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Originally Posted by IceFire
Sorry for wading in 
Most people don't seem to be able to articulate what they are seeing. So I'll give it a try.
It took me a while to notice but eventually I did. Now that I've noticed... I can tell that the Spitfire is definitely a slightly more challenging ride than before. Before it felt a bit like it was on rails in some cases. Now it does have some "extra character to it". I can't say if it's right, wrong or different. So far the best way for me to test to see the difference is to snap roll 90 degrees left and right and then return to level flight.
It seems the aileron movements causes the extra yaw. I'm fairly certain this is called adverse yaw. It is slightly more severe than on many other types (by my approximation) although I can also list several types that have it more extreme than the Spitfire as well.
I do know that stability changed between the different Spitfire models and the redesigned tail for the later IX models represented an attempt at correcting some stability issues introduced by the Merlin 60 series installed up front which changed the length, weight distribution and relative stability of the model. I don't have the numbers... just the general details so unfortunately I cannot be more specific.
The revised modeling does seem to be across the board but it may be worthwhile to double check Mark V versus early Mark IX versus late IX (and VIII) just to be certain that values are what they should be?
Just some thoughts.
EDIT: Those of you having more difficulties with this may want to adjust their joystick curves to slightly reduce the sensitivity. Particularly on the rudder. That should help... along with a proper rudder coordination technique to work with excess yaw. Particularly during gunnery. |
You might be on to something here.
Adverse yaw is encountered in all aircraft, but maybe the Spitfire's famous wing is partially to blame in this case?
From the wiki:
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According to the diagram, when the control column of an aircraft is moved to the right, the right aileron is deflected upwards, and the left aileron is deflected downwards, causing the aircraft to roll to the right. As the right wing descends, its lift vector, which is perpendicular to the relative motion, tilts forward and therefore has a forward component. Conversely, as the left wing moves up, its lift vector tilts back and therefore has an aft force component. The fore/aft lift force components on the right and left wings constitute the adverse yaw moment.
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Why do we care? Well, because more lift means a bigger forward/backward component in the diagram, which means more adverse yaw. If the Spitfire's wing is capable of higher lift than other aircraft (for a given airspeed range, conditions, etc etc) then it will also be prone to more adverse yaw, which means you need to use the rudder more or have oscillations when it goes back to neutral behavior.
I don't know exactly how the Spit's wing compares to other aircraft, so if anyone could shed some light maybe we could track down if this is the cause of the instability. In the case that the Spit wing is better at producing lift then incurring extra instability during rolls would be accurate. There's no such thing as a free lunch in physics
On a more humorous note
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Originally Posted by Brain32
Thrust vectoring? xD
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Good one
