Bf 109 cockpit

[Hog_driver]

Looking for some info about the Bf 109, I found this on Quora:

"RAF testing in '46 revealed that under some conditions, the force its pilots could exert on the 109’s control column was only 40% of what they could equally apply in a Spitfire."

Was it really that bad? Under what conditions?

[DB 605]

Probably pretty theoretical stuff. I have read a -lot- of 109 pilots memoirs/accounts and i don't recall any of them complaining about lack of space in that regard, also it's pretty rare to find actual pilots to complain about control stiffnes too because it's something they get to used pretty fast and it was no such big deal after that.

[Brigg]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:04 PM, DB 605 said:

Probably pretty theoretical stuff. I have read a -lot- of 109 pilots memoirs/accounts and i don't recall any of them complaining about lack of space in that regard, also it's pretty rare to find actual pilots to complain about control stiffnes too because it's something they get to used pretty fast and it was no such big deal after that.

Exactly that is the point, the 109 pilots had grown accustom to it  where as the RAF test pilots were not. So therefore I would probably have to agree with the findings of the RAF test pilots. 

On 11/29/2022 at 2:23 PM, Hog_driver said:

Looking for some info about the Bf 109, I found this on Quora:

"RAF testing in '46 revealed that under some conditions, the force its pilots could exert on the 109’s control column was only 40% of what they could equally apply in a Spitfire."

Was it really that bad? Under what conditions?

Probably high speed manoeuvres where high load of forces are on the ailerons and elevators 

[Magic Zach]

Yeah 109, especially the later ones as the planes got faster, were notorious for having really bad control stiffness.

[amazingme]

  It is called controls harmonization, something that the brits engineers and the pilots weren't aware of. It's normal that the control surfaces would stiffen when approaching those high speeds for ALL planes which don't have any hydraulic assistance, for that matter. There are some Finnish pilots' testimonials where they said that even if the controls stiffened at high speed, they could still turn the aircraft. This behavior is very much being exacerbated in DCS, for the 109, by those so called 'stick forces' that are 'artificially' applied on the 109 which don't actually respect any laws of physics or take into account the human factor.

Edited December 10, 2022 by amazingme