Spit IIa

[Crumpp]

I can break the Spitty in two by madly pulling back the stick, something that would be suicidal in the real one with a stick force of a mere 4 lbs / G.

If the unacceptable stability and control characteristics of the Spitfire are not modeled, then you will never have a simulation of the relative dog-fighting capabilities of these airplanes.

Aerodynamically the Spitfire could easily out-turn a Bf-109E series. A pilot dealing with the real world stability and control issues would leave the contest much closer than the aerodynamic analysis on paper.

The stability and control characteristics of the BF-109 were acceptable and actually conformed to a set standard based on Robert R. Gilruth's findings on flying qualities. Germany was ahead of most of the world in adopting such as standard. Japan was also on an acceptable control standard. None of this was known to the Allies until after the war.

It is interesting to note that the NACA adopted a unified stability and control in 1942 but it was not until 1945 that the USAAF (R-1815-A)and USN (SR 119A) printed their own standards using the NACA findings. The first fighter the NACA tested was a Spitfire Mk V. The aircraft failed miserably and was replaced in USAAF service as soon as possible.