Mogster

It’s not a Mk V but it’s still awesome. https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/tempest-roll-out At least someone alive will have flown a Tempest soon, even if it is a Mk II…

I doesn’t seem like there’s any original flying examples now though although original airframes do exist. Duxford have a Ki43 undergoing restoration which is interesting.

Other sims do have the AI fly the same FM as the player though. At least one racing sim has the AI basically drive the same car physics as the player, so it’s not impossible.

Someone was turning out Ki43 replicas a few years ago.

Im not sure there was a shortage of steel and iron exactly, moreso the UK at least was bankrupt. The government bandied the term shortage around as an excuse for scrapping as much WW2 era hardware as possible and selling it for hard £££.

.nvm

As the post above says some aircraft even lack original blueprints and aerofoil data. Recently the team seem to prefer to have their models verified by someone that’s flown the original. Nick Grey when asked about the prospects for the Tempest V replied that no one alive had flow one. I know there’s the Dora and K4 but they were leftovers from the original Kickstarter and probably wouldn’t have been EDs first choice now. Of course 3rd party dev’s may turn something out, their requirements may be different to EDs. We have the I16 but I’ve not heard any comments about it’s accuracy. If I had to guess I’d think the Zero is probably a goer as it most likely has the best evidence base for any Japanese planes and flyable examples exist. As for further Japanese planes that seems unlikely. I’d love to see a DCS Ki84 but I’m not sure how you could create one without making stuff up.

There are plenty of P47s in museums and around a dozen still flying. It’s a US type so sources don’t require translation and of course there’s none of the turmoil Japan and Germany had to endure at the end of the war. If data was in short supply for the P47 then it doesn’t bode well for rarer types unfortunately… Believe me I wish it wasn’t this way…

The problem is the Japanese and German aircraft the allies evaluated were often damaged, poorly maintained or operated incorrectly. For Japanese planes some even performed better than they did in Japanese hands as the evaluations used high quality US petrol.

There is this old thread.

Not sure about the PTO but there’s comments on the warbird forums that the USAAF didn’t use rockets much in the ETO. They did try them but bombs remained the preferred loadout for P47s. Conversely the RAF loved rockets.

Brown’s role often was carrier certification of aircraft so it makes sense he’d always have that hat on when evaluating carrier aircraft. He was viewed as an authority, even into old age, he was employed as a consultant with LM on the F35 iirc.

This?

Even Mallards have been reported at 20,000ft+. Amazing animals.

As primarily a test pilot I think Brown’s opinions also largely take safety into account. That’s a big part of being a test pilot, “I may be the aviation GOAT but how would ordinary mortals deal with these aircraft?” His opinions draw both respect and derision on warbird forums, but he did fly the aircraft and write about it, almost no one else did. He also disliked the P38, and the 109, however the only 109G he flew was a Wild Sau aircraft and had gunpods fitted throughout the trial iirc.

Unfortunately I suspect the problem with the Ki84 would be availability of Japanese performance data and engineering documents. The surviving example has had a hard life so is probably next to useless for references. You can model these planes but how accurate would your creation be?

I don’t have the particular book but I thought Brown disliked the early F4U versions and hated the late models, he much preferred the F6F.

Yes, we need an AI Zero at the very least. DCS Zero would be fascinating though.

In the 1930s the UK had a huge cabinet making cottage industry, simply loads of skilled carpenters. The Mosquito is described as easy to build and repair, presumably by anyone with decent carpentry skills. Albert Speer described the Mosquito as an aircraft any cabinet maker could build, and it was a very good aircraft at that.

Yes. And of course aluminium was in short supply.

Takeoff and landings are hairy but in the air the Spit is an ultimate flying machine, like a racing car for the sky. A short stick extension does help a bit, so immersive to have your stick throw matching the on screen movement.

Massive sea, the way that Illustrious class carrier is rolling around is incredible.

After fingertip flying the Spit I feel like I’m rowing the P51 around the sky.

Med convoy Pedestal type scenarios with RN v Luftwaffe & Regia Aeronautica would be fantastic. Huge air battles. Some of the largest air v naval force engagements of WW2, but of course carriers v lots and lots of land planes.

That’s fine. Radar emissions will impact directly on weapons delivery, but the complex systems and damage modelling you suggest just aren’t necessary in a flight sim. A decent hit causing a target to burn and become combat ineffective is enough.