I agree with this.
In the first bunch of AH2 beta versions, the ditch model was incredibly harder than it is currently now. Granted, that it was almost impossible to ditch some planes(due to some bugs I guess..), but even with those planes that could ditch without blowing, one had to be really really careful on the ditch. Hitting unlevel terrain was extremely disastrous, and you had to nurse your plane down to level stall speed and set it down as gently as possible.
There were some bugs, such as the planes sliding down the terrain endlessly and etc.. but the old ditch model was much more immersive than what we had now.
But at some point, a certain patch came out which was to address the problems with some planes(I remember one of them to be the Fw190A-8) being almost impossible to ditch - and since then I could ditch ALL planes 200mph+, almost upto 300mph. The plane could tumble and roll, shedding every part that 'sticks out' during the process, and the pilot is still alive and the ditch is successful.
In the AH2 beta days, receiving damage to one's plane was always very scary thing. Since ditching was so hard, one usually had to quickly choose to either bail or die. Some planes in AH2 can fly with only half a wing on one side, but even these planes had it very tough when it came to ditching, because the process needed to be very strict. The slightest loss of control during the ditch phase would lead to death.
My guess was that the patch didn't really address the problems with ditching, but just made the planes universally tougher when it crashed on the ground. As long as the approach angle is good, the plane would survive in most cases.
....
I am curious.
How easy/difficult is it to ditch a prop plane in real life? Perhaps this is also one of those things which the gamers think should be really hard, but not at all in real life.
But then again, all of those unfortunate airshow accidents I've read about involve fatal ditch attempts, where the pilot decided to avoid bailing over a populated area and tried to set down the plane at a flat piece of land. Almost all of the accidents I've read about were fatal and their pilots died... and most of those planes weren't even 'seriously damaged' when compared to AH2 standards. They were usually engine failures, but all the flight surfaces were working fine... and still their pilots met death when he tried a ditch. In AH2 we can ditch a plane with only a half-wing at 200mph+ and still survive.
So, what's ditching like in real life? Anybody got good info?
