Spitfire Mk IXe

[R33GZ]

I took advantage of the last sale and bought BoBp. Have only had a chance to fly the Spitfire Mk IXe so far, but man.... what a sweet ride she is ? 

 

She's very light on the controls, but hauls arse when it's trimmed for cruise and turns and climbs like a thoroughbred.... and then to top it off you give me two 20s and two .50s.... MOOHAHAHAHHAHAAA.

 

I know it's probably old news for most of you, but I had so much fun, I had to post my appreciation S!

[ShamrockOneFive]

One of my most flown airplanes in the entire series. Definitely a fan of the Spitfire IX

 

Infact, its one of a very small handful of aircraft that I have a personalized skin for. So, welcome to the fan club. One of the most fun WWII warbirds you can fly in the sim!

 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

My favorite plane in the sim by far.

[sevenless]

9 hours ago, drewm3i-VR said:

My favorite plane in the sim by far.

 

In fact, mine also. Close second is the Mk XIV. I love those Spits. pjmack11377 was so kind to create a special skin for my favorite ?

 

 

 

[BlitzPig_EL]

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Spitfire.

 

I love the real aircraft, one of, if not the most, beautiful aircraft ever conceived. A wonderment to lay eyes on, and it's record is inarguable.

However, in the sim, either Great Battles or 1946 or Clod, I just cannot come to grips with it, mostly from a gunnery standpoint.  From the pipsqueak .303s sprinkled willy nilly all over the length of the wings, to the short ammo load of the Hispanos on later models, I just can't make it work in combat.  Very frustrating, as it's a great flying aircraft, if always a bit slower than what it faces in the virtual sky.

[ShamrockOneFive]

17 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Spitfire.

 

I love the real aircraft, one of, if not the most, beautiful aircraft ever conceived. A wonderment to lay eyes on, and it's record is inarguable.

However, in the sim, either Great Battles or 1946 or Clod, I just cannot come to grips with it, mostly from a gunnery standpoint.  From the pipsqueak .303s sprinkled willy nilly all over the length of the wings, to the short ammo load of the Hispanos on later models, I just can't make it work in combat.  Very frustrating, as it's a great flying aircraft, if always a bit slower than what it faces in the virtual sky.

EL, what short ammo load on the later models?

 

It's 120 rpg standard for C and E wings.

[BlitzPig_EL]

Well, since my gunnery is so bad with the Spitfire, any amount is not enough.  I just can't hit squat with a Spitfire.  Never could.  I'm a stone cold killer with the Tempest or a P51 of either model, or the P40 for that matter.  But the Spit?  It's like a drunk trying to hit a target at 100 yards+ with a sawed off shotgun loaded with number 8 birdshot.  Very frustrating.

Edited December 15, 2022 by BlitzPig_EL

[Guster]

120 rpg isn't a lot of trigger time when you're used to flying US planes. I fly the P-51D a lot but enjoy the VB as well which carries even less ammo. It's a different mindset and you have to be very economical, but a one second burst of 20mms will absolutely tear any 109 or 190 apart, and even a lot less will often do. The .303s are for decoration only.

[Rjel]

2 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

It's like drunk trying to hit a target at 100 yards with a sawed off shotgun loaded with number 8 birdshot.  Very frustrating.

You might as well throw a handful of gravel at someone under those circumstances. 

[Guster]

6 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

Well, since my gunnery is so bad with the Spitfire, any amount is not enough.  I just can't hit squat with a Spitfire.  Never could.  I'm a stone cold killer with the Tempest or a P51 of either model, or the P40 for that matter.  But the Spit?  It's like a drunk trying to hit a target at 100 yards+ with a sawed off shotgun loaded with number 8 birdshot.  Very frustrating.

 

Yes, the Spits feel wobbly when you come straight from, say, a Mustang. Takes some effort transitioning from one feel to another, no doubt.

Flying a Mustang is like carrying a tray with G&Ts and some peanuts to a table. Flying a Spit is more like balancing a broomstick on your fingertip; at first it feels like you failed to actually serve those G&Ts, but once you get it, it's like the broomstick becomes a natural extension of yourself.

[KevPBur]

I don't really mind if I can't hit anything, I look amazing (not) doing it.

AND I'm in a Spitfire!

 

The MkIX is the finest version of the breed. Still with a proper Merlin before it got bloated with the Griffon engine, has cannons with enough ammo for realistic use. Like any true thoroughbreed it spends half the time doing everything you ask with ease and the other half trying to kill you!

 

AND it's a spitfire!

 

As an Englishmen it has been bred into me that the Spitfire is the greatest and most beautiful plane every created and was superior to anything it every me, it is difficult to fight that breeding even if I know it isn't entirely true.

[CountZero]

I like Tempest more, it has better view from cockpit all around, easyer to aim in turns (can see target longer), more stable, turns good enought compared to Spit9 but its faster, 4x20mm, longer range, sturdier, easyer to land...

[Talon_]

2 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

It's 120 rpg standard for C and E wings.

Thanks to extensive research I did in the Kew archives you'll find you actually get quite a bit more than this  

[ShamrockOneFive]

17 minutes ago, Talon_ said:

Thanks to extensive research I did in the Kew archives you'll find you actually get quite a bit more than this  

 

I'm VERY interested to hear about that!

[SARFlytitus]

in my 58 years of age I have gained few but unshakeable and exciting certainties: I love Italian food, German beer, driving my Range Rover, sailing solo with my Beneteau, flirting with a beautiful Spanish girl and flying (virtually) with my Spitfire MK IX... life is good

?

[JG27_Steini]

Wonder how the few western german squadrons dealed with the MK IX. It is surely the most competitive fighter for its time and that makes me think how the german pilots would have dealed with it. 

[Trooper117]

10 minutes ago, JG27_Steini said:

makes me think how the german pilots would have dealed with it. 

 

They would have sent a stiff letter to fat Herman complaining that its FM was far too good!

[JG27_Steini]

17 minutes ago, Trooper117 said:

 

They would have sent a stiff letter to fat Herman complaining that its FM was far too good!

 Make absolute sense. Than why FM was untouched?

[Rjel]

3 minutes ago, JG27_Steini said:

 Make absolute sense. Than why FM was untouched?

Herman was scheduled to fly a captured Spitfire to give his “expert” opinion on its FM. Unfortunately, he was obviously too big to fit the cockpit so they tried to lash him to the rear fuselage. The term taildragger was never so appropriate. 

[LukeFF]

32 minutes ago, JG27_Steini said:

 Make absolute sense. Than why FM was untouched?

 

Joke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[R33GZ]

7 hours ago, KevPBur said:

As an Englishmen it has been bred into me that the Spitfire is the greatest and most beautiful plane every created and was superior to anything it every me, it is difficult to fight that breeding even if I know it isn't entirely true.

Haha, couldn't agree more mate... I gave up on joining the RNZAF when I found out they didn't fly spits anymore ? then we got rid of the Skyhawks, canceled an F-16 fleet, got rid of the aeromacchis.... I think they fly paper darts now, probably under the guise of paper stealth drones ?

[ShamrockOneFive]

7 hours ago, JG27_Steini said:

Wonder how the few western german squadrons dealed with the MK IX. It is surely the most competitive fighter for its time and that makes me think how the german pilots would have dealed with it. 

I assume by yelling "ACHTUNG SPITFIRE!"

 

Is there any other way?

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

18 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

Well, since my gunnery is so bad with the Spitfire, any amount is not enough.  I just can't hit squat with a Spitfire.  Never could.  I'm a stone cold killer with the Tempest or a P51 of either model, or the P40 for that matter.  But the Spit?  It's like a drunk trying to hit a target at 100 yards+ with a sawed off shotgun loaded with number 8 birdshot.  Very frustrating.

Someone needs to adjust their pitch and rudder sensitivity. When everything is tuned properly, the spit 9 is SO easy to fly and fight in, even in DCS.

Edited December 16, 2022 by drewm3i-VR

[jollyjack]

You might be able to do that with the new control settings for individual planes? This spit is one of my faves, and with clipped wings it's looks even better than a p51,

which always seems to be pregnant ...?

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

You might be able to do that with the new control settings for individual planes? This spit is one of my faves, and with clipped wings it's looks even better than a p51,

which always seems to be pregnant ...?

The P51 and the Spit really are so different despite looking similar. The former is the Swiss Army Knife, the latter is much more specialized and is fantastic and being a purebred fighter and interceptor. I love both, but definitely fare better dogfighting in the Spit.

[Kurfurst]

On 12/15/2022 at 4:16 PM, JG27_Steini said:

Wonder how the few western german squadrons dealed with the MK IX. It is surely the most competitive fighter for its time and that makes me think how the german pilots would have dealed with it. 

Simply by very rarely meeting them.
 

The early Mark IX wasn’t particularly hot at low-medium altitudes and was more of a high altitude fighter, equipped but a handful (5 or so) Squadrons, while the hotter LF model remained extremely uncommon in RAF service until the spring of 1944, when large scale changeover was finally made to them from the Mark Vs.
 

For 1941-1943, the Mark V was absolutely the most numerous and mainstay RAF fighter as far as Spitfires went, and that Mark wasn’t very hot even in 1941, despite some improvements made, and this partly explains how the few Luftwaffe Gruppen not even survived but even flourished in the West. 

[JG7_X-Man]

On 12/15/2022 at 10:16 AM, JG27_Steini said:

Wonder how the few western german squadrons dealed with the MK IX. It is surely the most competitive fighter for its time and that makes me think how the german pilots would have dealed with it. 

 

Remember how the Spitfire Mk. IX came about? The Fw 190A in late '41 appeared and it bested the Spitfire II and Vs.

 

Don't take my word for it. Here is the letter Air Chief Marshal Sir William Sholto Douglas wrote to the Under Secretary of State for Air, Lord Sherwood after a captured Fw 190A-3 was put through its paces.

 

The Spit IX was designed to stop the Fw 190A. By the time the Spit IX hit the skies, the Luftwaffe was already on to the development of the Fw 190D-9.

 

If I may reiterate, there was never a huge performance advantage either air force had over the other (...except for the introduction of the Me 262). It was always a difference in doctrine and tactics used that best suited each aircraft.

 

But in the end, there was no technological advantage nor employed tactics better than numbers....

[digital_vole]

I too love the Spitfire IX (my nationality requires it ??) but I’ve yet to blow the engine. This I find odd as I was blowing it all the time in DCS. I have unchecked all the boxes in the realism settings but is there something I’m missing?

[Skycat1969]

I've come to really hate the Spitfire Mk.IXe...

 

... When they arrive on the scene during my Fw190A career!

 

Damned murder hornets!

[mazex]

You gotta give the Tempest some time as well. Big, brute, stable, but still fast and a lot sleeker than the Typhoon... And after reading Closterman that flew the Spitfire first and later the Tempest he seemed pretty clear on the one he considered the best even though he naturally was biased as he ended the war in a Tempest...

 

I am often surprised in the discussions about the best ac of ww2 that it's not mentioned more often.

 

There has to be a reason for this from the Tempest Wikipedia page: "Following the end of the war, the RAF decided upon the Tempest as its standard fighter, pending the introduction of newer aircraft, many of which would be developed post-war, such as the de Havilland Hornet and the de Havilland Vampire, as well as the Gloster Meteor."

 

And it's not like they did not have stats from real combat - and thousands of very skilled pilots that had opinions... And went for the Tempest instead of the uber late monster Spitfires

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by mazex