Spit XIX banged up in France yesterday.

[pembquist]

Yeah, I think there was a thread or post about ground handling and Hitech said something like he started out modeling a real tailwheel and it was pretty impossible to control. Its pretty easy mode to take off and land here in AH land. Only in computer land can you firewall the throttle on a 2000hp engine from a standstill and not go sideways?

[PR3D4TOR]

The Spit is unusually prone to prop strikes and nose-overs. CG is close to the main gear. The more tail-heavy 109 and 190 can hold the plane on the brakes at full throttle without difficulty.

[Serenity]

I couldn't duplicate it with AH's Spit XIV.  I put full down trim on the elevator and used WEP on takeoff, but in order to get the tail up fast I had to used full forward stick and full brakes.

I think the either the Spit's acceleration or braking in the game doesn't quite match real World.   Probably just as well for us...

Funny you mention this, I've been enjoying another game recently (we all know the one) known for realism to the point of absolute pain... and my buddy who's been learning the Spit had more than one prop strike from giving a little too much power and the tail lifting without any stick pressure.

[Bodhi]

Lucky no one in the crowd got hurt from all that prop debris.  Looks to me like he came up too quick with the tail and combined with the soft ground, caught the prop.

[MiloMorai]

A few years back a vet was giving a talk of his war time experiences. One of the stories he told was of delivery Spits from Khartoum iirc to northern Egypt. A Spit flown by a Polish WCdr took off and the engine was running rough but decided to keep going instead of rtb. When he landed at his destination he found that he had ground off about 6" from the tip of the blades. Yup, a ground strike.