To me, TNG is very interesting... So much so, when I bought my first copy of the FS in the early days, I'd do at least 20-25 each time it loaded, before anything else. When you can do a barrel roll or Loop on approach with a cross wind, and be lined up almost on the centerline, IMHO you have sufficient practice doing touch and go's . . . .. :-beerchug Bob

An excellent flight test report Dudley, the type of thing that should be done for every new aircraft release, and you should be on commission from RealAir :-)I fly jet 'liners (virtually), I like the comfort of the FMC, A/P, STARs and ILS landings, none of this 'seat of the pants' stuff :-)However I do have the RealAir SF.260 and find it a joy to fly as a 'recreational' aircraft and being a Brit the Spitfire interested me and knowing the fine FDE RA did for the SF.260 the RA Spit was a possible buy.Your report turned 'possible buy' into a confirmed buy so RA owe you commission :-) and RA deserve 5 stars for another outstanding aircraft and raising the VC bar.I still have to master the beast but am sure I will get there with all the tips and advice being posted.I do however have two questions which someone will be able to answer.So far I have only tried the initial flight, touch and gos at West Malling.Once airborne the aircraft rolls slightly off level flight so my first question is, in that initial flight is the fuel loaded equally to allow level flight and am I doing something wrong to get this roll?Second question. I do not have any other Spitfires showing in that initial flight even though FS Traffic is set to 100% for GA traffic.TIA

Hi VulcanNo traffic, that's not good. Please check in your aircaft folder that AI Spitfire installed (Real Air Spitfire XIV AI) and please look in the folder SceneryWorldscenery and make sure you have the file traffic_eg58.bgl. Finally in addon scenery/scenery you should have AF2_EG58.bgl. If you have all those files and still no ai traffic then I'm stumped if you have AI on. Are there no Spitfires in the blister hangers either? Answering your first question, no the fuel is loaded evenly, I dn't see any roll here so perhaps your calibibration settings are out a bit.CheersTim

Dudley I am indebted to you for the clarity of your review. It has been a pleasure and an education to read it.May I ask what may be a stupid question but you say that.... "You adjust your height in the airplane by a combinationof the parachute and the seat to give you two visible triangles on either side of the windshield."Using SHIFT plus either ENTER or BACKSPACE I have moved my seat up and down in an effort to locate those two triangles. But so far I just can't see them on either side of the windshield. Or anywhere else.Can you clarify their placement please?Cliff

Hi Wedge,Thanks for the kind words. We are aware of the occasional loss of focus on just the Reno Racer model. It usually snaps back into focus if you quickly zoom out then back in again. However we are not satisfied with this and are investigating it. The odd thing is that the Racer version has exactly the same gauge code as the other versions, and this is causing us grief trying to find the culprit.We will certainly publish any discoveries as soon as we find them. Meantime try the zoom trick. That should clear it, as will experimenting with mip map levels.Kind Regards,Rob Young

Thanks for the reply Tim, I have found the 'missing' Spitfires, eh hem, the AF2 file had not been activated :-doh (Note to Tom, please can we have an 'embarassed' smilie please ;-) )I will check calibration of my stick to see if that's causing the roll Tim.

Hi Cliff,These triangles:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99509.jpgHope this helps,Greg

Hi Cliff,Maybe this will help. This is the default view in the VC when the Spitfire is loaded:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99510.jpgand this is the view after "raising the seat" - note the grey triangles of runway either side of the nose:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99512.jpgAlastair

>Dudley I am indebted to you for the clarity of your review.>It has been a pleasure and an education to read it.>>May I ask what may be a stupid question but you say that.... >>"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.">>Using SHIFT plus either ENTER or BACKSPACE I have moved my>seat up and down in an effort to locate those two triangles.>But so far I just can't see them on either side of the>windshield. Or anywhere else.>>Can you clarify their placement please?>>Cliff>>Dudley HenriquesInternational Fighter Pilots FellowshipCommercial Pilot. CFI RetiredWhen flying these tail wheel prop fighters, aside from Grumman, whos engineers were thoughtful enough to cant their radial cowlings down a bit in front of the their windshields. (the forward visibility flying the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, and the F8F Bearcat, is much better than the Spit or the Mustang)..... the trick to having the visibility you need to fly them safely is to get your eyeballs at the right height so that you're able to see equal sides of a runway (considering you're in the middle of that runway in a 3 point attitude) while looking at an angle of about 45 degrees forward from the seat.The Spit gives you the feeling you're buried deep in the thing when sitting in the cockpit. That nose out there is an awesome sight. I think it's far more imposing than the Mustang, but then again, I flew the 51 much more than I did the Spitfire.In the real world, you use either a seat chute and a cushion if you need it, or a back pack with several seat cushions until each pilot has their own personal combination of whatever it takes to get to the height needed. This height gives you a small triangle of runway that is formed by the lower back edge of the windshield bow and the outside view from that center runway 3 point position.In the sim Spitfire, naturally you don't need a chute......I mean realism and immersion DOES have it's limits!!! :-)) but you do have the zoom keys and the seat adjustment keys to work with.If you want to set all this up just right for your specific visual cue...the one you're comfortable with seated in the Spit, take it on out to a hard surfaced runway and put it right in the center and stop there. Now shut it down and just sit there. Now look out either side just behind the windshield bow back edge. You should see equal parts of a runway edge on either side; the amount will be predicated on how wide the runway is that you're sitting on. Figuring 200 feet or so wide for the runway, you should have a nice triangle of runway to view on either side of that windshield bow. Adjust the seat until you have that nice view. This should raise you up a bit in the seat.I like the full cockpit view for the VC in the Griffon Spit. To me, that's the view I am used to in a real fighter of this type. You might find the .75 cockpit a bit better for you. It gives you a bit more to look at on each side.Try it different ways. Actaully, in real life, I've been known to add or take out a cushion or two myself before getting it exactly as I want it!! :-))Dudley

Remember what Prof Higgins said to Eliza Doolittle? "By God I think she's got it"Well with your explanation and that of the other helpful answers "I've got it!"Setting the zoom factor to 75 and placing the aircraft on the wide Seattle runway those two triangles were easy to watch and it wasn't even necessary to alter the seat height.So thank you all.Cliff

What an clever way to illustrate your point Greg!It made it crystal clear as to where I should look.How in heck did you do that?Cliff