Hurricane & Spitfire control characteristics

[Kurfürst]

I found this interesting report from Automn 1940 describing handling characterisits (roll, yaw and pitch) if the Spitfire and Hurricane at high speed. I wonder how it stacks up with the sim (or rather, how the sim stacks up to real life).

One particular feature that seems to be amiss from the sim is the

a) very sensitive rudder trim
b) very sensitive elevator control
c) Yaw at high speed on the Spitfire (assymetic radiator layout)

I will try to test the roll as well, supposedly it only takes 2 secs on the Hurricane and 8 secs on the Spitfire to roll 90 degrees at 400 mph IAS.

[Kurfürst]

continued 2...

[Kurfürst]

continued 3

[Kurfürst]

Spitfire Mark II Pilot's notes from June 1940, "General Flying", Part 1.

[Kurfürst]

con'd.

[Kurfürst]

I did a quick measurements of roll rates for the Hurricane (Rotol) and the Spitfire Mk IIa. I climbed to sufficient altitude, and then entered a 30-45 degree dive to get the aircraft up to 400 mph IAS, then rolled them to the right 90 degrees and measured the time required with a stopwatch.

The RAE testing noted in the first post gives 2 secs for Hurricane for a 90 degree roll and 8 secs for the Spitfire under maximum effort.

I've got 2.5 secs (instead of 8 secs) for the Spitfire Mk II and around 3 secs for the Hurricane Mk I Rotol (instead of 2 secs)

Conclusion:

The Spitfire Mk. IIa's roll rate is overmodelled by a factor of 3.2 (!!), ie. it rolls 3.2 times faster at 400 mph IAS than it should be.

The Hurricane Mk. I Rotol roll rate is undermodelled by a factor of 1.5 , ie. it rolls 1.5 times slower at 400 mph IAS than it should be.