Ok, first the disclaimer. I have no beef with you; overall I think you're one of the more squared away guys on the board.
Now, my commentary on what this guy said, Trim first.
"So too with trim. If trim is something that requires little thought for a pilot to do, then it should require little thought in the sim."
Any pilot with much experience at all will tell you that trim, particularly in modern aircraft with "powered trim" (ie you just move a switch) on the stick becomes so ingrained that it requires no conscious thought. The stick starts to feel a little heavy and you click some trim in.
The WW2 birds are a bit different because most of them had manual trim wheels, requiring you to move your hand off the throttle quadrant and turn a knob.
Nonetheless, all trim does is relieve stick pressure. Thus is a WW2 pilot was holding uncomfortable stick pressure for an extended period of time.. long enough to make it worth trimming (extended climb for example) he'd trim. If it is a "transitory" pressure, like adding back stick in a 360 degree steep turn for example, it's just easier to hold the back pressure because it is absolutely "no thing".
"If a plane is without trim because the stick forces are light enough, and a pilot can actively (and thoughtlessly) hold the plane in trim, then we should have that ability (even if our sticks are springloaded). If a RL pilot is strong enough to pull back ont he stick and get maximum elevator deflection regardless of trim setting, then we should too."
You don't "hold the plane in trim". You hold the stick wherever it needs to be in order to achieve the desired flight path. Trim has nothing to do with flight path. Trim would merely relieve some or most of the stick pressure required to achieve the desired flight path.
Once again, for transitory pressures (like in a whirling, swirling dogfight) are generally ignored by most pilots. Another example is a loop; most pilots trim for their entry speed and don't change trim throughout the maneuver although stick pressure will vary greatly as they loop.
I assure you that except at the extreme edge of the flight envelope, a RL WW2 pilot is strong enough to get maximum elevator deflection regardless of trim setting in almost any WW2 aircraft. That is a DESIGN FUNCTION. Would you want your pilots going out to fight in an aircraft that had restricted controls that limited their ability to maneuver? Of course not; you'd design in some mechanical advantage (higher seat, taller stick.. leverage)or alter the overall design of the aircraft as necessary.
"Sim A has startup and shutdown controlled by a single keypress, and the all engines fire right up and build up oil pressure.
Sim B requires you to set the fuel mixture, the mags, lord knows what else, then fire the starter, bring the engine to idle and let the oil pressure build. Then you got to do it for the other engine.
Both sims can have identical Flight Models/Engine Models, but the analogical control process for Sim B is clearly superior."
I'm sorry Easymo, but this is merely a value judgement. THIS guys (and undoubtedly others) finds the "detail" added to Sim B makes the sim "clearly superior".
Uh.. no. Not for all of us. What it does is make the sim slightly more complex, slightly more detailed. And to no real purpose, IMO. Engine start is not a "combat maneuver". I've started LOTS of engines; I can unequivocably say engine start was never the high point of any of my flights. In fact, it sort of delays getting to the fun part. I can understand where the Microsoft Flight Simulator crowd may think this is just the berries, however.
One could argue that a detailed process would change the dynamic in a "vultch" situation during a field capture or something. Probably true. The change would be the people would RARELY up under vultch conditions.. which is pretty realistic. Don't know if it's good for gameplay as lots of folks like to vultch. It would make field capture much fasted for sure because it gives a huge advantage to those capping the field. Is this a good thing? Bet you can get arguments on both sides.
You can extend this logic on both sides throughout the flight up to the point of preparing for combat. That is, some folks will love the drudgery of doing every little thing in the checklist and others will find it a totally unnecessary routine that bores them when they could be getting a beer out of the 'fridge.
At the point nearing imminent combat, most of the aircraft were designed to be "fought" without any unnecessary procedures. You armed up the guns, dropped the tanks, set the mixture when you got to the point that you were about to engage and then you just flew. No other procedures that required hands flying madly about the cockpit.
For the most part it was one hand on the throttle quadrant and one hand on the stick. Keep it simple. Give your guy every advantage to win by not complicating the engagement.
Some aircraft did this better than others of course.
So, in closing, one man's "detail" is another man's "anal obsession". Somewhere in the middle there is a game that a wide spectrum of folks can enjoy.
Right now, I think AH is that game. It's damn well balanced and thought out.
