Dudley,Contributions like this are what make the hobby so great to participate in. I don't have the Spitfire yet, but I enjoyed reading your article very much, regardless. Thank you.Jordan Moore

Dear Mr. Henriques,Your advice is very insightful, and advice about how to fly a simulator aircraft from a pilot who has flown the plane for real helps enormously to bridge the gap between real aviation and simulation.Few of us will ever have the chance to fly a Spitfire or any other warbird, because of financial constraints, lack of the required training or other reasons. I am not allowed to fly any more (I flew ultralights) because of a disability. Your account of the high level of realism of the RealAir Spitfire increases my pleasure of flying the plane tremendously since your comments gave me the feeling that I am yet a little bit nearer to experiencing what it is like to fly a Spitfire. That is why I would like to pose the realism question to you in a different way. If somebody can fly the Spitfire in FS2004 in a proper way (make satisfactory take-offs and landings etc.) would that person than in principle have the qualities required for flying a real Spitfire? Of course I do not mean: can that person climb in a Spitfire and take off; obviously he cannot. Even two professional simulators of the same aircraft can require practice to master the subtle differences. But does he have the aptitude to learn it? And conversely: if someone cannot master the RealAir Spitfire, is that an indication that he would likely not be able to learn to fly the real Spitfire acceptably? In other words: how high is the correlation between the abilities required to fly the RealAir Spitfire in FS2004 and the abilities required to fly a real Spitfire, and what would the training to fly a real Spitfire have to focus on for someone who is already proficient in flying the RealAir plane? Can part of this training be done on simulators, either PC-based or professional?I am of course not talking about using the Spitfire as a weapon system, just

>Dear Mr. Henriques,>>Your advice is very insightful, and advice about how to fly a>simulator aircraft from a pilot who has flown the plane for>real helps enormously to bridge the gap between real aviation>and simulation.>Few of us will ever have the chance to fly a Spitfire or any>other warbird, because of financial constraints, lack of the>required training or other reasons. I am not allowed to fly>any more (I flew ultralights) because of a disability. Your>account of the high level of realism of the RealAir Spitfire>increases my pleasure of flying the plane tremendously since>your comments gave me the feeling that I am yet a little bit>nearer to experiencing what it is like to fly a Spitfire. That>is why I would like to pose the realism question to you in a>different way. If somebody can fly the Spitfire in FS2004 in a>proper way (make satisfactory take-offs and landings etc.)>would that person than in principle have the qualities>required for flying a real Spitfire? Of course I do not mean:>can that person climb in a Spitfire and take off; obviously he>cannot. Even two professional simulators of the same aircraft>can require practice to master the subtle differences. But>does he have the aptitude to learn it? And conversely: if>someone cannot master the RealAir Spitfire, is that an>indication that he would likely not be able to learn to fly>the real Spitfire acceptably? In other words: how high is the>correlation between the abilities required to fly the RealAir>Spitfire in FS2004 and the abilities required to fly a real>Spitfire, and what would the training to fly a real Spitfire>have to focus on for someone who is already proficient in>flying the RealAir plane? Can part of this training be done on>simulators, either PC-based or professional?>>I am of course not talking about using the Spitfire as a>weapon system, just

You can see a video taken from a tail camera of a Mustang landing on my web page below (Along with other videos of Aerobatic manuevers), including a verbal narration of the procedure as it is being performed by Lee Lauderback of Stallion 51 with me at the controls in back.

Not to mention, that many simulated controls are mapped to my joystick & throttle electronically, instead of having to memorize where all controls actually are, in the real cockpit. L.Adamson

Dear Mr. Henriques,Thank you very much for your quick response. It is very informative and will give me food for thought in the coming days.Hans