Don McVicar was a pilot with RAF Ferry Command in WW-II. He wrote several books after the war about his adventures. His stories are interesting in many ways, but for me his perspectives on the flying “qualities” of the many different planes he flew as a Ferry Command pilot are of particular interest, especially as I compare his observations with the FS experience in those same planes.
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Most of his time was in bombers and transports, but the hottest ship he flew was the DeHavilland Mosquito. One of the more interesting tidbits (to me anyway) on the Mossie was that it would overheat if it was just sitting on the ground with engines idling! This is, of course, “counter-intuitive”, the Mossie being equipped with liquid cooled engines… One would think that an air-cooled engine would be more likely to overheat without air movement, but the Mossie evidently had this problem bad. So once you started the engines, you had to take off, and no dilly-dallying about it!
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It also had, as he described it, “vicious” torque during the take off roll. His technique was to counter the torque effect by adjusting power between the engines during the run down the runway. This is what I do in FS with twin-engine planes that want to drive off the runway into the ditch on take-off, which is pretty cool. He bought two Mossies from the Canadian government after the war, and entered one of them into the Bendix Speed race, the only Canadian pilot to ever do so. He almost ground looped it on his first test flight, during the take off roll. Maybe he was a little rusty since the war, but his stories about this plane, even during the war, were sprinkled with comments suggesting you never take your eyes off the bi***, for surely she will try to kill you as soon as you turn your back! Maybe such comments should be considered with the fact that he was, basically, a transport and bomber pilot...
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Anyhow, good read.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
fficeffice" /><o></o>Most of his time was in bombers and transports, but the hottest ship he flew was the DeHavilland Mosquito. One of the more interesting tidbits (to me anyway) on the Mossie was that it would overheat if it was just sitting on the ground with engines idling! This is, of course, “counter-intuitive”, the Mossie being equipped with liquid cooled engines… One would think that an air-cooled engine would be more likely to overheat without air movement, but the Mossie evidently had this problem bad. So once you started the engines, you had to take off, and no dilly-dallying about it!
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></o>It also had, as he described it, “vicious” torque during the take off roll. His technique was to counter the torque effect by adjusting power between the engines during the run down the runway. This is what I do in FS with twin-engine planes that want to drive off the runway into the ditch on take-off, which is pretty cool. He bought two Mossies from the Canadian government after the war, and entered one of them into the Bendix Speed race, the only Canadian pilot to ever do so. He almost ground looped it on his first test flight, during the take off roll. Maybe he was a little rusty since the war, but his stories about this plane, even during the war, were sprinkled with comments suggesting you never take your eyes off the bi***, for surely she will try to kill you as soon as you turn your back! Maybe such comments should be considered with the fact that he was, basically, a transport and bomber pilot...
<o
></o>Anyhow, good read.