Airframe Stress + Observations

Finally got to try the Spitfire module. Simply, amazing work! :thumbup:

I have a question:

Is airframe stress modelled? I can make some extremely tight turns, blackout, but the aircraft seems unaffected. I'm sure the turning performance is correctly modelled, it just surprised me. Was it really that good?

Observations:

- The 190 feels like I feel when I ice skate; confident until I have to turn, then its lots of gritted teeth and nervous adjustments. The 109 is a thoroughbred; it constantly demands attention and tuning. The Spit flies lightly and effortlessly, it just loves to stay aloft - you can put it into a spiraling climb and even with a low airspeed, it just climbs and climbs.

- Feels uniquely 'British' in the cockpit - "wobble" pumps, thoughtful and proper warning labels, lots of pneumatic levers that hiss like a steam engine. It's all happily quaint.

- Roll performance is better than expected, especially at medium/high speed where I thought it would be worse than the 109

- level speed disadvantage is not much of an issue in practice.

- That elliptical wing! great at all speeds, a little slow in a dive.

- Its form and flying qualities capture a sense of freedom and optimism. I can see why it's so loved by its pilots.

if you pull hard enough at high speeds, the spit will break apart... like the Mustang

I saw quite a few, including myself, spitfires trying to dive in and end up in thousand parts falling with black smokes from the sky

Bear in mind its a very strong monocoque design with the metal skin adding to the structure's rigidity, you'd be surprised how many gees some of those old WWII birds could handle. They were over-designed almost as a rule.

I helped a guy do some rivet work on an SBD Dauntless at a museum I volunteered at a ways back, and that thing on the inside of the air frame (its wings were off, it was receiving re-lined fuel tanks) was BEEFY. Amazingly thick pieces of aluminum, steel, etc, bracing everywhere.

The flight manual might tell the pilot, hey, don't exceed 6 gees, but trust me when I say, those things could take ALOT more, almost any one of them. With no computer modeling and lots of material available, they just packed it on till the project lead designer said hey the plane is too heavy lol

Hugh, I think You're the first man on these forums complaining about wings NOT breaking off, after an army of players complaining about exactly the opposite :D. Turns out the limit load is modelled correctly at about 11 G by the way.

Looks like You're not flying her fast enough ;).