F4U Takeoff problem

[horseback]

During the war, Corsairs, Hellcats, even Spitfires, P-40s and P-47s were all flown off of CVE type carriers with full combat loads by average service pilots on several occasions without the aid of catapults. Taking off wasn't the problem; landing on a shorter, slower, more unstable CVE deck was a distinct problem.

By every account, the Wildcat was one of the hardest aircraft to take off from a carrier--the F4F-4 and FM-1 models were especially somewhat underpowered, and the darned things were so torque-y on top of those narrow landing gear that almost anything after that must have seemed like a piece of cake by comparison. Certainly, the late-war carrier fighters should have more than enough power and lift to clear even a short carrier deck easily with a normal combat load.

I think that there's either something 'off' in the acceleration & takeoff modeling or that the 'correct' procedure for the Player to achieve the desired results is not well known or understood.

cheers

horseback