25.06.2010, 16:12
Yes, and I believe strongly that using actual official aircraft data and then using a systematic method of evaluating the FM in IL-2 would help dramatically at getting a better FM. This could be said of any aircraft in IL-2. of course.
The Stuka Example
Here is an example of an aircraft which many people think is no match for any fighter. I read the book by Hans Ulrich Rudell called "Stuka Pilot". He wrote that many people thought that the Ju-87 was no match for a fighter in a turn fight. Rudell personally shot down several Soviet fighters in dog fights and some in his squadron did the same thing. He wrote that when fuel was low, the Stuka would turn very tightly. When fuel was full, the Ju-87 was sluggish. This is why (including the need to conserve fuel), he wrote, they only took enough fuel for a mission plus one emergency.
Sure, there are slow planes that never have a chance to turn with a fighter, but we can sometimes be very surprised by the few that can.
Everyone who replied here had good points in the discussion.
The Stuka Example
Here is an example of an aircraft which many people think is no match for any fighter. I read the book by Hans Ulrich Rudell called "Stuka Pilot". He wrote that many people thought that the Ju-87 was no match for a fighter in a turn fight. Rudell personally shot down several Soviet fighters in dog fights and some in his squadron did the same thing. He wrote that when fuel was low, the Stuka would turn very tightly. When fuel was full, the Ju-87 was sluggish. This is why (including the need to conserve fuel), he wrote, they only took enough fuel for a mission plus one emergency.
Sure, there are slow planes that never have a chance to turn with a fighter, but we can sometimes be very surprised by the few that can.
Everyone who replied here had good points in the discussion.