Spit IIa

[IvanK]

Originally Posted by Crumpp

You know what stick fixed stability is right?

Err yes, 36 years professional flying, including one high performance type with neutral stability (and 50+ degrees Alpha and controllable capability) and the ability to fly in both FBW and basic manual modes. So I have a basic understanding of keeping the pointy end forward.

My point is your original comment ... "If the unacceptable stability and control characteristics of the Spitfire...." is imo a sweeping one. The spitfire had issues but then so does every aeroplane. In general its handling was pretty straight forward. In addition, adding Bob weights in the pitch circuit was quite a common practice at the time.

As to your comment on the Spitfires stall :

"the Spitfire has an extremely nasty stall that will spin and the aircraft is susceptible to airframe destruction in an aggravated spin."

I think that is a bit loose as well and needs to be put into the context in which this area of handling is discussed in the pilots notes. The pilots notes (MKI anyway) mention is made in the Accelerated (or high speed) stall that if not quickly corrected could lead to structural damage. To my mind this is simply pointing out that at high speed High G departure (accelerated stall) there is a possibility of structural failure, my presumption exceeding Rolling G limits etc. This description is similar to a Flick roll at high speeds. In 1G flight the Spitfire stall was pretty straight forward. A personal work colleague and friend of mine is fortunate to fly the both Spitfire MKVIII,XVI,P51D and P40F on a regular basis. He absolutely raves about the Spitfires slow speed handling and its abilty to just "keep giving" in the high AOA region. It might not meet all the NACA requirements but it still was a very well behaved aeroplane.