Thoughts about Friday's update

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by fruitbat

I tried the demo, and was unimpressed straight away that the spit they had in the missions was the Dunkirk 2 stage as opposed to CSP during BoB.

Is this different in the actual paid campaign, or is it still wrong?

No, you're right. Actually, I just flew that mission yesterday -- it is the 2-speed Mark 1 that's used. Don't shoot me if I'm wrong, but I believe that many Spitfire squadrons hadn't yet been retrofitted by May, 1940, with the CS props (DH or Rotol? Can't remember offhand which was field mounted and which was factory-installed later). IIRC Al Deere of 54 Squadron flew a Dunkirk mission in a Mark 1 with 2-speed prop (and got shot down and had to take a boat home with the evacuees).

Re-reading Alex Henshaw's "Sigh for a Merlin". Early on he mentions that the BoB pilots quickly discovered that the 2-speed prop pitch lever could be carefully manipulated at the center of travel to adjust the prop's pitch between Full Fine and Full Coarse -- which gave huge obvious advantages in performance if done skillfully. This was strictly variable pitch though, NOT Constant Speed. Neither DH nor Rolls Royce countenanced this, fearing serious damage to engine and/or prop governor -- but neither Company's reps were in the cockpit with the pilot at 20 angels with a 109 on their six! This aspect is not modelled in CoD, but IS modelled in A2A's Wings of Power 3 Spitfire 1a.