Spitfire combat experience

[Simpo Two]

This link was just passed to me by a friend. I have no idea how good it is and have no connection with them but thought some of you might be interested:

https://www.virtual-aerospace.com/product/brand-ne...

Not convinced by the 'full cartridge of ammo' and Merlin spelled with a small 'm' though..!

[LimaDelta]

Hmmm. The DCS Spitfire is notoriously difficult to fly properly. I imagine that could be a very frustrating experience for some customers.

[Simpo Two]

LimaDelta said:

Hmmm. The DCS Spitfire is notoriously difficult to fly properly. I imagine that could be a very frustrating experience for some customers.

It takes many hours of proper training to fly, let alone fight. Do they expect people with no experience or knowledge to go straight into 'combat'? Surely something has been simplified so they can just jump in and play?

[2xChevrons]

Simpo Two said:

It takes many hours of proper training to fly, let alone fight. Do they expect people with no experience or knowledge to go straight into 'combat'? Surely something has been simplified so they can just jump in and play?

I had a session on the Boultbee Academy simulator at Goodwood as a birthday present. It's a MkIX simulator, and the only one realistic enough to be certified for actual pilot training/competency. It's built on custom software (based on the A2A sim, for anyone familiar with those), built around a genuine cockpit section, with genuine or fully authentic instruments and controls, and has 220-degree surround vision and appropriate motion and feedback systems.

I'm not a pilot and have never been at the controls of anything more fearsome than a Piper Warrior. My session started with the 'aircraft' already at 3000ft in the cruise, since it is effectively impossible for a novice to do takeoffs without spending the entire session time learning only how to do that. Obviously I was solo in an empty virtual sky, but I chucked it around doing some combat-style aerobatics, pulled some Gs, did some rolls, flicks, hammerhead turns, half-Cubans, Immelmanns and so on. I stalled it once and got into a spin twice but recovered both times. I was talked through the approach and landing but ended up getting 'behind' the aircraft on short final and stalling it into the ground sideways near the runway threshold.

So the Spitfire's reputation as "a lady in the air, a bh on the ground" seems to be accurate. I was assured that the simulator had no adjustable realism levels in terms of handling, and all they do for the 'civilians' is remove all the weather effects from the sim and turn off the mechanical failures (so you can't break the virtual Merlin by overheating it).

On that basis I'd say that, even if this sim is as realistic as the Boultbee one, two novices should be able to have a pretty decent experience with it, especially with a bit of instruction and practice beforehand.

[heisthegaffer]

Not exactly the same but I've a Vulcan SIM experience later on in the year.