ThirdWire Spit9 Flight Models

[+baffmeister]

A couple more "Battle of the Bulge" era FM's attached. I did some speed checks on the stock ThirdWire FM's and the speeds were too low for a Merlin 66 powered 100 octane version so I made a few changes. The sea level horsepower numbers looked good so the tail wheel drag numbers were adjusted similar to what I used for the Spit1 Battle of Britain FM's and the CD0 values were adjusted slightly to get the proper sea level speeds. Some of the speeds at altitude were still too low so I added some ram air boost to extend the full throttle heights an additional 2000ft for low and high blower and that gave some good numbers. With WEP, you can expect 335-340mph IAS/TAS at sea level and about 405mph TAS in the 19000-21000ft range. The speeds I checked at other altitudes up to 32000ft are all within +/- 5mph of the chart I was using so the engine table is a done deal.

There may be some AI crash issues with the later WW2 FM's I've been making so some changes to the AI behavior may be required. For the Spit9's, I added an additional 5deg to the nose up elevator travel and that helped some, but the Spit9's still seem quite "G" limited at higher speeds so some other adjustments may be required. Roll rates and rudder behavior will get a closer look as well. Still have to do some research on the drop tanks but they will get added eventually.

I originally planned to use the TW Spit14 for an eventual Battle of the Bulge campaign but the bubble canopy versions may not have been "in theatre" until early 1945 so will probably use one of the Spitfire 9 versions instead.

Here are the FM's: Spit9FMs0.95.zip

[+Coupi]

Hello,

On my new PC I'm rebuilding my WWII install around your beautiful Battle of the Bulge terrain !

Little by little I play with your excellent FMs. 

Many thanks Baffmeister!!! 

Coupi.

[+baffmeister]

You're welcome! Presently working on a P-47D-40 FM that should be ready in a week or two and I plan on checking the TW P-51D FM similar to what I did with the Spit9's. You can expect some eventual Typhoon and Lightning FM's as well.