Just some quick impressions on a few hours flying the Martlet.
Gentle climb, I can't more than about 130 Knots. I don't know how that translates to MPH, but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong? Level flight I can up to about 180 Knots, never been able to get it over 280 in a dive. I'm still learning, but I tend to keep the cowl flaps around 70% open and have not had any problems with overheating.
Turn and burn down low... I can easily get inside a 109 or 110, though I have trouble climbing with them...I just wait until they come back down!
Flew last night up to 17,000 feet, then engine started skipping. Don't know what I did, I'm pretty sure I didn't overrev, overheat, etc. Supercharger works over 10,000 feet. Notice a big jump, but only if I have the boost above 30 inches of mercury. Don't notice a change if I have the boost lower. There seems to be no point at which switching the fuel mixture from rich to lean/idle cutout helps. Engine will always stutter on lean.
Air filter... I think Open means no filter, closed means filter is engaged. I notice a barely perceptible drop in RPM if I have the filter closed. I presume I use the filter at the closed position on the ground, and open it once I have retracted the gear.
I can load bombs, but I can't drop them. Bomb Arm switch does nothing, as well as bomb drop lever. I understand TF is addressing this.
Elevator trim and rudder trim in cockpit are backward. TF is aware.
Fuel Selector switch will work with a 5 position potentiometer. Making one on my 3D printer as we speak.
Tailwheel lock works for takeoff, though I don't find I really need it, as rudder authority is good at ground speeds.
Ambient temperature indicator always shows 0 degrees. I presume TF will get around to fixing this eventually.
Carb Heat and Pitot heater seem to work, though I'm not sure when to engage, as the Ambient temperature indicator doesn't work. Any ideas? I thought maybe my engine problem at altitude was due to this, but engaging carb heat didn't help. Can't find a carb heat control in the clickable cockpit.
Oxygen control in cockpit seems to have a tooltip, but doesn't actually seem to do anything.
Cowl flaps crank handle seems to use 4 rotations, will be making a control for this soon.
Landing flaps crank is just 1/4 turn, and is either up or down. Very fast, from my outside view.
Landing gear takes 34 turns on the crank, but in-game the controls are just Up/Neutral/Down. I suppose this is a game limitation. Too bad, I would love to make a 34 turn crank for it.
Fuel tank is not very big. General impressions are I get only about an hour of flight time, even at 60% throttle. Haven't really tested for exact numbers, but you need to spawn pretty close to your destination if you want any time on target. I've already run out of fuel more than once. Fuel indicator is hard to see, way over in the right-hand corner. We really need drop tanks!
4 x 50 Cal pack a pretty good punch. If only I was a better shot!
Mirror bug still exists. If I go into single player and run a quick mission first then it works fine... just have to remember to do that.
Opening cockpit doesn't seem to have much speed penalty, and there is very little wind noise...seems like there should be more noise.
Plane feels level on the ground. I guess tailwheel keeps the tail pretty high, so it is hard to tell when it comes off the ground. When landing I'm surprised that I'm on the ground, as the nose doesn't go way up when my tail touches down.
Not sure what the "Hand Pump" on the right side of the control panel is for. It says "Engine Primer", but the engine starts fine without it.
Gun sounds over an enemy airbase are really different. Used to just hear the flak and Bofors when really close, now I hear all kinds of PEW-PEW, and PING noises. More than once I thought someone was behind shooting, but it was just ground fire.
This is a tough bird. Got bounced twice last night (actually more than that). Took quite a few hits and just shrugged them off and turned the tables. The first was a Macchi that hit me. I went defensive, and though I wasn't able to climb up to him, I did get some shots on him the next time he went by. Then while he was trying to get out of my guns he put it into a flat spin at 10,000 feet and was never able to recover. The next was a 109 that fired and missed... I saw (and heard) his rounds going by me and put my nose down hard. He went by, and then was never able to get guns back on me, as I was able to turn inside him. He could outclimb me, but I was able to turn inside him every time until he ran out of E, and then i was able to get guns on him, and he bailed. Same with a 110... bounced me and got hits, but went by and I was able to out-turn him until he ran out of E. I chased and got some guns on him, but ran out of ammo. Chased him for awhile low near the ships, but I eventually headed home. He started chasing me, so I turned and headed back toward friendly ships...ran out f fuel and had to ditch just before he caught up.
I've probably missed a lot of stuff. I feel like a newbie flying this plane, but I guess I'll get it sorted out.
***EDIT***
Almost forgot to mention...looking behind is almost impossible in this plane. I can't turn my head very far to the sides, even with the canopy open. Even in the Hurricane, Spitfire, and 109 I can turn my head almost all the way around and look at the headrest and armor behind the pilot. Turning in the Martlet cockpit is like the Beaufighter, you can't even turn very far to the sides. I have a control mapped to sit up in the seat, and even though my head is above the back of the canopy, it still won't let me look around. Doesn't feel very realistic. Almost impossible to check your 6 even when looking up high.
Here are a few in-cockpit pictures:
Launcher64_2020-08-15_11-39-58.jpgLauncher64_2020-08-15_11-56-55.jpgLauncher64_2020-08-15_12-08-55.jpgLauncher64_2020-08-15_12-13-46.jpg
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