Flying Guide

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Flying Guide
Welcome to this guide which takes you through every step you need to operate the RealAir
Spitfire in FS2004. Please note if you are eager to get flying there are several vital things
you should first do:
In the aircraft/realism menu of FS2004 please set the following parameters:
General Realism Slider: Maximum (fully right)
P-factor: between halfway and fully right (caution!)
Torque: between halfway and fully right (caution!)
Crash Detect: OFF
G-effects: ON
For reading this document (and all PDF documents for that matter), we strongly recommend
that you optimise a few Acrobat display settings:
In Acrobat 6.0, go to ‘Edit/ Preferences/ Smoothing’ and tick the following boxes: ‘Smooth
text’, ‘Smooth line art’, ‘Smooth images’ and ‘Use CoolType’. These settings vastly improve
the readability of text in Acrobat.
Other versions of Acrobat may have these preferences located in a slightly different place.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Introduction
The RealAir Simulations Spitfire Mark XIV has been nearly a year in development. We are
aware that simulating one of the most charismatic aeroplanes ever built in the history of
aviation – and some would say THE most iconic of all aircraft – leaves us open to close scrutiny from the many Spitfire historians and experts who will naturally want to see if we’ve got
close to their perception of how the aircraft should look, operate and fly.
We are of course always subject to the sometimes frustrating limitations of FS2004, and
where absolutely authentic functions have been possible, we have implemented them. We
are confident that we have, most importantly, captured the soul and essence of this fabulous
aeroplane.
If you see or perceive something which you think is missing, it will most likely be because it
was not possible. Everything that could be faithfully reproduced has been included.
The aircraft we have simulated represent the Spitfire in 1944 guise but are not combat
ready. We have included a faithful recreation of the Mark II reflector gun sight, but the guns
themselves don’t fire. Our goal was not to attempt to simulate a shoot-em-up aircraft, of
which you can find many examples in combat-type simulators, but to provide a very high
quality aircraft which looks and flies as closely as possible to the real thing within FS2004
limitations. We are peaceful folks at RealAir and we want our customers to appreciate the
Spitfire as a fantastic flying machine.
New Features
The RealAir Spitfire is brimming with innovative new features, many of which have never
been seen before in a PC-based flight simulation. These features include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visible and audible pre and post stall buffeting.
A more advanced version of RealView, simulating the g effects experienced by pilots in-flight.
Overstress sound effects.
Wingtip vortices that are independent for each wing.
Realistic engine torque effects.
Super-wide hi-fidelity stereo sounds.
Crystal clear VC gauges with perfectly smooth movement (no more stuttering VC gauges).
Advanced flight model with numerous new features.
Visual effects including vectored exhaust smoke, dirt, dust and failure smoke.
Engine failure simulation, causing complete engine failure if engine limits are exceeded.
Visible oil splatter on the fuselage and windscreen following an engine failure
Custom scenery, including AI Spitfires, of RAF West Malling in Kent, UK, set in 1944
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Setting Up the Spitfire in FS2004
FS2004 Realism Menu
In order to fly the RealAir Spitfire as we intended, it is most important that before loading
the aircraft you change a few settings in the ‘Aircraft /Realism’ menu of FS2004. The most
crucial of these is the ‘General Realism’ slider, which must be set fully-right (maximum).
Without this setting the Spitfire will not fly properly, you won’t be able to spin or side-slip
and many other features will not be available.
Secondly, please initially set the p-factor and torque sliders to between halfway and two
thirds to the right, until you get used to the torque and power of the Mk XIV’s Griffon Engine.
Thirdly, set ‘G-effects’ to on, and select ‘Ignore crashes and damage’. With ‘Ignore crashes
and damage’ selected you’ll be able to belly land the Spitfire and see our forced landing effects, which are pretty spectacular.
Setting up the realism menu in the correct way is vital to gain access to the all features.
FS2004 Display Settings
The RealAir Spitfire visual model benefits greatly from making a few adjustments to your
FS2004 Display settings. Our recommended display settings are as follows:
• Go to ‘Options/ Settings/ Display/ Aircraft’ and set ‘Global Aircraft Quality’ to High (or
maximum) and make sure ‘Aircraft reflections’ is turned on (checked).
• Go to ‘Options Settings/ Display/ Hardware’. Most of these settings you can leave as is, but
it’s vital to set ‘MIP Mapping quality’ to 5 or above. The gauges in the Spitfire VC are made
using a totally different technique to that used in all previous FS2004 aircraft, and as such
setting MIP mapping quality below 5 can result in blurry VC gauges. If you experience blurry
gauges in the Spitfire, it is recommended that you first try increasing the MIP mapping quality to a higher setting. Lastly, turning anti-aliasing on makes a significant improvement to
the appearance of FS2004, and has very little effect on framerates with recent video cards.
Spitfire Control Panel
Included in the Spitfire is a stand-alone program for setting a number of Spitfire options.
The ‘Spitfire Control Panel’ can be opened via the start menu (go to ‘Start/ All programs/
RealAir Simulations/ Spitfire XIV/ Control Panel’) or via the shortcut placed on your desktop
by our installer. The actual Control Panel program isi n your ‘FS2004\RealAir\Spitfire XIV’ folder.
The Control Panel, opened via the desktop shortcut or via your Windows Start menu.
This program is mostly self-explanatory, but just in case you need help, you can access
a help file by pressing the ‘?’ button in the bottom right of the Control Panel window. To
use the Spitfire Control Panel, it is recommended that you first close FS2004, make your
desired changes via the Control Panel, press the ‘Save’ button on each page after you make
changes, close the Control Panel and then restart FS2004.
These are the basic options you can set via the Control Panel (for more detailed information
see the Control Panel help file):
• The ‘Home’ page contains links to the PDF files that come with the Spitfire, such as this
Flying Guide, the FS2004 Pilot’s Notes and the authentic Mk XIV & XIX Pilot’s Notes facsimile.
• The ‘Options’ page allows you to turn VC glass reflections on/off, turn animated raindrop
textures on/off, switch between the default FS2004 animated VC raindrop textures and our
own custom animated raindrop textures, turn the engine failure simulation on/off, turn the
exhaust flash effects on/off, and finally you can choose either the gun sight equipped ‘WW2’
VC or the radio equipped ‘civilianised’ VC as your startup VC.
• The ‘RealView’ page allows you to set your favoured RealView start-up settings so you
don’t need to adjust them before each flight.
• The ‘Add Textures’ page allows you to add new downloaded texture sets without having
to modify the aircraft.cfg files by hand (keep an eye on our website for new textures and a
Spitfire paintkit).
Loading the Spitfire for the first time
After starting FS2004, find the RealAir Spitfire by going to the Aircraft menu and scrolling
down to the RealAir section, and choosing the ‘Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV’.
Sounds
You may wish to balance the volume between the engine sounds, the sound effects, and
your air traffic control messages. The ATC messages tend to be a lot quieter in relation to
our high level sound files. Open up the FS2004 ‘Control/ Sounds’ menu and adjust the relative volume of engine, cockpit, environment and ATC sounds. You may want to also adjust
the relative volume of our sounds effects. Most of the sound effects apart from the engine
are adjusted with the cockpit and environment sliders.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Spitfire Variants Included in this Package
There are four 3D model variations to choose from:
Elliptical Wing: This is the classic WW2 variant of the Mk XIV, featuring the Spitfire’s famous elliptical wings and standard five-blade propeller.
Clipped Wing: This version is representative of the operational Mark XIV shorter wing-span
variant, which had a quicker roll rate and higher dive speed, but in other respects it is similar to the elliptical wing variant.
Contra-Prop Prototype: From the outset the Griffon-engined Spitfires (including the Mk
XIV) had handling problems brought about by the massive torque of the 36L Rolls-Royce
Griffon and its associated five-blade propeller. This was partly offset by the broader-chord
fin and rudder introduced on the Mk XIV, but stability problems persisted. The contra-rotating propeller featured two propellers rotating in opposite directions thereby providing neutral prop torque. However, the contra-prop never made it onto an operational Mk XIV due to
consistent, catastrophic bearing failures on test aircraft. You may find it much easier at first
to fly this version since you will not need rudder to correct the drift on take off.
Racer: This is a fictional version with phenomenal power (3000hp) and higher max boost.
While this is not based on a real aircraft, it is representative of the type flown in the world
famous Reno pylon races, and ‘real world’ Rolls-Royce Griffons have been tuned to produce
upwards of 3000hp in racing aircraft of the past, such as the famous ‘Red Baron’ RB-51
Mustang. Being a contra-prop type there is no swing /torque effect to deal with and you can
throw this version around pylons (if you have a pylon racing scenery package installed, see
the links at the foot of this guide), or you can fly it around the normal FS2004 scenery for
very quick sightseeing trips.
The specific aircraft we have modelled are:
RM653, 41 Sqn, Second Tactical Air Force Germany 1945. By the end of hostilities, 41
Squadron had been credited with destroying some 200 enemy aircraft, probably destroying
61, and damaging a further 109; her pilots also brought down a respectable 53 German V1
flying bombs. 41 Squadron was disbanded on 1 April 1946, when it was re-numbered to 26
Squadron at Wunstorf, Germany.
RM908, 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron) SEAC, Burma 1945. This squadron moved to
Burma on 19 December 1943. During the Battle of Imphal, No.152 operated from front-line
strips supporting the 14th Army during its final conquest of Burma. In September 1945, the
squadron moved to Singapore after the Japanese surrender and was disbanded on 10 March
1946.
SM832, 17 Squadron, Burma, 1944. This squadron was in Burma between November
1944 and June 1945. Between February 1943 and March 1944 they were in Ceylon flying
Hurricanes.
RB159, 610 (County of Chester) Squadron. In July 1944, No. 610 squadron took its
Spitfire XIVs to south-east England to intercept flying bombs for two months. In December
the squadron moved to the Continent to join No. 127 Wing for sweeps over Germany. It returned to the UK in February 1945 and was finally disbanded in March 1957
RM619, 91 (Nigeria) Squadron 1943. 91 Sqn received the Spitfire XIV in March 1944.
The Squadron joined Second TAF and flew armed reconnaissance sweeps over the approaches to the invasion area in Normandy. Soon after D-Day, flying-bomb attacks began and
No.91 was engaged in destroying these until August 1944.
RM787, 322 wing Lentini East, Sicily 1943. In the colours of Wg Cdr Colin Gray.
New Zealand’s top scoring fighter pilot. In May 1943, promoted to Wing Commander, Gray
was appointed to lead 322 Wing moving to Malta to prepare for the invasion of Sicily and he
left 322 Wing in early September to return to Britain. He was awarded a second Bar to the
DFC and was credited with twenty-seven enemy aircraft destroyed, one shared and a further
twenty-two probably destroyed or damaged.
RN135, Sqn Ldr James ‘Ginger’ Lacey, 17 Sqn Burma 1944. James Harry ‘Ginger’
Lacey was born on February 1st 1917 at Wetherby, Yorkshire, and left King James’ Grammar
School, Knaresborough in 1933. He joined the RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) in
January 1937 as a trainee pilot at Perth, Scotland. Two years later, he joined 1 Squadron at
Tangmere. One of the most successful allied pilots of World War 2, Lacey was credited with
28 kills, 4 probables and 9 damaged; he shot down 18 aircraft during the Battle of Britain
including the HE-111 that bombed Buckingham Palace on 13th September 1040.
17 Squadron received Spitfires XIV’s in March 1944 while in Ceylon and were then posted to
Burma and India to fly escort and ground attack missions until April 1946 when they were
posted to Japan. Lacey was posted to 17 Sqn in November 1944. Whilst in India Lacey’s only
victory was on February 19th 1945 shooting down a Japanese Nakajima ‘Oscar’.
RM784, Contra-prop prototype aircraft. Used to test the early Rotol contra-rotating propeller. This propeller didn’t make it onto operation Spitfires until after the war, on much later
variants than the Mk XIV.
‘Race 74’. As mentioned above, this is a purely fictional aircraft inspired by the WW2 racing
types flown in the Reno Air Races (Nevada USA). This one’s just for fun...
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Panels
When you first load the Spitfire you will see a small ‘mini’ panel of the type FS2004 uses
when you normally press ‘W’ in 2D panel view. Do not be alarmed! This panel simply serves
as a temporary easy-view if you should need it for instance when landing.
The 2D mini-panel, for use only if you need a high-visibility view,
To bring up the Spitfire Main Panel press ‘S’ once. The main panel is in fact the 3D Virtual
Cockpit panel. We feel there is no need for the conventional 2D panel in this aircraft, since
our 3D panel is both clearer and has smoother gauge animation than even the best 2D panels found in any FS2004 aircraft. Also, every single function can be accessed via our 3D
cockpit. You will find an unprecedented level of interactivity in this cockpit, from the most
important controls down to such items as the cylinder priming pump, oxygen regulator knob
and emergency gear lever.
The main, forward VC panel. Clearer and smoother in movement than the best 2D panels.
We are aware that some users may have doubts about not having a ‘fixed’ 2D panel and may
at first be alarmed that there isn’t one. Our philosophy behind this 3D-only panel is as follows: 2D Panels have been made in the past purely because the quality of 3D Virtual Cockpit
panels was simply not good enough. Furthermore, a 2D panel is nothing more in concept than
a ‘frozen’ 3D panel without the ability to pan and zoom. The RealAir Spitfire panel blows that
convention away! If we had included a ‘fixed’ 2D panel it would not have been as clear
as our 3D panel due to some of FS2004’s technical limitations.
If you don’t enjoy having to pan around the virtual cockpit (though we advise that this is restricting your possibilities in this particular aircraft) you can use the 3D panel as though it was
a 2D panel by adjusting your view with the pan and zoom controls, and then enabling ‘snap’
and fixed views to the right and left by assigning keys to this function in the FS2004 ‘Control/
Assignments’ menu.
Virtual Views can be obtained by panning or by setting a ‘snap’ view.
We recommend an initial zoom setting of approximately 0.75 for a clear view of both panel
and cockpit and you can easily zoom in further when required, as well as zooming out for
spectacular views when performing aerobatics or other manoeuvres. A zoom level of 0.50
works well when landing and taking off, giving a better view to the side since the Spitfire’s
long nose obscures the runway in these flight phases.
To see a detailed diagram explaining the panel functions and gauges, please refer to the
drawings provided in the ‘FS2004 Spitfire Pilot’s Notes’ PDF included with this package. It is
definitely worth looking over these drawings as the Spitfire contains a number of gauges and
controls that will not be familiar to modern pilots.
2D Pop-Up Panels
Even though the Spitfire is designed to be flown solely from the VC, there are a number of
pop-up 2D panels that provide extra functionality, accessed via the following key-presses:
Shift 2: Opens the standard FS2004 GPS.
Shift 3: Opens the RealView panel and gun sight on/off buttons. For more information see
below.
Shift 4: Opens a zoomed-in view of the magnetic compass (the compass in the VC is difficult to read in flight)
Virtual Panel Views
You can set up a forward panel view exactly to your liking and recall it at any time using the
standard, but not very well known, FS2004 key presses. Here’s how to do it: Load one of
the Spitfires and then adjust your zoom and pan controls so you have exactly the view you
want. In the FS2004 ‘Control/ Assignment’ menu scroll down to the ‘look’ set of view functions.
The easiest way to have flexible views is to make sure the basic forward / forward-right /
right / right-back / back / left-back / left / forward-left views are assigned to the numeric
keypad numbers. This way you can make the panel function, if you prefer, exactly as
though it was an old-style 2D panel. Keypad 8 will be your default forward view and all the
other views will ‘snap’ instantly. At any time you can still zoom and pan in the normal way or
mix the two types of viewing.
Another way to guarantee the viewing method of your choice is active each time you fly, is
to ‘save’ the flight after setting-up the views, to be recalled when you next use the Spitfire.
Please note that on some computers Num Lock has to be off for the snap views to function.
As a final note on the VC, switching gauge graphic quality to ‘low’ in the ‘Display/ Aircraft’
properties will not effect gauge quality due to the totally-new gauge authoring technique
used.
We’re confident that once you get used to this 3D–only cockpit you’ll wonder why you ever
relied on 2D panels at all.
Panel Functions and Controls
All RealAir Spitfire panel functions are fully controllable with the mouse. Each panel gauge
and function has a pop-up tooltip (enable tooltips in FS2004 to make these appear). Almost
all switches and levers are fully operational. Please note however, FS2004 has a limited
number of assignable sound channels without reverting to framerate-sapping third party applications. We used all the default sound channels on special effects so you will forgive us if
you do not hear a “click” on the switches, which we thought was secondary to more important sound effects.
All the major controls function exactly as they do in the real aircraft, but once again due to
FS2004 limitations there are a few dummy levers and switches which are animated, and can
be clicked on, but have no actual effect on the aircraft. These dummy switches and levers
are as follows (see following page):
Throttle friction lever
All buttons associated with supercharger operation
Windscreen de-icing cock
Carb intake filter control
Undercarriage emergency lowering control
Camera gun heater switch
Cylinder priming pump
IFF Main switch
IFF distress switch
Fuel boost pump test pushbutton
Radiator ground test pushbutton
Oil dilution pushbutton.
Everything else functions as you would expect in the real aircraft by either clicking the
mouse over a switch or by placing the mouse over an object then left-clicking and dragging.
In addition you can of course assign most functions to quick key presses or to buttons on
your joystick. Please refer to FS2004’s help files about key assignments and joystick set ups
for further information.
For a more spectacular view zoom out and you can take in a lot of scenery in one frame.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
RealView
The RealView (tm) system is a proprietary RealAir-developed system that simulates the
forces experienced by a pilot in-flight.
This latest version features three sliders that you can adjust in-flight. You can also use the
Spitfire Control Panel to set your favoured startup RealView settings (see ‘Spitfire Control
Panel’ section above).
RealView gives the impression of the pilot’s head (that is, your head!) being pushed around
by the movements of the aircraft. If for example you pull back on the stick, the Spitfire’s
nose will rise as your head is pushed down by the g-force. This delay or inertia adds significantly to the feeling of ‘being there’ while you are flying. RealView also has the advantage of
being completely smooth in operation and is not in the least disturbed by extreme manoeuvres, very handy in such a manoeuvrable aircraft.
Stall buffet is a new and revolutionary addition to the RealView system. It is linked to the
flight model stall buffet function, which itself is a new innovation. When the Spitfire reaches
very high angles of attack or is close to the stall you will see the whole aircraft Virtual Cockpit violently shake, accompanied by stall buffeting sounds. This emulates the very marked
degree of stall buffet in the real Spitfire Mk XIV.
Realview settings can be changed in-flight by pressing Shift 3.
The RealView panel is accessed by pressing Shift 3.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Spot View Settings
For sedate flying we highly recommend setting your spot views options thus:
Go to ‘Views/ View Options’ and set:
Distance: 50-70 feet
Gradual Transition box: ticked
Aspect: Fixed
If you are doing extreme manoeuvres or spinning the gradual transition mode is not a good
way to see the aircraft in spot view. We recommend in this case setting Gradual Transition
to off but retaining the fixed view. This way you will see the spinning motion much better in
spot view.
The best settings for viewing extreme and aerobatic manoeuvres in spot view.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Preparing for Flight
To start with a little background on the Mk XIV Spitfire, its engine and its flying characteristics: The Mk XIV has the Rolls-Royce Griffon 2035hp engine fitted. This is more powerful than previous Merlin engines and with its 5-blade Rotol prop it has very high levels of
torque. This translates to a tendency to pull and roll the aircraft to the right since the Griffon engine turns in the opposite direction to most modern engines.
During slow flight and at high angles of attack the engine torque also greatly influences the
roll and yaw stability of the Spitfire. The Air Ministry in the 1940s trained their pilots to use
only moderate power on take off. If full power is used on take off it is very difficult to keep
the Mk XIV on the runway, rather it will swing wildly to the right and probably into the nearest hangar!
Canopy and Door
The RealAir Spitfire has two pilot exit and entry modes: The sliding canopy and the door. The
canopy can slide open and shut at any time in-flight by pressing ‘Shift E’. You will see the
canopy catches unlock and the canopy will slide open with an accompanying sound effect.
The official Pilot’s Notes advise opening the canopy before landing.
The door is opened by dragging down on its lever (located just below the left side canopy
glass, behind the throttle control lever). The door cannot be opened when the canopy
is closed. Please note the door does not have a sound effect because FS2004 only has one
channel assigned to entry/exit functions and we chose to apply this limited channel to the
canopy slide.
The door is opened by dragging the mouse on the lever above the ‘pull to open’ sign.
Start-up Procedure
In our FS2004 Spitfire it is possible to follow the actual Spitfire Mk XIV startup procedure
with very few alterations. To do this, please refer to the PDF document entitled ‘FS9 Spitfire
XIV Pilots Notes’. In practice you can start the FS2004 Spitfire engine by pressing ‘Cntrl E’,
or following this abbreviated startup procedure:
Set the parking brake to on
Turning on the master switch and magnetos
Ensure the fuel cock is open and that you have sufficient fuel.
Check that the mixture control (otherwise known as the ‘Idle cutoff control’) is fully forward
Press the start button.
Fuel Management
This Spitfire variant has four fuel tanks. Some Mk XIVs were fitted with an extra fifth tank
behind the cockpit but in fact this was banned from use except under special circumstances
due to it causing stability problems when full. So in this version we have two central tanks
and two wing tanks (one in each wing).
You can switch the fuel tank assignment with the red lever on the lower left side of the cockpit. The forward position assigns fuel feeds from the two central tanks so that fuel balance
is maintained between them. If you choose one of the wing tanks you will have to swap to
the opposite tank at intervals in order for the balance of the Spitfire to be maintained. You
can optionally choose to feed a balanced fuel flow automatically from all tanks in the aircraft
/fuel and payload menu in FS2004.
If the Spitfire begins to roll one way or the other without your control inputs it is highly likely
your fuel weight is out of balance.
If you fly with large amounts of power the fuel consumption rises considerably. The Spitfire
was not known as an aircraft of great range, so if you are flying cross country it would be
sensible to conserve fuel by keeping the power well back.
Mixture and Prop Controls
On later models of the Mk XIV, fuel mixture was fully automated. In the RealAir Spitfire mixture is also automated whether or not you tick the auto-mixture box in the FS2004 Aircraft/
Realism menu. The mixture control, adjacent to the prop and throttle levers on the left of
the cockpit, should be fully forward for all stages of flight and is used only as an engine stop/
fuel cut off at the end of your flight. Pull back the mixture control fully to stop the engine.
The late model Mk XIVs also had an optional automatic prop rpm control which was linked
to the throttle via a friction/gate device. In the RealAir Spitfire we have emulated auto prop
control but there is also a manual over-ride mode. In normal operation, push the prop
control lever fully forward. With this setting the correct engine rpm is achieved for a given
throttle setting (at least at speeds up to about 230mph). You can however manually control
the prop rpm in the normal way by adjusting the prop lever.
Incidentally, we have fully simulated prop angle variations on the RealAir Spitfire. You can
see the propellers move from fine to coarse with the engine off by moving the prop lever
back and forward and observing the propeller angle change.
Superchargers and Cooling
All Mk XIV Spitfires are fitted with a two stage supercharger, the two stages being known as
MS and FS gear (these abbreviations stand for ‘Moderate Speed’ and ‘Full Speed’) The supercharger gear change is fully automatic and kicks in at a pre-determined pressure altitude,
designed to always provide optimal power at full combat-power settings. The RealAir Spitfire
also has automatic Superchargers. On the panel you will see supercharger switches that can
be clicked on, but do not actually effect the supercharger. However, you will see the FS gear
light illuminate (indicating the supercharger has switched to FS gear) at around 13,000 feet.
The cooling system is also fully automatic in the Mk XIV, but despite this you need to keep
an eye on oil temperature since excessive temperatures (brought about by pushing the engine at too a high power setting for too long) will cause a catastrophic engine failure! Once
the engine has failed you will have to perform a dead-stick landing as the engine will not
restart. To ‘service’ the engine simply reload the Spitfire in the normal way. Please see below
for more information on the RealAir Spitfire engine failure simulation.
Keep an eye on the oil temperature to avoid engine failure.
Lights
The RealAir Spitfire is equipped with nav and panel lights which can be seen from inside the
virtual cockpit or in spot view. The lighting control panel is situated to the left of, and behind, the throttle and prop controls. The switches can be operated here or more conveniently
you can use the following key presses:
‘L’: Toggles all lights on/off.
‘Shift L’: Toggles the Panel lights on/off independently of the other lights.
Note 1: We are aware that the rear white nav light is not placed correctly. This is because
lights do not function well on moving surfaces in FS2004 so we placed it in the least offensive position, just forward of the rudder.
Note 2: The real Spitfire does not have strobes or a landing light, nor does ours.
Note 3: We strongly advise having the panel light on at all times, even in daytime.
This will help to counteract the tendency for FS2004 to ‘over-shade’ the panel face when the
sun is front of the aircraft. Having the panel lights on permanently will keep the panel clear
and well-lit at all times.
When you press Shift L for the panel lights you will notice they cast an ambient light over
the wings which can be seen clearly in any view at dusk and at night.
The lighting switches also work with standard FS2004 keys
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
After Start and Taxiing
If you have set the torque and p-factor sliders to maximum in the aircraft /realism menu the
Spitfire will have the potential to be extremely dangerous! However we do not feel we have
over-exaggerated this feature. Nevertheless some control hardware such as rudders and
twist-grip sticks vary greatly in their effectiveness and we advise that you set the torque and
p-factor sliders to the value where a reasonable amount of left rudder is required at take off
power (which is between +6 and +8 lbs boost).
By the way, the word “boost” is the English WW2 era way of describing engine power output. At maximum +18 lbs the Spitfire is producing the equivalent of roughly 66-67 inches of
manifold pressure. Zero boost is not in fact “zero” power but is still quite considerable power.
The lowest boost setting (idle) is around -6 to -8 lbs boost.
To taxi the Spitfire you only need a tiny amount of forward throttle to get moving. The rudder is sensitive at low speeds and we did agonise over the possibility of having brake differential steering rather than direct tail wheel /rudder steering. Due to the vastly different
types of sticks and pedal devices on the market we came to conclusion that it was not practical to implement brake differential-only steering, but of course you can assist a tight taxi
turn by additionally pressing the differential brake keys (F11 and F12).
Please note that the Spitfire has a narrow undercarriage track! This means that excessive
turns at speeds above 10 MPH can easily result in tipping the aircraft on to one wing, or
inciting a ground loop. Taxi slowly and with care. As with all tail-wheel aircraft, but especially
with the Spitfire due to the long engine cowl, you will need to weave left and right (‘s-turn’)
in order to see where you are going.
Trim
Before take off the Spitfire does not need any trim adjustments. However you may need
slight up trim once you have taken off. The pitch and rudder trim wheel are behind and below the main throttle and prop controls. We kept the positions exactly as they are in the real
aircraft but this means they can be awkward to operate with the mouse. You can use FS2004
key presses as an alternative way to alter rudder trim, and most people tend to assign pitch
trim to a button on their joysticks. Please note if you have a dedicated trim slider or function
on an advanced joystick it may need adjusting for sensitivity. Like all of the RealAir Spitfire
functions we designed everything to work with a standard FS2004 installation and standard
settings. It is not possible to adjust our trim controls for the huge variety of different joystick
types, so we optimised trim for a typical ‘repeat’ button joystick assignment.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Take-off
Normally you would not use flaps for take off, unless you were on an aircraft carrier or
extremely short runway. The Spitfire’s flaps create enormous drag, having around 80 degrees of deflection! Point the Spitfire down the runway centre-line without flaps and slowly
open the throttle. If you whack the throttle to full power you will undoubtedly crash! All the
Spitfire experts we consulted said that the key to a good take off in the Spitfire is sensible
engine management. The power is so enormous that even fully loaded you will hardly ever
need more than +7 lbs boost to get airborne and this setting is in fact the officially recommended limit. The tail will rise by itself at the appropriate speed. Normally you’ll rotate at
around 95-100 MPH.
Important — torque and p-factor
We have already highlighted the fact that with the Griffon engine, the Spitfire will swing
to the right, not the left. We also wanted to emulate engine torque which tends to roll
the wings to the right. In FS2004 there is a slight glitch in that initially opening the throttle causes brief, temporary swing to the left. This unwanted effect, which we did our best
to eliminate as far as possible, soon clears once the Spitfire gets going and thereafter the
torque factor acts as it should, swinging the aircraft to the right and tending to roll the wings
to the right. If you wish to eliminate this slight error then the solution is to reduce the torque
slider in FS2004’s aircraft/realism menu and let p-factor be the principal force pulling to the
right. However, in flight the torque factor set high will give a more realistic feel, especially
when doing stall manoeuvres and opening the throttle.
OK, so you are trundling (roaring!) down the runway. With boost at +7 lbs there will be significant right drift and you will need quite a lot of left rudder to contain it. At higher power
settings you will progressively need more and more rudder. At settings above +12 lbs boost
the right wing will dip and you’ll need almost full left aileron to counteract this.
At full +18 lbs boost not even full left rudder can be relied upon to contain the drift and
without left aileron your right wing will strike the ground and damage the aircraft. So unless
you want a bizarre take off, never set full power before you are airborne.
You can see how powerful the torque is by ‘blipping’ the throttle at rest with parking brakes
set and panning to the right. You’ll see the wing dip and the whole aircraft roll slightly to the
right as you increase the power.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
General handling
Despite the challenging handling on the ground, once in the air the Spitfire is a delight to fly
and really quite easy to pilot. You’ll find the stick sensitive but very smooth and the controls
well harmonised. To balance turns please refer to the Spitfire turn and slip indicator which
is very smooth and very accurate. You can get a finely balanced turn with rudder, elevator
and aileron co-ordination, although it is interesting to note that in practice WW2 pilots of the
Griffon-engined Spitfire were advised to be sparing with the rudder in-flight.
You can turn with ease up to 6 positive g. Above this value the RealAir Spitfire will let you
know you are approaching airframe limits by triggering “overstress” sounds.
You can spin with ease using standard spinning procedures: reduce throttle to idle and raise
the nose. At the stall kick in full left or right rudder. You do not need aileron at all to evoke a
spin. Once the spin is established the stick can be neutral and the airspeed will be constant.
To recover, ease the stick forward and apply opposite rudder. Recovery is almost instant.
Stalls: If you yank the stick hard back you can easily stall the Spitfire. Always “ease” the
stick back and do not attempt to pull out of a dive with heavy amounts of elevator. If you do
so you can stall, even at high speed.
Later models of the Spitfire, including the Mk XIV, overcame the problem of the engine cutting in inverted flight. Our Spitfire is able to sustain inverted flight without the engine cutting
out.
The RealAir Spitfire simulates the characteristic Aileron Compression of the Mk XIV and other
versions of the Spitfire. Aileron compression is at its worst when exceeding around 300 MPH
and in the real aircraft a progressive resistance to aileron input occurs. If you have a force
feedback stick you will “feel” this compression. Within FS2004 limitations we have interpreted this compression as a progressive reluctance to roll when at high speed.
Exceeding 300 MPH will cause the roll rate to progressively be more and more sluggish. The
Spitfire was not a quick rolling aircraft and one of the reasons for the less aesthetically appealing “clipped wing” version was to improve roll rate and reduce compression. We have
emulated this difference in the Flight Model for the Clipped and Reno Racing versions.
Navigation
The RealAir Spitfire was designed to be hand flown at all times. Trimming for level flight is
very easily done and you’ll find the Spitfire will settle into a stable attitude, but please note
any changes to engine power will have a marked effect on pitch attitude.
The Spitfire is not intended to have an autopilot. However we have used FS2004’s autopilot
sound channel for our overstress sound effect, since all other sound channels are used up
with our other custom effects. This means that if you press “Z” while flying you will hear
this effect at the wrong time. Because we technically had to enable the autopilot switch to
obtain our overstress effect you will, if you insist(!) get some basic autopilot functions by
pressing “Z”. This is not intended and the solution is to stay away from the “Z” key and not
to switch on the autopilot by other means. This will ensure you have an authentic flight.
Nav and Com radios are clearly labelled. The VOR is fully functional but there is no autopilot.
We have provided in the Civilian versions of the Spitfire a standard FS9 VOR gauge so you
can navigate (manually) to any VOR station. You can also use the included GPS but we
advise not to attempt to enable the autopilot functions of this gauge and you’ll have a more
rewarding and challenging flight.
Compass
The standard WW2-era P8 /P11 type compass is fitted to the RealAir Spitfire. In an effort
to be completely authentic we have placed it in a very authentic but unreadable position!
Goodness knows how pilots in WW2 managed to see where they were going. For this reason
we’ve included a zoomed compass pop up window accessed via Shift 4. This type of compass has the following arrangement: to find out where you’re heading you rotate the ring
until the arrow aligns with the North marking, then read off your heading from 12 o’clock. To
set a heading you turn the ring until the desired heading is 12 o’clock then turn the spit until
the arrow is point at the North mark again.
There is also a direction indicator to just the right of centre in the lower half of the panel.
This moves extremely smoothly and is easier to use than the compass.
The real Spitfire has a compass awkwardly positioned for viewing. A pop-up compass appears
when you press Shift 4
Climb and Cruise
The Mk XIV’s climb performance on full power is phenomenal. You should see in excess of
5,000 feet per minute initial climb rate. But in practice, and to conserve engine and fuel,
you should normally climb more sedately. Please see the Pilot’s Notes accompanying this
package to read about standard procedures.
Ceiling and General Performance
Due to its highly efficient two stage supercharger, the Spitfire can climb as high as 44,500
feet and will get to 40,000 feet very quickly. It will achieve 356 MPH top speed at sea level
to around 5,000 feet and will achieve around 450 MPH TAS at between 23,000 and 28,000
feet depending on conditions.
You can dive at speeds up to 480 MPH IAS safely and she’ll comfortably exceed 500 MPH
(IAS) in a dive.
Approach and Landing
The Spitfire is quite easy to set up for an approach. When near an airfield reduce speed to
160 MPH and drop the undercarriage. This creates enough drag to contain airspeed as you
descend. On base drop the one-stage flaps which create much more drag. Turn into the
airfield so your final approach is on a curve. This way you will see the runway more clearly.
Reduce speed to 125 MPH or less (with lighter loads). The Spitfire tends to get a little noseup on short final approach so keep speed higher than 110 MPH for a good view.
Over the fence just keep a trickle of throttle open. This will aid your flare. Over the threshold
at around 90-95 MPH cut the throttle when landing is assured. A three point greaser is quite
hard to achieve and the Spitfire can bounce if you foul things up! The stick should be almost
in your lap as you touch down. However once you have landed do not keep the stick fully
back as this can result in the tail wheel continually crashing on the tarmac and the Spitfire
could also take off again, with dire results! Once you have landed just ease the stick forward
a little, but sufficiently back from centre so as to stop the nose tipping forward if you apply
the brakes.
Brake sparingly and keep the stick a little back when taxiing.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Engine Failure Simulation
For the first time in Flight Simulator (as far as we know) the RealAir Spitfire has a custom
built and rather sophisticated engine failure simulation which is independent of any standard
FS2004 failure routines and is based on realistic algorithms designed to respond to actual
stress on the engine. Although the Griffon engine proved to be reasonably reliable it really
did not like being pushed for sustained periods.
This is how it works:
The simulation monitors a combination of oil temperature and boost settings at all times.
If you keep power above +12 lbs boost the failure mode begins to apply stress and engine
wear. The oil temperature will rise. If you sustain much above +14 lbs boost for a long time
it is likely a failure might occur, eventually. If you push the power above this point for around
ten to twelve minutes the likelihood of failure is increased.
If you slam the throttle to the full +18 lbs boost and keep it there for more than five minutes
engine failure will inevitably occur. If however before this amount of time has passed you
reduce power to below +12 lbs boost the engine will gradually recover....if you’re lucky.
The key is to keep an eye on oil temperature — keep the oil temperature below 105 degrees
C at all times and the engine will never fail. The acceptable power/time limits (as published
in the real 1940s vintage Mk XIV Pilot’s notes) are as follows:
+18lbs boost for 5 minutes
+12lbs boost during takeoff
+9lbs boost for 1 hour
+7lbs boost — max. continuous power
Sticking to these limits will ensure you never cause an engine failure (although we suspect
you’ll be trying to fail the engine the first few times you fly the Spit...)
If the engine fails you will see thick black smoke pouring from the exhaust outlets, after
which you’ll see a flash, followed by an unrecoverable engine failure. Oil will splatter on to
the forward canopy and engine cowling and your view forward will be obscured. The damage
at this point is terminal and the engine will not recover until you have landed and reloaded
the Spitfire (thus repairing the damage you caused!).
When the engine stops you can still of course glide and the gear and flaps will function. The
procedure is to find a field or nearby airfield and practice a dead stick landing. If by the way
you forget to lower the undercarriage, the Spitfire will successfully land on its belly, though
you will hear terrible noises and see a lot of sparks flying if you’re on tarmac! To belly land
without the Spitfire going tail over nose, keep the stick fully back once you have “landed”.
You must have crash detect turned OFF in the FS2004 aircraft /realism menu to be able to
land without the undercarriage.
Please note: belly landing with the prop turning will not seize the engine in normal flying
conditions even if the propeller collides with the ground. This is an unavoidable limitation of
FS2004.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
RAF West Malling
Accompanying this package is some very special scenery depicting a WW2 RAF operational
fighter station: RAF West Malling in Kent, England circa 1944. If you have GA traffic enabled
in your FS2004 traffic options, you will see a squadron of Spitfires parked in various locations on the airfield. At certain operational times of the day these AI aircraft will start their
engines and taxi in an orderly fashion to the active runway where they will take off and
either do circuits or go further afield, presumably on a mission.
With the FS2004 GA Traffic slider set to 100%, the maximum number of AI Spitfires is 16.
At 50% you will see fewer AI Spitfires. These AI aircraft are mip-mapped multi-res models
ensuring good frame rates while circling the airfield.
You can tune in to the station radio by pressing the ‘tild’ key in FS2004 and choosing “nearest airfield”, then RAF West Malling. Alternatively you can tune ‘122.90’ on the VHF Com
radio present in the ‘civilianised’ VC panel. Your call sign prefix will be “Supermarine”.
To access the RAF West Malling Scenery: Start Flight Simulator and load any version of the
RealAir Spitfire. You can locate yourself at West Malling by accessing the “Go to Airport”
menu and entering the ICAO code for RAF West Malling, which is EG58.
Alternatively you can load one of our custom flights by going to ‘Select a Flight’, choosing ‘RealAir Simulations’ in the top menu, and any of the West Malling flights in the bottom
menu.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Finding All the Information You Need
The RealAir Spitfire installation places various key files in the following locations:
The Spitfire Control Panel, together with all the help documents in PDF format, are placed in
one folder under your main FS2004 directory, the location is ‘FS2004 (root folder)\RealAir\
Spitfire XIV’. We have also provided shortcuts on the desktop and in the Windows Start
menu, under ‘All Programs/ RealAir Simulations/ Spitfire XIV’.
The individual variants of the RealAir Spitfire are placed in your ‘FS2004\Aircraft’ folder and
are as follows:
RealAir
RealAir
RealAir
RealAir
RealAir
Spitfire
Spitfire
Spitfire
Spitfire
Spitfire
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
XIV
XIV
XIV
XIV
XIV
— the standard ‘elliptical wing’ Spitfire.
Clipped — the clipped winged version
Contra-Prop — the contra-rotating prop (prototype) version
Racer — the 3000 hp racer
AI — the artificial intelligence Spits (not flyable)
Technical info and support / known issues
There are no known faults or technical problems running the RealAir Spitfire with a standard
version of FS2004 or with the official FS9.1 patch. The Spitfire has been exhaustively tested
and if you have a reasonably fast computer (2 GHz with 512+ RAM and a reasonably good
3D graphics card) you should not see any problems at all.
If you do have any problems running the Spitfire, or experience graphic problems or long
loading of textures it is likely there is something in the way that your computer is set up
which is causing this. We cannot guarantee that the RealAir Spitfire is compatible with any
or all third party utilities or add-ons. There are so many of them it is not realistic to test the
Spitfire with every third party add-on.
If you don’t see or hear some of the effects, lights or other features of the Spitfire you
should please check the following are enabled in your FS2004 options:
Hardware Lighting Effects: ON and slider maximised
Render to texture: ON
Gauge low/high quality: Either, makes no difference
The Spitfire has high resolution textures with a subtle, broad dynamic shine. This is to simulate the matte paint applied to wartime Spitfires, and avoids the overly exaggerated shine
typically associated with the term, ‘dynamic shine’. Instead you will see a subtle sheen in
certain lighting conditions on the RealAir Spitfire.
Because of the high resolution textures, it is normal to experience a brief pause when
switching views, as your PC loads the necessary texture files into RAM. This happened even
on a machine we tested on which had 2 GB RAM. This is the cost of having such high quality
textures, and is a minor one we feel.
The Spitfire has 16 bit wide-stereo sound effects. To hear these at their best please enable
high quality in your sound options in FS2004. This setting may require a reasonably powerful
sound card.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
RealAir Spitfire — Background Info
When we first discussed the possibilities of designing a Spitfire for Flight Simulator we at
first rejected the idea. There were many reasons, the most important of which was the multitude of other Spitfire simulations out there, and secondly, being aware of just how loved
and admired this aeroplane was, we were reluctant to take something on board which with
the restrictions of an otherwise great simulation (FS2004) we thought we would might have
difficulty producing a simulation worthy of the RealAir reputation.
But like many problems, you solve them as you go along. Along this path to developing the
finished aircraft we have so many people to thank. The first, though he is probably unaware
of our gratitude, is Alex Henshaw, the test pilot who in the 1940s flight tested literally thousands of Spitfires at the main Supermarine Factory in the deep and dark middle England of
West Bromwich in the Midlands. Henshaw’s book “Sigh for a Merlin” really inspired us and
gave an amazing amount of detail about how the Spitfire flew, its weaknesses and strengths
and its stunning charisma.
Bill Womack who not only designed the fabulous custom West Malling Scenery for the RealAir
Spitfire but also Beta tested the aircraft and gave us valuable criticisms and encouragement.
Bill began scenery design with the MAAM-Sim organisation, designing high quality custom
sceneries for the legendary MAAM “Briefing Time”, and has also designed custom scenery for
the RealAir Simulations Scout.
Tim Westnutt, whose own father was a WW2 Spitfire Ace, and who possesses almost encyclopaedic knowledge about the many Spitfire variations, closely watched and criticised the
RealAir Spitfire development, encouraged us, flew the equivalent of perhaps a hundred hours
in our simulation, and thoroughly Beta tested our aeroplane, sometimes making impossible
requests which somehow became possible. Tim has been a generous and kind spirit, always
wanting what we wanted, a Spitfire Mark XIV which looked and flew as close to the real thing
as we could manage.
Tim learned to fly at Goodwood in UK in 1979 on PA-28s. After a spell building hours and instructing, he moved to Florida to gain his commercial license. This was followed by a period
flying PA-31s, 34s, Cessna 421s and later Beech 1900s flying passengers and freight around
various parts of the US and Canada. Tim returned to the UK in 1984 and began flying cargo
between Southend and Brussels.
Brad Disher, web master at www.aussim.com.au, an Australian flight simulation portal, and
the brains behind the fabulous line up of Australian Simulations commercial add-ons (visit
www.aussim.com.au/piper/ ) for programming the Spitfire Control Panel.
Mark Embleton, Iain Dawson and Dermot Stapleton at PC pilot magazine who held up an entire issue of PC Pilot so we could finish the Spit in time for them to feature our aircraft. The
good folks at PC Pilot have given us wonderful encouragement and generous support.
The many supporters and customers of RealAir Simulations who have since the beginning of
the project encouraged us and pledged enthusiasm for the Spitfire project. One even offered
a complete Griffon sound set for free!
Tony Argaud and the staff of Micro Simulateur magazine in France who have always enthused about our aircraft and send us regular encouragement.
The staff of Avsim, Simflight, Flightsim and the many other FS sites who for a long time have
supported RealAir and enthusiastically given web space and provided reviews for our aircraft.
Credits:
Sean Moloney: Aircraft 3D modelling (exteriors + interiors), aircraft textures, panels,
gauges, document layout and website
Rob Young: Flight modelling, sounds, lighting effects, AI programming, support and document writing.
Bill Womack: Scenery design (including AI programming), and beta testing
Jan Rosenburg: Special effects
Brad Disher: Spitfire Control Panel programming
Tim Westnutt: Beta-test lead and Spitfire special advisor
www.realairsimulations.com
Acknowledgements
Dudley Henrique, a vastly experienced pilot of many historic and high performance aircraft, gave us valuable advice about the behaviour and management of high torque aircraft
engines.
We are grateful to Crecy Publishing Ltd. for permission to include specimen pages of the
original Air Ministry Spitfire Pilot notes in this package. We highly recommend Crecy as a
source for publications of this kind. They can be contacted at:
www.crecy.co.uk
Crécy Publishing Ltd.
1a Ringway Trading Estate
Shadowmoss Rd
Manchester
M22 5LH
tel 0161 499 0024
fax 0161 499 0298
email [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Additional Spitfire Reference Material
http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/
Duxford Imperial war museum. One of the most comprehensive and impressive collections
of WW2 aircraft in the world and a fabulous educational site. Many links and pages about the
Spitfire.
http://www.aviation-history.com/
Lots of shots and info on various version of the Spitfire
http://www.west-malling.co.uk/memorial%202.htm
RAF West Malling memorial site. Touching and simple sculptures and memorial stones of
some of the men who saved Britain in the 1940s. West Malling today is a vast housing estate
and there are few reminders of its history as an operational RAF station.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/h610.html
One of the many squadrons who served at RAF West Malling, 610 squadron travelled a long
way from its base in Chester to be one of the first outfits to catch and topple the infamous
German V1 bombers. The Spitfires used had to be stripped and highly polished so they could
just about match the speed of the V1s.
http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/spitfire/
A site with a detailed description of the Spitfire’s operational history.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/spit_spec.html
The official RAF Spitfire History Site. Huge amount of reference info here.
http://www.spitfiresociety.demon.co.uk/
Everything you need to know, and more (about Spitfires).
http://www.unlimitedexcitement.com/Griffon%20Budweiser/RollsRoyce%20Griffon%20Engine.htm
Lots of info about the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine
http://www.simviation.com
Has some excellent Reno Racing scenery which is most suitable for use with our Spitfire
‘Reno racer’.
About RealAir Simulations
RealAir Simulations was set up in 2000 and its first release was a Citabria for Fly! II. Since
then we have specialised in, but not restricted ourselves to, high performance propeller
driven aircraft with aerobatic capabilities for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
All our aircraft have been awarded the highest accolades by magazines and websites. Our
Marchetti SF.260 is one the all-time most successful GA aircraft ever produced for Flight
Simulator, winning the coveted ‘Avsim Gold Medal For Excellence in Flight Sim Design’
(among other awards), and our freeware aircraft have won Flightsim.com’s gold award as
voted by their subscribers.
Our Cessna 172SP is used for official training at the Kangan/ Batman TAFE Aeronautical
Academy in Melbourne and is currently a freeware release.
Our Super Decathlon won PC Pilot magazine’s ‘Classic Award’ and a 5/5 rating, as did the
SF.260. All our aircraft have also won numerous awards from websites and magazines all
around the world.
About the RealAir Simulations Authors:
Sean Moloney is a graduate in Visual Communications, with honours. He is a student pilot
who first teamed up with Rob Young to design the Citabria for Fly! II while still at university.
He also works as a freelance graphic designer/illustrator and is a native of Sydney (soon to
be Brisbane), Australia. Sean designs all the graphics, gauges and 3d models for RealAir.
Rob Young spent 25 years as a professional musician before turning to simulation. He has
designed flight aerodynamics for many of the major flight simulator developers. He designed
the flight models for Fly! II on behalf of Terminal Reality and since changing to Microsoft
Flight Simulator has designed the aerodynamics for a diverse group of developers including
Lago, JustFlight, Eaglesoft, and MAAM-Sim, picking up awards for nearly every aircraft he
has co-designed.
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV for FS2004
Other RealAir Simulations Aircraft
Try our SIAI-Marchetti SF-260, ‘the Ferrari of the skies’. Fully aerobatic, with a high cruise
speed and a huge virtual cockpit panoramic view, this aircraft has won more awards than
any other GA aircraft in the history of Flight Simulator.
Our Super Decathlon was the first tail dragger for Flight Simulator with true tail dragger
handling. PC Pilot gave it a 5/5 review and declared it a ‘PC Pilot Classic’.
The RealAir Scout is the bush version of the Decathlon with heavy duty undercarriage as
well as amphibious floats and different flying characteristics. Comes with custom scenery.
You can find our e-mail addresses at: www.realairsimulations.com
We welcome support queries but please first thoroughly read the documentation accompanying our aircraft in case you have missed something obvious!
Copyright RealAir Simulations (tm), 2004-2005