My first flight with the Hog yesterday was flying the clean T-Bird variant. At reduced weight & fuel, I held it down low to the runway after liftoff and built up speed for performing a Roll on Takeoff (Solo style). I gently pitched up to about 25 degree and began the Roll. When I came out wings level, it was sinking like a rock and I carefully eased in back pressure to stabilize the sink rate. Once settled, I was at roughly 50 AGL and clawing to accelerate again! The FDE is amazing and seems to closely mirror all the data on the real F-84F as best that can be translated in FSX. At higher speeds, it is a dream to fly and maneuver but you have to be mindful to keep a close eye on the accelerometer so you don't over-G which is easy to do. It seems the "digging in" effect(during maneuvering) of the swept wing is modeled in which makes using a light stick inputs (stabilator/pitch) very mandatory. It's a matter of getting used to the "feel". Of course, during maneuvering you should be careful to not bleed too much airspeed because it takes a significant amount of time to recover speed. At slow airspeeds(at all weights) you have to be cautious to not over-maneuver(no steep banks or excessive pitch inputs). During landing approaches and deceleration to get set up and configured for the approach, the envelope is pretty tight regarding handling, landing gear & flap lowering speeds. Due to the drag of landing config, I'd recommend not using the speed brakes until you're on short final. The technique I use it to shoot the approach without the speed brakes but pop them out on short final and push up the thrust to maintain consistent speed and descent rate. In that final config, if I need to make a go-around, I simply pull in the speed brakes and then sweep the gear. Since the engine is already spooled up & thrust high, it accelerates well.
I have to give many kudos to SSW's work on this model. It is well done and quite challenging to fly. It's an excellent rendering of a vintage jet fighter aircraft.
