Originally posted by Karnak
Kev,
All WWII aircraft would require the pilot to take his hand off the throttle at least briefly in order to lower the flaps.
Indeed, P-38 pilots had the flap handle on the right side, meaning they had to switch hands on the yoke to lower flaps. On the other hand, F6F pilots had the flap switch switch within finger reach of the throttle and the manual over-ride close by. In fact, in the Hellcat nearly every control needed for flight and combat was adjacent to the throttle. P-47s had a similar set-up.
Some aircraft had better cockpit designs than others. Grumman aircraft, Republic P-47s and the 190s had the best cockpits. 109s, Spitfires and P-38s were among the worst with the rest in between in terms of location and access.
One cannot expect to HTC to model each cockpit as they existed in terms of layout. Instead, they designed the game so that no aircraft is at a disadvantage. This places the emphasis on flying instead of systems management.
My regards,
Widewing