Can some one tell me where I can get a Merlin overhauled for £65,000 please……

I’m waiting……..

It’s ready to go……..

Not sure but if you have £150k I’m sure I can find you one…

Exactly the figure I mentioned in my post.

If props are costing £70,000, then I’m sure and engine overhaul will be almost double that!

Cheers

Paul

I just heard on the BBC news that the narration of the battle over the loudspeakers will refer to ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ forces to avoid national sensitivities.

I mean….COME ON, does that mean airhow commentaries will refer to allied aircraft as ‘Orange forces’?

‘Cuh… ‘

Couldn’t agree more Seafury.

I wonder why they are bothering to celebrate it if they feel the need to refer to each side as ‘Red’ & ‘Blue’ for fear of offending people.

How ridiculous!

Another classic example of political correctness whitewashing (am I allowed to say that?) history. 😡

Ok, back on subject, I was watching the local news at six this evening which was live at the event and saw the RR Spit XIX displaying. 🙂

Cheers

Paul

Well, the best thing I advise is to have a crack at making your own Flight Model if you have one thats no good!

http://www.mudpond.us/

All the tools you need should be here (you’ll need MS excel for the Flight Dynamics Workbook) but it’s not as hard as you might think! 😉 There is also a beta version of the excellent ‘Air Wrench’ which uses all the formulas & Coefficients that the FDWB uses but is far simpler to use and will make brand new FM’s based on the existing air & cfg files.

You’ll really get the best out of the FS Sim Engine with these. 😀

Just make sure you have the required data for your chosen machine (weights, power, dimensions, control surface areas and movement etc) and you should have a half decent FM! 🙂

Cheers

Paul

Thanks for the update Melvin & also for the Dunsfold frequency in the other thread.

My tickets arrived the other day and I’m very much looking forward to this show and it will be great to see the Vacher Hurricane & P7350 in the air together. 🙂

I saw a rather big piece about the show in our local ‘rag’ today which also mentioned that a couple of former 98 Sqn ground crew have set up a museum there to help preserve Dunsfold’s history.

Cheers

Paul

Laurent,

Thanks very much for sharing these great videos.

Looks like a great couple of days!

Regarding the 109 ‘incident’.

Having seen the footage and read the comments here several times now, it looks to me like the aircraft did not depart controlled flight as suggested but actually performed a rather untidy roll – a bit like DBW described.

I think it’s worth considering the 109’s characteristics in this region of flight when making any assessment.

Whilst it does indeed have a higher wing loading than the equivalent MK of Spitfire, all pilots who have flown the 109 will tell you that it is actually very benign in both an accelerated stall and normal 1g power on/off one. It is also quite controllable too with good aileron control right down to the stall (thanks to the leading edge auto slats) and has no tendency to flick out of accelerated stall like some of the other WWII types did.

As the late Mark Hanna wrote in article on flying the Buchon/109G-10:

“As CL max is reached the leading edge slats deploy – together if the ball is in the middle, slightly asymmetrically if you have any slip on. The aircraft delights in being pulled into hard manoeuvring turns at these slower speeds. As the slats pop out you feel a slight “notching” on the stick and you can pull more until the whole airframe is buffeting quite hard. A little more and you will drop a wing, but you have to be crass to do it unintentionally.”

And Dave Southwood in an article about flying “Black 6”:

In a turn at 280kphwith display power set, stall warning is given by light buffet at 3g, and the stall occurs at 3.5g with the inside wing dropping. Again, recovery is instant on easing the stick forward. One interesting feature is the leading edge slats. When these deploy at low speeds or in a turn, a ‘clunk’ can be heard and felt, but there is no disturbance to the aircraft about any axis.

One area it isn’t so nice in is it’s directional stability in yaw and as it has no pilot controllable rudder trim, this of course means that there is lots of work to do if balanced and coordinated flight is to be achieved – i.e. at the top of a loop, half Cuban, or wing over.

Here’s what Dave said about this:

“There are two problem areas in yaw control with the ‘109. Firstly, directional stability is low and marked slip ball excursions occur with any changes of speed or power. Also, there is moderate adverse aileron yaw (right yaw when left aileron is applied, and vice versa). The rudder force to centralise the slip ball is low, but constant rudder inputs are required during manoeuvres to minimise sideslip. If the slip ball is not kept central, the lateral force on the pilot is not uncomfortable and no handling problems occur, but it looks very untidy in a display. At the top of a left wingover, you are very cross-controlled, with left aileron and lots of right rudder applied. This lack of directional stability makes it hard work to fly the aircraft accurately and neatly, although there are no safety problems. The second problem is the lack of a cockpit adjustable rudder trimmer. The fixed tab is set so that the rudder is in trim during the cruise, reducing footloads during long transits. However, for all other airspeed and power combinations, a rudder force must be applied. This is an annoying feature, and I am surprised that a rudder trim tab was never fitted to later models such as the Gustav”.

With these factors in mind, it looks to me that the pilot applied too much forward stick during the second roll, didn’t anticipate the subsequent amount of yaw or coudn’t control it, and thus failed to keep the aircraft in balance, hence the large amount of yaw that we saw. I would have thought that a departure/incipient spin would have occurred at the top of the half cuban (prior too or just as he rolled out) but I see no sign of this in the clip and doubt it would be very dramatic given what I posted above regarding the 109’s accelerated stall traits.

It would be interesting to see the full resolution version to see the position of the controls during the roll, but even after all the conjecture, I guess, as the great Alex Henshaw said, “Only he in the cockpit knows what really happened!”

Oh, one thing that did surprise me more was the fact that the pilot opted for a rather ‘hot’ wheel landing, something I always thought 109 pilots tried to avoid given it’s reputation for ground looping! 😮

Cheers

Paul

Sorry Mark, can’t help with your question, but since no one else has, may I ask which Spit this is for as I’m a tad curious! 😉

Cheers

Paul

Despite the luxury of a top-flight cast, this latter-day David and Goliath story remains a frequently tedious experience, punctuated by stilted dialogue and one interminable dogfight after another

Well, I’m suprised it got as high as No.29 given that all the reviews by film buff’s I’ve read have said pretty much the same thing! 🙁

I too have always found the comments about ‘endless dogfights’ or ‘one dogfight after another’ rather strange considering the film was about one of the greatest aerial battles of the 20th century. :rolleyes:

:confused:

Cheers

Paul