thanks again for all of the responses. picked up a copy of RealFlight G5.5 on tuesday and have been flying non stop. I have to say i'm pretty impressed with the quality of the sim. Before i read the posts re the characteristics of the low wing war birds i was experiencing some of them. The high speed stalls in turns necessitating rudder input, the low speed stalls on approach, the need for rudder on take-off... the assist the flaps provide on approach... seems as though some of these characteristics have been fairly well captured and conveyed in the sim. I'm fully aware that the sim is nothing like th ereal thing, but i do take some comfort in knowing that what i'm seeing is a reasonably accurate representation of the actual flight characteristics of the plane.
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I was also pleased with how quickly the controls came back to me. Again, i know its not the real thing, but take-off, general flight /simple maneuvers, and even landing was reasonably comfortable. I dumped quite a few on approach and got my wires crossed up a bit a several times but for the most part, i think i'm doing pretty well... Trying to get the landings as realistic as possible, keeping the wings flat, flaps extended, controlling elevation with throttle input, slight rudder input, etc. Its starting to feel pretty good. I plan on putting a ton of time into this thing until i can do it blindfolded...standing on my head while reciting the declaration of independence. -When i can get that down, i;ll start flying for real, mastering the trainer before i move onto the P51. No rush. My other hobby is restoring old BMW's so patience and attention to detail is nothing new to me.<o></o>
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By the way, i picked up the plane today (350 mile trip in each direction - crazy? maybe). I couldnt bear the thought of paying $300 to have it shipped or worse yet, put it in the hands of Greyhound. So i drove the 4runner up, loaded her up and came home. 13 hours altogether. And it all went off without a hitch... except for a slight crack that occured when i was passing over a rough stretch of road. i had the fuse and wings supported on styrofoam cutouts and somehow it still managed to bounce and slip just enough such that it stressed the bottom of the fuse just behind the cutouts for the exhaust - i suspect the spot was already weak. I've enclosed a pic (or i'm trying to anyway) showing the damage. Any tips on how best to repair it? It doesnt pass all the way through but i think i'd prefer to do a little bit of reinforcement on the inside to make sure it stays that way. Even though its superficial damage and not in plain sight, it still pisses me off, so if possible, i'd like to try to make it go away as much as possible. Just dont know what techniques work best. My guess is that on the inside i can just lay in a couple of sheets of glass and call it a day. Thoughts?<o></o>
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I'll take pics of both planes when i get finished setting everything up. I'd still like to know if anyone can ID the trainer. The shop owner did offer a guess but at the moment, i cant remember what he said...<o></o>
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More to come... but if i dont get back on before saturday, Merry Christmas to everyone!
Cant seem to get pics to post tonight so here's the link to the picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonezee/5287281840/
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