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Anyone out there that has flown or been in the cockpit of a
Supermarine Spitfire? I am wondering about the circular control "handle" particular to the British fighter and how it seems to me that it would have been quite awkward or uncomfortable to use (compared to a conventional fighter stick) especially in a dogfighting situation (i.e. when manuvering and firing guns at the same time). Due to the placement of the triggers, the pilot would apparently need to grip the handle with his right hand at the top of the circle (at the 12 o'clock position) and fire using his thumb. I would think this would get tiring on the wrist and perhaps make precision aiming difficult. So what's it really like? I am unable to tell exaclty from pictures, but are there seperate triggers to fire the cannons only, the machine guns only, and both the cannons and MGs at the same time? Also, is it true that the prop pitch/rpm control was automatic on the Spit, so the pilot did not have to worry about it during a dogfight unlike most other allied prop-fighters? I believe the German fighters (109 & 190) also had automatic control of this function. I've only flown a couple fixed-pitch propellor Cessna's in my life, but I'd imagine having to simultaneously manage both the engine throttle and propellor pitch/rpm during a dogfight would be somewhat of a heavy workload for the pilot, so in this respect I gather the Spitfire would have been easier to control than most other prop-fighters. |
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