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The Staff of SOH
For what it might be worth, not just an "armchair" pilot here.
The amount of speed required is the issue. Yes, with enough speed, the elevator becomes effective. The problem is just that 50kts shouldn't be required to get the tail up. This video illustrates a normal Beaver takeoff (or most other taildragger). Notice how aggressively the tail pops up, how soon in the roll, and at how slow of an airspeed (and with less than full down elevator deflection).
https://youtu.be/KHVfZx_MCoc
Don't mean to harp on this. She's still very fun to fly. Just want to be clear that the issue isn't a subjective one of weight and balance.
What I can confirm is that the FDE was developed by a real world Beaver pilot with enormous experience, same like in the Otter.
It would be very easy to replicate the conditions in the video. 5NC2 RW20 wind from the south at 7. The unknowns, of course, are weight and balance of the aircraft.
EDIT: Another variable that has not been discussed is the realism settings in the simulator doing the testing. A video showing the behavior of the model accompanied by good documentation of weight/balance, simulator realism settings, environmental conditions, etc would likely go a long way to getting an FDE update, if the FDE deviates from the aircraft actual performance..
Has anyone tried this test with the JustFlight model out of curiosity? Again, using the same criteria and settings as discussed here.
Finally, I have no dog in this fight except to illustrate how quick the community is to criticize and how sloppy their "testing" can be. Real world experience is obviously very important in judging the accuracy of the FDE but are you assuming that the developer did not use real world pilots in their testing?
With full power it is possible a ways into the takeoff run to get the tail up a little, which is important in protecting the tailwheel on rough fields and reduces the drag on a ski takeoff, but it's a ways.
If you are referring to the half digit showing in the standard radio stack, edit file 'radi_d.xml' in base Beaver 'panel/C310_XMLGauges'
Change 6.3 to 5.2 in these two lines:
<String>%((A:COM1 ACTIVE FREQUENCY, MHz))%!6.3f!</String>
<String>%((A:COM1 STANDBY FREQUENCY, MHz))%!6.3f!</String>
WS