stearmen flight model realism

[craig1998 0]

anybody take the stearmen up for a spin and dive the hell out of it and then see how bad they model inertia of the plane? This is with the engine off or at idle. If you dive the thing and get airspeed and then try to pull the nose up it doesnt feel like it should with that much speed. Maybe Im wrong....just an armchair pilot and never flew a real biplane.

[Oracle427 45]

I'll take the bait.welcome aboard! Aircraft behave somewhat differently than a rocket because of their wings.When an aircraft attempts to make a sudden change in direction at a high speed few things can happen.1 the aircraft stalls and essentially begins to fall down. If you.re already in a dive, you'll keep going down. This may actually be a good thing because of #22 the airframe will be overstressed from the extreme forces and break apart catastrophically.3 the airframe holds together and the pilot losses conscious the extreme g forces.4 the airplane pulls put of the dive.flight isn't modeling #2 yet. I'm not sure about 3being modeled either.Finally I have no idea how well the Stearman is modeled. But I do have a pilot at my airport that owns one and I've observed takeoffs and landings and climbs while flying in the pattern with him or on the ground. The performance seems to be fairly close in Flight.

[P47D 5]

I was on the ground and put the throttle to full. The cockpit started shaking just like the A2A stuff. I was suprised and thought it was pretty cool.

[Rickenbacker 0]

I think it probably WOULD respond similarly to the Flight Stearman, if the wings would stay on. The only problem is that in real life you'd overstress the aircraft and rip it apart if you tried that, so no one will ever know for sure :).

[Guest bstolle]

anybody take the stearmen up for a spin and dive the hell out of it and then see how bad they model inertia of the plane? This is with the engine off or at idle. If you dive the thing and get airspeed and then try to pull the nose up it doesnt feel like it should with that much speed. Maybe Im wrong....just an armchair pilot and never flew a real biplane.

Didn't notice anything unusual or unrealistic under the conditions you mentioned...

[newthog 0]

it doesnt feel like it should

what feels "wrong"? do you think it reacts too slowly, not enough, something totally different? I couldn't get it to spin without a burst of power at stall, but I haven't noticed anything overly odd about pullouts - other than, as someone mentioned, I should be ripping the wings off on some of my pullouts - and graying out, too!not lucky enough to have Stearman time yet, either - but having fun getting my simulated open cockpit time in!

[Rickenbacker 0]

I think this is a combination of a bunch of the sims' limitations. You're flying an airplane that in real life has a two foot stick, with a much shorter controller. You're not experiencing any G:s and there are no control forces, so you can pull the stick all the way back, when in real life this would either be impossible, or at the very least clearly very dangerous.

[mgh 89]

Unless there is a real-world Stearman pilot in this forum, I suggest that none of know how it actually handles and so can't comment meaningfully.

[keithb77 308]

R/W USN pilots notes say "Do Not Exceed An Indicated Airspeed of 186 MPH (161.7 knots)" FWIWWill have to give it a go.... :wink:CheersKeith

[Great Ozzie 101]

The Stearman has a reputation of being a very stout aircraft.

I think it probably WOULD respond similarly to the Flight Stearman, if the wings would stay on. The only problem is that in real life you'd overstress the aircraft and rip it apart if you tried that, so no one will ever know for sure :).

so you can pull the stick all the way back, when in real life this would either be impossible, or at the very least clearly very dangerous.

Depends on speed, weight, power setting..."The design maneuvering speed (Va) is the maximum speed at which the airplane can be stalled or full available aerodynamic control will not exceed the airplane’s limit load factor. At or below this speed, the airplane will usually stall before the limit load factor can be exceeded." (slightly different from the "newer" FAA definition... but will work for this thread).

Unless there is a real-world Stearman pilot in this forum, I suggest that none of know how it actually handles and so can't comment meaningfully.

An excellent point... yet so many "seem to know" what such and such plane should or should not be capable of (entertaining if not exasperating) based on what... I don't know.There is not a published Va in the Stearman Pilot Handbook. The next best thing is to find a forum where it has been discussed.Checkout the thread at the below link... rothjonb has a particularly interesting story.http://www.stearman....3&threadid=2881Edit:I actually decided before posting to replace the Va definition above, with the one below (user error ). Here is the "newer, refined" definition the FAA has released as a result of that AA accident."The design maneuvering speed (Va) is the speed below which you can move a single flight control, one time, to its full deflection, for one axis of airplane rotation only (pitch, roll or yaw), in smooth air, without risk of damage to the airplane."

[Oracle427 45]

That story is terrifying and yet hilarious. If the plane can take that sort of abuse.... I want one! :)I can fix that. LOL

[shane_IT 0]

As someone with a Stearman in the backyard hangar, I'll tell you guy's the Flight model is very much UN-REALISTIC!

[LHookins 3,106]

As someone with a Stearman in the backyard hangar, I'll tell you guy's the Flight model is very much UN-REALISTIC!

Give us a few details. Which specific things does it do wrong?Hook

[shane_IT 0]

That thing take's off down the runway like a rocket. I was a beta tester and did mention a few things (which were not changed). I don't know if they're modeling a 450 Stearman or not, but the 220 contential Stearman we have here on our farm flys completely different.Roll rate - too fast.Pitch axis - Much too "touchy"Yaw axis - Way too much authority. Take off and level out 100Knots and hold full rudder and watch what the flight Stearman does, hold opposite aieleron and you can almost turn it around 180 degrees and fly backwards! After all flight's meant to be a game I wouldn't expect them to try to put together a realistic flight model anyway.There isn't much more I can say about it

[LHookins 3,106]

I don't know if they're modeling a 450 Stearman or not, but the 220 contential Stearman we have here on our farm flys completely different.

Thanks. That's the kind of information I was looking for.It wouldn't surprise me if they were modeling the 450. I remember reading some things about the 220 that would indicate it wasn't a good aerobatic performer. Since the aerobatic training mission is done in a Stearman, having a poor performer wouldn't be such a good idea.I can understand why they might increase the roll rate or rudder authority. But I have to agree about the pitch being touchy, at least in the beta version. I don't know if the pitch had changed in the release version, but I found it a lot easier to fly. Hook