Flight Test RealAir Griffon Spitfire

Flight Test 11/30/04

RealAir Griffon Spitfire

Dudley Henriques

P51 Warbird Demonstration Pilot

Professional CFI/Aerobatic Instructor

(retired)



System;

Hypersonic Sonic Boom

3gigP4/HT

1024RAM

GeForce 5900Ultra

Nvidia Reference Driver 66.71

CH Fighterstick

Pro Throttle

USB Pedals/differential braking



Conditions;

Civilian Version Griffon Spitfire

All Spit settings as specified in flight manual

Location KILG United States Daytime VFR Clear



Having prior experience with RealAir Simulations; owning their Decathlon
and Scout, both excellent examples of design and performance for MSFS,
and as an ex warbird demonstration pilot who has actually flown a
Spitfire, I have naturally been keenly interested in RealAir’s new
Griffon Spitfire program and have been looking forward to seeing exactly
what they would do with it.



With these things in mind, I was very happy to learn that the program
had gone gold and that the aircraft was available for me to test.

I received it yesterday 11/30/04

Here are my findings after flying an extensive test profile.



First of all, some historical reflections for you.



If a flight simulation designer was looking for the perfect prop fighter
to profile as an ultimate example of performance and excellence along
with providing the extreme challenge for a sim pilot to handle properly,
that software designer could have made no better choice than the Mk14
Griffon powered Spitfire. I’ve flown the Mk16 Merlin powered version of
this airplane and I can tell you that almost every pilot I know with hot
prop fighter time considers the Griffon Spit the perfect example of the
prop fighter era. .

Handling a Griffon Spit in real life was no job for the faint at heart.
The airplane is sheer power personified. It had to be handled with kid
gloves; sort of like handling a sharp knife.

I knew that RealAir would have a tough time recreating all this within
the confines of what MS has available to work with in FS9. Granted, FS9
is a wonderful program, but recreating the real world of the Griffon
Mk14 Spitfire would be a handful for ANY designer team.



So it was with some mixed emotion born of my real world experience with
these fighters and my knowledge of RealAir’s past work that I installed
the aircraft last evening and pulled it up on the screen for the first
time.

My initial impression was sheer shock! I was in no way prepared for the
total accuracy and immersion I was experiencing just sitting there
looking at the absolutely gorgeous 3D virtual cockpit. Everything was
familiar. All of it was exactly as I remembered it. I swear, it was
“being there!!!” :-)

Right here I should tell you something. Up until I opened the RealAir VC
on this aircraft, I have always been a staunch fan of the 2D cockpit
look for realism from the real world pilot’s point of view. I’ve changed
my mind! You will have to see the Spitfire cockpit yourself to actually
believe what I’m telling you . It’s UNBELIEVABLE!!! It’s a clear as a
bell; absolutely no blurriness. I was amazed to find that I could
actually INCREASE the clarity of the instruments if I zoomed in on
them...they’re THAT good!

As if just for me and my 2D habit :-) you can, if you like the snap
view, use the Numeric keys for that and you’re right at home without the
pan, but I decided to give the pan a serious try, as RealAir recommends
it.

Engine Start;

I like a dark and cold cockpit for realism and immersion, and spend a
lot of my time advising developers on how to best accomplish this. For
anyone wanting realism, control+E just doesn’t cut the immersion
mustard.

RealAir has done amazing things with their VC, and everything you will
need to fly the Spitfire works in the cockpit. I should say here that
Real Air has programmed in the automatic functions for several items
that are actually automatic in the real airplane so you don’t have that
workload to worry about unless you want to.

On the Griffon, as well as the Merlin, the engine controls and
supercharger were all automatic if selected. The mixture was controlled
by a high altitude mixture aneroid and the 2 stage 2 speed supercharger
was also automatic. On the RealAir Spitfire, it’s preset for you, and
you will get the supercharger changeover light at 13K feet which is
consistent with the real airplane in every respect. In fact, I suggest
you might want to get used to bringing back the MP a bit in anticipation
of the supercharger speed change to high blower. If you can remember to
do this, you’re a REAL Spit/Mustang pilot :-))

Engine sound for the Griffon/Rotol combination is absolutely the best
sound file I’ve ever heard in FS9. I know the difference believe me,
between the Merlin/Hamilton sound on the Mustang and the Spitfire. The
Rotol is a lighter prop, even at 5 blades, and the sound is a lot
different. RealAir has absolutely nailed this distinct Spitfire sound.
The Griffon at about + 18lbs boost (about 66 inches of mercury for you
United States jocks) has a visceral growl as opposed to the smooth deep
sound of the V1650-7 Merlin. No one who has ever opened the throttle on
a Griffon Spit will ever forget this sound, and RealAir has captured it
for you completely.

All the gauges not only work, but now you have something NEW to worry
about when flying. If you screw up the Griffon and misuse it, it will
fail on you with catastrophic results. You’ll be covered with oil, won’t
be able to see your nose in front of your face, and you’ll be looking
for a place to put it down.....or else!. You now have to actually WATCH
the engine temps and pressures. This is something I’ve been hollering
for several years now.....a much better and more realistic failure mode
program. RealAir has managed to accomplish this and it’s a welcome
addition. Now, from the moment you fire up, you have to watch the engine
gauges just like in the real world; and just like in the real world, if
you misuse the engine, it’s going to bite you.

Ground handling is so exact, (I use the CH pedals/differential brakes)
that I thought I was in the actual airplane. I suggest setting the seat
height and zoom for optimum visibility for flying a prop fighter. Let me
elaborate on this a bit for those of you who are checking out in a tail
wheel fighter for the first time.

On airplanes like the Griffon Spitfire and the Mustang, the first thing
you notice when you check out in one is that long nose up front. What
isn’t immediately apparent to many pilots experiencing this for the
first time is that you don’t fly these airplanes by looking out the
front. It actually isn’t necessary. Tell you how it’s done....call it a
trade secret from an old check pilot on Mustangs.

You adjust your height in the airplane by a combination of the parachute
and the seat to give you two visible triangles on either side of the
windshield. Forget looking over the nose. You won’t be able to do that
anyway. You taxi.....take off....and land an airplane like a Mustang or
a Spitfire by first S’ing the nose to clear the front, then you keep
those two triangles on each side EXACTLY the same size. In other words,
going forward, you clear the area in front of you, then when landing for
example, you touch down keeping equal amounts of the runway in those two
triangles to each side of the lower part of the windshield. THIS is how
you fly these airplanes.

Takeoff;

Takeoff in a Griffon Spitfire is a real adventure, and after setting up
the right settings as suggested by RealAir, you are flying one handful
of airplane here.

The secret is to be smooth on the power. Just put FAST throttle right
out of your mind when handling these airplanes. The factors that effect
the airplane at power both in a 3 point attitude and as it transitions
in pitch on takeoff have been completely reproduced by RealAir for the
Griffon Spit. You mishandle this beast, you’re not going anywhere but
where the airplane wants to go and in the Griffon Spit, that’s to the
RIGHT! Yes, I said to the right, NOT the left as would be normal in
another airplane. The Griffon is handed over top dead center on the
crank to throw the firing impulse the other way, so the prop rotates
opposite to what you are used to...so be careful. A complete discussion
on torque, P factor, slipstream effects and gyroscopic precession is
beyond this report, but I’d suggest you read up on these things at your
leisure. You’re flying a REAL airplane now, not that monster with the
autopilot and flight director on while you just sit there staring at the
screen wishing something would happen!! :-)

Climb;

The first thing I noticed about the climb in this airplane is that the
visual effect matches the sound; the nose attitude; and the instrument
readings. It’s extremely realistic. The Mk14 will climb like a scalded
cat, and you have the feeling you should be holding it back....but don’t!
Let it go!! It’s an amazing feeling, and something I know you sim pilots
out there will enjoy.

Landing;

Well, I could talk all day about landing a Spitfire. It’s not all that
hard really, IF you do it right that is. RealAir again has hit the nail
right on the head with realism. Their recommended approach speed of 120
is exactly where I have always flown my approaches in this type of
fighter. 120 gives you good control feel and a good approach angle.

For the Mk14 , all you have to remember is to have it straight at
touchdown, or wing low into the wind. Surprisingly for it’s narrow gear
spread, the Spitfire in real life tracks very straight on landing. I
suggest landing this airplane on the mains tail low, but not deep into
the aoa curve near Clmax . In other words, fly it on down and let the
airspeed bleed while increasing pitch just enough to decrease the sink
rate as the energy bleeds off. Try and make ground contact with the tail
low but before stall. This gives you visibility while the tail comes
down. Remember those 2 triangles I told you about. Keep equal amounts of
runway in those 2 triangles on each side of the windshield as you settle
in and the Spit will handle like a baby.

If, on the other hand, you have to go around in this airplane, DON’T
force up the power. You should already have the prop in fine pitch so
EASE in the power to avoid trouble to no more than +7lbs boost and you’ll
be fine.



I sincerely hope this report has inspired some of you to try this type
of flying. RealAir has in my opinion provided the sim community with the
finest example of this type of aircraft I have seen yet for simulation.
It is notable that RealAir has done things within the confines of
Microsoft’s simulator programming limitations that in my opinion is so
completely innovative that it has to be seen to be believed.

I would only add to this report that the innovations in this program are
so many and so interesting that I didn’t really cover them all for you
just to leave something for you to discover on your own. Just as one
example, you now have realistic stall buffet and extremely realistic
stall behavior; accurate spin dynamics and the ability to slip
accurately with reference to aircraft attitude, altitude loss, and
airspeed control, just to mention a few things.

My bottom line on RealAir and what they have done with the Griffon
Spitfire; it’s a complete winner for me, and I’d recommend it to anyone
even remotely interested in a wonderful experience that borders on the
real word; as close as I’ve ever seen it reproduced for Microsoft Flight
Simulator.



Dudley Henriques