Groundpoiunder

Here's the actual dive-bombing technique employed by 2nd TAF Spitfires, from an article my dad wrote for the French aviation magazine Icare. He flew 137 combat missions with 308 (Polish) squadron in Spitfire LF-IXc's between Nov 1943 and Nov 1944 - bracketing the exact period represented by DCS World's Normandy map: "We soon developed a satisfactory dive-bombing technique. After several tests and numerous theories, we found at Llanbedr that the best results could be achieved by putting the aircraft in a steep dive of about 70° at 10-12,000 feet, aiming at the target through the gunsight and then releasing the bombs at about 3,000 feet, some two seconds after starting to pull out of the dive. This method soon proved very successful in attacking real enemy targets." Photos of his Spitfire from that period suggest that the 500 lb bomb being used in late 1944 had a central bulge rather than the tapered look of the DCS version. Perhaps a different mark?

Is there any reason why the US Navy chose the seemingly counter-intuitive colour scheme for their standard AOA indexer? The US Air Force's colours would seem to make more sense, as illustrated by the F-16's example: Green donut: on correct AOA Amber up-arrow: Caution, you're fast, reduce power and raise the nose Red down-arrow: Danger, you're approaching the stall, add power and lower the nose. So why is the Air Force's red danger signal, shown in green (=safe) on the Navy version?

Elysian Angel is correct. For some reason on my Warthog throttles, moving the left throttle lever into OFF selected the correct button (30) but the right lever selected button 20. Manually changing it to 29 fixed the issue.

Thanks Petsild. A perfect solution - the authentic appearance of the needle is maintained, but it's now clearly visible (at long last!)

Spitfire Landing Characteristics Another quick question for Nick on the Spitfire (to some degree addressed in his first response) about landing characteristics, and also about inertia. I’m convinced that my dad, as a WW2 pilot with 137 combat missions with 308 (Polish) squadron in exactly the same Spitfire mark and era portrayed by DCS (Nov 43-Nov 44) would have been mortified by his inability to avoid a wingtip scrape on landing the DCS Spitfire, were he still alive. Is the Spitfire really that tricky to land? I have always been under the impression that it was a counter-intuitive characteristic of the Spitfire that despite its narrow landing gear, it was easy to land (at least as compared to other equivalent aircraft). Otherwise its navalised version would surely have never been remotely considered. I also find that the Spitfire’s airspeed indicator in the DCS model waves around like a metronome, whereas the P-51, powered by the same engine, can be difficult to slow down. Very different aircraft, to be sure, but are their inertial characteristics really that different in the real world?

Thanks a lot Chuck. As with all of your guides, this one is so beautifully prepared with such a great attention to detail and layout. DCS World would be a poorer sim without all your hard work. Just a quick point about Part 6 Landing. Shouldn't the landing gear limiting speed be 250 knots rather than 180? All of the NATOPS manuals (including the drawings you've used in your guide) state "Gear Down, Flaps Auto, 250 Knots".