 »

Good luck on your testing.

I have the Spitfire with Accusim. I found the aircraft very well balanced and easy to fly. Much easier than the Mustang or the P47. The P40 was also easy to fly. Both of the Spitfire (mid 30's) and the P40 (late 30's) were engineered around the same time frame and embody an ease of flight unmatched by later aircraft (IMHO). The P51 and P47 both engineered in the 40's took lessons from the Spitfire and P40 and became superior aircraft in their class, but were also a handful to handle on take off and landing. In the air they of course were superb. Of course all of this could be an illusion since this is all based on my experience with the Accusimed Spitfire, P40, P51, and P47.

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Killratio
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Killratio »

Glad you are enjoying her.

There was a huge myth around the Accusimmed Spitfire when it came out that it was almost impossible to fly, at least without boiling it dry.
Complete rubbish and due almost entirely to people using it for purposes and in flight regimes for which it wasn't designed. This went all the way up (allegedly)
to a group of real Greek F-16 pilots (no squadron or names quoted by them, of course :roll: ) who could not believe that an aircraft that difficult to fly would ever have been manufactured :D :D :D

Bob Doe always reckoned that they should have trained pilots on Spitfires before letting them loose on the Tiger Moth, instead of the other way around.
Dudley will attest to how relatively easy a real Spitfire is to fly and I can attest to what a handful a real Tiger Moth is!!

Anyway, test away. Enjoy and whatever route you eventually decide on, I'm sure you will fall completely in love with the old girl.

regards

Darryl
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Killratio
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Killratio »

Oh.. and glad you love the Cockpit. I have always thought that it is the best one A2A have done. It just has that je ne sais quoi.
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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Killratio wrote:Oh.. and glad you love the Cockpit. I have always thought that it is the best one A2A have done. It just has that je ne sais quoi.
Like ? The Spitfire was the first model plane I built when I was very little and it was always my favourite. The Spitfire and the Avro Lancaster are my top planes of all time. I took so many photos when I was at Duxford earlier in the year. I'm considering doing the Lancaster Taxi experience at East Kirby.

The A2A modelling of the Spitfire cockpit is amazing. I know this might sound silly but I just sat in there for quite a while just looking at things before I even attempted to start her up.

I'm still SO surprised it is not that hard to fly at all. There are youtube vids still up that say it is one of the hardest planes to fly. I don't know why. As you say Killratio there is some kind of myth about the Spit indeed.
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FlipS
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by FlipS »

Joy Lofthouse (ATA pilot who flew airplanes from the factories to the airfields) told: "It (the Spit) was the nearest thing to flying yourself, as though the wings were part of you rather than part of the aeroplane".
Read also this article.

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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

FlipS wrote:Joy Lofthouse (ATA pilot who flew airplanes from the factories to the airfields) told: "It (the Spit) was the nearest thing to flying yourself, as though the wings were part of you rather than part of the aeroplane".
Read also this article.
Cheers. Reading now.
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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Just did a flight taking off from Manston and fying around Dover. Very nice. The cockpit does shake with buffetting but that is because Accu-Feel was on. Ooops.

Also some buttons on the CTRL-2 panel don't seem to do anything. There is a "headphones" menu item that does not seem to do anything. ????
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Killratio »

From memory, the headphones effect is part of the Accusim soundset, handled outside FSX. What it does there is reduce the volume of the effects and engine slightly which is realistic. I say slightly because having used the old B and C type helmets, the noise cancelling qualities are second only to cutting large holes in a sheet of newspaper and draping it over your head!
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Killratio »

Styggron wrote:
Killratio wrote:Oh.. and glad you love the Cockpit. I have always thought that it is the best one A2A have done. It just has that je ne sais quoi.
Like ? The Spitfire was the first model plane I built when I was very little and it was always my favourite.

The A2A modelling of the Spitfire cockpit is amazing.

.
Snap!

If you are ever heading out West mate, give me a yell. Moody Blue is always available for a spin. Except for Norforce, he's already pranged the house limit

:P :P Ron



Best regards

Darryl
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bladerunner900
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by bladerunner900 »

She is a beauty to fly. Try doing some rolls and spins, it certainly concentrates the mind. The engine coughing and spluttering is a good effect too. :wink:

Steve.

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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Killratio wrote:From memory, the headphones effect is part of the Accusim soundset, handled outside FSX. What it does there is reduce the volume of the effects and engine slightly which is realistic. I say slightly because having used the old B and C type helmets, the noise cancelling qualities are second only to cutting large holes in a sheet of newspaper and draping it over your head!
Hello Killratio,
I will see that when I do the accu-sim test then. I do have accu-sim I just have not installed it. I got several A2A presents from people around me who know I love flight sim but was keeping back a little due to costs of A2A craft so thanks to them, I was able to get B17, PiperCub (as I want to fly the sea plane) and Spitfire. I am testing them all without accu-sim but I do have the accu-sim model as they were all purchased with it. :)

Just really keen to see and experience the difference because for me it might not be enough to warrant the expense of the accu-sim add on. These tests will help me determine when I buy other aircraft with accu-sim models if it is worth it, for me because as I said in the OP, it only needs to please one person, the purchaser. With my few tests at present, accu-feel does a nice job so far so at this stage, I think an A2A plane with accu-feel would be the way forward for me. Unfortunately, they have several planes now where the packages are not separate like the Commanche/Cherokee. Most of the userbase here would have the rationale "who would not want it with accu-sim" the answer is "maybe me" :D. It does make sense to have the combination with the GAs though, but that's ok, there are other planes that have them separate. I am keen on the P47 Razorback.

The B377 for example I would say COTS is a must, as with the upcoming Constellation. Also I would say even though I've not even installed the PiperCub that the accu-sim add on is important because you get Heidi. This does depend on what Heidi does though. I'll be testing that as well. I've watched youtube vids of people flying with Heidi and in one vid all she mostly says is "plane ahead 9 o'clock" hmmm .... anyway that's for the piper threads when I start those. :) Most people here would not know what the non accu-sim counterparts are like and that is not a problem at all. The user is the only one that needs to be happy.

Glad I can reduce the engine noise on the spit when I put accu-sim on though, it is very noisy :)
Last edited by Styggron on 30 Aug 2016, 16:36, edited 10 times in total.
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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Killratio wrote:
Styggron wrote:
Killratio wrote:Oh.. and glad you love the Cockpit. I have always thought that it is the best one A2A have done. It just has that je ne sais quoi.
Like ? The Spitfire was the first model plane I built when I was very little and it was always my favourite.

The A2A modelling of the Spitfire cockpit is amazing.

.
Snap!

If you are ever heading out West mate, give me a yell. Moody Blue is always available for a spin. Except for Norforce, he's already pranged the house limit

:P :P Ron



Best regards

Darryl
Hello Darryl,
I did a flight from Manston and around Dover last night (of course where else :D ), over the Dungeness region. Again not the slightest issue starting or flying (again because accu-sim is not there probably).

I also notice you don't have to trim the spitfire as much at certain altitudes and speeds. Nice. I tried a modest dive and climb by pointing up, I got a buffetting effect because I forgot to turn off accu-feel :) I know without accu-sim you don't get all the cabin shake on start up which I miss and I miss not hearing sounds on the fuel priming and opening the door. I know it models a lot more but still seems too expensive as an add on, unless the base plane was cheaper. Still, tests are not done so I can't tell yet.

Sorry not sure what you mean by giving you a yell, if you mean flying online, sorry I don't use FSX online.

Maybe I am in for a rude shock if/when I put on accu-sim ? I am still puzzled as to how the myth that this is the hardest plane to fly came from.

Also if you put on the armaments, (I have only flown the IIb at present) can you fire the guns ?
Last edited by Styggron on 30 Aug 2016, 16:14, edited 2 times in total.
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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

bladerunner900 wrote:She is a beauty to fly. Try doing some rolls and spins, it certainly concentrates the mind. The engine coughing and spluttering is a good effect too. :wink:

Steve.
Hi Bladerunner. I've not tried a roll yet or spin. Without accu-sim I have a chance of regaining control though because I am sure with accu-sim it would be "real". :shock:

I'll try some steep dives and flying straght up and see how she goes. Might not hear some of those engine effects you're talking about such as coughing and spluttering because I don't have accu-sim on there though. I did get cockpit shake when doing a fast sideways turn (on my side....sorry I don't know what it is called when you fly at 90 degrees so one wing points up and one points down and you pull back on the stick to make the turn fast). That shake was due to accu-feel though which I have. Nice sounds accu-feel does with that.

More testing soon. Might fly out of Duxford tonight and turn accu-feel off and try some dives and flying almost straight up. I really hope A2A put out a much later Spitfire. There is a thread where I asked and they said they have one on there not ready for release........lets hope.
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Styggron
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Re: My goodness ! It's not that hard to fly at all !

Post by Styggron »

Some questions on flying the spit

1. There is a note in the cockpit that says you should not deploy flaps if going over 140IAS, the gauge is in MPH though, so I just need to convert and be careful ?
2. Do you all just leave the vents open ? I have so far (remember I don't have accu-sim) seems to be ok this way
3. I notice with the throttle and the little red gauge on the right, the "boost" gauge you can go WAY past the "maximum" per se I tend to try not to push that much but I think I might do some tests. I found when I was taking off I had the throttle all the way and when I saw the boost gauge I thought :shock: bring it back bring it back.

No consequences of my inept flying so far :)
Accufeel V2, C172 , B377+L049+COTS, B17G, Piper Cub,Commanche,Cherrokee,Spitfire,Bonanza, P47,P40,both Mustangs
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