Originally posted by Badboy
But there is the possibility, that after the "flick" and subsequent reduced rate of turn mentioned above, an inexperienced pilot may have momentarily reduced the back pressure on the stick, reducing the angle of attack allowing the slots to close again, so that when the pilot tried to tighten the turn again, the whole process would have simply repeated, which would have destroyed the benefit of the slats, and the validity of the test. But of course that is pure speculation on my part.
Badboy
I need to correct myself. I was never comfortable with the explanation I proposed above, because it paints a picture bordering on incompetence, on the part of the pilot flying the tests. However, despite lack of experience in the type, the tests were flown by highly skilled test pilots and the following quote indicates that I was almost certainly wrong.
This quote on the fighting qualities of the Me.109 in dog-fights with Spitfire and Hurricane:
Mock fights were staged between the Me.109 and a Spitfire, both flown by pilots of the R.A.E. In addition a number of fighter pilots, all of whom had recent experience of operational flying, visited the R.A.E. with their Spitfires and Hurricanes in order to practice combat with the Me.109; during these fights the Me.109 was flown by an R.A.E. pilot who had completed the handling tests described earlier in this report, and was thus thoroughly familiar with the aircraft and could be expected to get the best out of it.
I don’t believe such a statement would have been made without a very high degree of confidence in its veracity. I stand corrected.
Badboy
