Flying the Mozzie (video)

[Karnak]

An interesting video of a talk given by one of the two pilots who have been flying KA114, the restored Mosquito FB.

Some interesting information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S5w2TsKKQo

 
"You wouldn't really want to start a dogfight with anything here except perhaps a Mustang, which can't dogfight."

[DaveBB]

Interesting that he said that the P-51 couldn't dogfight (well). 

[bozon]

also some funny comments about the ergonomic mess in the cockpit 

[Karnak]

Interesting that he said that the P-51 couldn't dogfight (well). 

What he said actually fits my experience in AH with the Mossie.  I feel I have the advantage against a P-51D, but a Spitfire, Yak, Hurricane or P-40 would have the advantage on me if I entered a classic dogfight with them.  Bf109 does as well, but I doubt there was a Bf109 at that show.

also some funny comments about the ergonomic mess in the cockpit  

That matches my perception of British cockpits, so it didn't surprise me.

[DaveBB]

He made a comment that from 120mph (takeoff speed) to 170mph (single engine speed), that the rudder was inadequate to keep the plane from yawing if an engine was lost on takeoff.  He went through the procedure: Feather the dead engine, start gear retraction, reduce power on the good engine.  So actually, that's quite a large danger zone for the Mossie (50mph of acceleration post-takeoff).

Is it possible that yaw in undermodeled in Aces High, or are other factors at work here (automatic feathering, lightning fast reflexes due to our HOTAS set ups, etc)?

[Karnak]

He made a comment that from 120mph (takeoff speed) to 170mph (single engine speed), that the rudder was inadequate to keep the plane from yawing if an engine was lost on takeoff.  He went through the procedure: Feather the dead engine, start gear retraction, reduce power on the good engine.  So actually, that's quite a large danger zone for the Mossie (50mph of acceleration post-takeoff).

Is it possible that yaw in undermodeled in Aces High, or are other factors at work here (automatic feathering, lightning fast reflexes due to our HOTAS set ups, etc)?

The Mossie in AH has several advantages over the real one in engine loss situations.

1) All that drag from the unfeathered paddle bladed prop doesn't happen in AH as it is automatically and immediately feathered.
2) Gear retraction is not affected by the loss of an engine.

I do know from personal experience in the game that if you lose an engine at low speed and then abruptly firewall your remaining engine it can pull you out of control and into a spin.

[bozon]

The AH mossie is very difficult to control if one engine is throttled to zero while the other is at full power. You will never run into this situation in the game unless you use dual throttles. When you lose an engine in the mossie due to damage, or shut down it is automatically feathered, so the common one-engine landing in game is not the situation he is describing.

I did not test the minimum speed with one engine windmilling but it will be interesting to do next time I play. The AH mossie props create HUGE drag when pulled back to idle, but not feathered. The difference in gliding angle between props idling at full RPM and when props are at min RPM/feathered is staggering. A dead stick mossie with no rudder is almost impossible to land on the runway even with lots of flaps extended.

The mossie with one engine feathered is actually not so bad to fly. There are also plenty of anecdotes about this. The first is Geoffry de-Havillant coming with one engine feathered and doing a low altitude roll over the crown of air ministry brass in the first mossie demonstration. Vids of this can be found on you tube. Another is one of the Banff strike wing COs that had his engine blown off by acks and fought a 190 in a one on one from the mouth of the fjord to 20 miles into the sea at wave heights. After the 190 shot all its ammo or burned its fuel, the mossie proceeded to fly for 4 hours across the north sea for a safe landing at base - all on one engine. He was joined by a sea rescue Warwick half way back and offered to throttle back in case the Warwick had problems to keep up with the mossie

[Karnak]

I think the 170mph is the speed needed to have a shot at pulling off a successful transition to single engined flight when losing an engine on take off.  It is not the minimum speed the Mossie can fly on a single engine when everything is set for single engined flight.

[mechanic]

Very interesting video. I have lost a large number of virtual lives when trying to fight with one engine in the AH mossie. The very worst thing to attempt on one engine is a vertical stalling turn. It is possible if one is quick to reduce power on the remaining engine during the stall, but it is not easy to handle by any means.

[DaveBB]

Just playing around, I have noticed the Mossie will yaw uncontrollably below 120mph if you pull one engine back to idle on climb out. 

[Karnak]

Just playing around, I have noticed the Mossie will yaw uncontrollably below 120mph if you pull one engine back to idle on climb out.  

Yeah, that is kind of simulating the engine failure as when you throttle back the prop doesn't feather so you do have that drag.  I wonder if you simulate the engine failure that way at, say, 140mph and have your gear down (don't raise them for 35-40 seconds to simulate the slower retraction) if you'll crash in AH?

I am at work and can't test it right now.

[morfiend]

He made a comment that from 120mph (takeoff speed) to 170mph (single engine speed), that the rudder was inadequate to keep the plane from yawing if an engine was lost on takeoff.  He went through the procedure: Feather the dead engine, start gear retraction, reduce power on the good engine.  So actually, that's quite a large danger zone for the Mossie (50mph of acceleration post-takeoff).

Is it possible that yaw in undermodeled in Aces High, or are other factors at work here (automatic feathering, lightning fast reflexes due to our HOTAS set ups, etc)?

  DH was well aware of the rudder issue and it was SOP on the mossie to tell pilots to be gentle with the rudder or the mossie might bite you!  DH couldnt stop assembly to correct the problem as it was found that the verticle stab needed a fillet similar to that of the 51,but to correct this issue required them to stop production.

  When DH started work on the Hornet they didnt bother to use the fillet but found the same yaw problems and quickly added a fillet to solve the problem,this was especially important on the SeaHornet because of the rduced landing speeds.