Nice job, Widar. You put a lot of time into this and we appreciate your efforts. However, here's a couple things that came to mind that you could perhaps address. Perhaps some of these you considered, but forgot to mention, or just went about them differently.
First, the time to altitude (125m to Xm) numbers are probably invalid. I'd be willing to bet there aren't many planes, particularly of the WWII and previous eras, that can climb well at +50* pitch. According to your tests, several weren't even able to maintain a climb at that attitude. If you were trying to test best rate of climb, you'd have to fly each aircraft at its best rate of climb airspeed for a good comparison. For example, the BF-109E's best rate airspeed is around 270-280 kph. Also, I'm not sure if this is what you did or not, but the best way I can think of to test best rate of climb is to start each aircraft on the deck and takeoff, accelerate to best climb speed, then pitch up to an attitude that holds the desired airspeed.
Second, the zoom climb (1km - 3km) and dive (6km - 1km) tests don't mention the starting airspeed. If you start a zoom climb at 700kph you'll go up a lot faster and farther than if you start at 400kph; likewise for the dive.
Third, you don't mention airspeeds for the turn rate and roll rate tests. For the turn test, each aircraft has a "cornering speed" at which it will give the best rate of turn for the smallest turn radius. (Also, there's different airspeeds for best instantaneous and best sustained turn rates - best sustained rates are, as far as I know, at a lower airspeed because most aircraft can't hold the same energy as the instantaneous turn rate requires.) For roll rates, generally, starting from zero airspeed, roll rate increases to a maximum as airspeed increases. After that point, as airspeed continues to increase, roll rate decreases. If you were at the optimum speed for a Spit II during the roll test, but too fast or slow for a Fw-190 your numbers might show the Spit having a roll rate advantage.
Fourth, for the turn rate, as well as roll rate, finding the max performance on those should be based on the the "ideal" sensitivity - something that prevents you from flying around stalled (killing your turn performance) and gives you the best rate/radius. To do that for every aircraft in the list would be difficult, but would probably be most beneficial to the most players.
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10-02-2009, 11:10 PM
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