Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB & Hawker Tempest Mk V
By Nigel Martin (22 July 2006)
OVERVIEW
Sorry! I appreciate it may be a 'tad' unorthodox way of starting a review but this is an apology. Why? Well, I have never, not ever in the many years of experience within this wonderful virtual world of flight sims purchased and downloaded an aircraft, or any package for that matter, for use in FS2004, Freeware excluded of course.I guess my particular preference, to date, has been the purchase of a 'physical' piece of plastic called a CD/DVD. My simple logic being, you have a hard copy of that item, normally with a brochure, oops pilot notes (wash my mouth out with soap and water!).
Going down this path, you have a collection of add-ons neatly in a row; not in my case though! They are all over the place... Anyway, if some catastrophic computer failure occurs, (however, with the stability of all computers, and operating systems I am certain you will never need to reinstall!) you have all the programs conveniently located to reinstall...Yes all right I know once downloaded you would be able to save to CD, but you don't have a 'fancy' case to stack on a shelf, and look at. Or, let's not forget those who may find the process a little daunting. If this is you, don't worry the process is so easy, your pet rabbit, chinchilla, hamster could do it. (Please do not quote me, on this claim!)
Both aircraft offered engender a picture in your minds eye. I am sure we have all seen heard, read about and formed opinions about these iconic steeds.
I feel that I have to expand a little on to the history of the Hawker Tempest. Quite frankly, beautiful as they are, the Hurricane and the Spitfire has had plenty of press, and justly so, therefore, I will not cover the Spit, from a historical perspective, in this overview.
The history and pedigree of the Hawker Tempest is fascinating, so please bear with me. It has to said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this aircraft, and as a consequence, it has leaped up a peg or two in my estimation. Of course, I had prior knowledge of the Tempest, not only from a historical perspective, but I have fond memories of an R/C model I built and flew on many an occasion. It had over a meter wing span, a real beauty. What is that you're saying? "All good things come to an end""...You can guess the rest guys; suffice to say, I could recover the nicad pack and a couple of servos. A lovely bonfire was had with all that balsa wood!
My, that memory hurts, especially the cost!
The Tempest evolved from its predecessor the Hawker Typhoon. The Tempest V was flown on June 21, 1943 with its distinctive 'all-round' canopy, cannons mounted flush with the leading edge and other performance enhancing revisions.
The Tempest V was the 'second generation' under the inspirational design excellence of Sir Sydney Camm during the 1940's. The alterations incorporated changes which improved many areas of the aircraft. With its 2180 hp Napier II engine resulted in the performance of some 428 mph, rate of climb, 3000 feet per minute and a ceiling of 37,000 feet. It had a highly effective operational range of 740 miles.
History shows this beauty on many a strafing role, hardly surprising with its low level performance, and the flexible armament of 4 X 20mm cannon, 8X rockets or 907 Kg bombs. Also, because of its all round performance the Tempest was mainly used on defense sorties. The first operational squadron being, 486 (New Zealand) based from Beauliegh Hampshire, England.
During this time, an amazing 638 V1 'flying bombs' were destroyed. By the end of the war, more than seven squadrons were equipped with the Tempest. Its success also included downing twenty Me 262's (twin German jet fighter). The German 262 pilots held the Tempest in very high regard and afforded it the respect it deserved.
By the end of the war, this aircraft, based on its all round performance, was regarded to be on par with the mighty Mustang.
It was first deployed in June 1943. Ultimately 800 MK.V's were built, and if you include all versions post war included some 1418 took the sky. The main users of the Tempest were of course England, and New Zealand.
What a tragic shame we do not see one today at the air shows or a part of the RAF Historical Flight collection. It would have been a 'living' testament to the bravery of the pilots of this most aerodynamic workhorse.
INSTALATION
I found the entire process effortless, this being the first commercial aircraft package downloaded. You chose the program (of which there are a few listed) make the purchase, you are provided with a 'key' series of numbers, enter these where prompted, and it will then download.
The file is a healthy 18.8 mb so in my simple logic, the size of the file indicates the potential of great things to come.
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EXTERIOR
Let's take a look at the exterior of these beauties. Let's go walkies around the Spit first. After selecting one of two color scheme options, traditional camouflage, grey/green or tropical, tan/brown (I selected the 'standard').Take time to have a good look around. The detail is plain to see. There are lovely dynamic shine effects across the entire fuselage and canopy. Let's start from the ground up. The undercarriage is excellent (including the lowering and retract sequence on both) with the customary pipes on show, on the olio legs. The tire detail is also impressive. No tire bulge, but the tire does look slightly compressed with the weight.
If the flaps are down, the detail is on show to an expectable degree, as are the ailerons, elevators and rudder. (The Tempest to a lesser degree). The manifolds looks convincing, with the customary exhaust trail form the nose towards the trailing edge of the wing. The color is a classic brown, but in most cases this trail was more of a light grey, due the staining, in part being caused by the lead content in the aviation fuel, hence light grey. But the effect is there, and looks convincing enough. As for the Tempest, well ditto the above, the notable exception, however, the Tempest has rather handsome invasion stripes on the wings and fuselage.
Another nice detail when at idle, the aircraft rocks a little due to the 'lump' of an engine and massive prop 'ticking-over'. Clearly this effect disappears once the throttle is advanced.
There are a fair amount of aerials and pitot tubes on show which is accurate and improves the general look. As are the landing lights, that extend form the lower wing, and if you look hard on the Spit, once the flaps are lowered, you will notice two small flaps open with a part of the flap mechanism slightly protruding on the upper wing...nice attention to detail.
Also there's little red strut which protrudes from the wings when the gear is down. That is a visual indicator for gear retraction when electric failure occurs. Again, great detail.
I always love hitting the 'canopy open' button. This normally brings a smile to the face. Both aircraft performed admirably. The pilot figure seems to be a new pilot model (and very well presented, lovely detail) in both aircraft. In fact it is the same one used in both, and his annotated actions are the same, i.e., once the canopy is open, he looks out the left side, head slightly out of the cockpit.
During the opening sequence in the Spit his hand 'slides' the hood open and closes in the reverse. But not in the Tempest, because of the different opening/closing mechanic, i.e., winding; you just see his head lean to the let once open. I have to say, during flight his head did not move, or 'scan' as a fighter pilot would. Your days would have been severely numbered had his observation not been better, i.e., head move in flight to see the enemy. Sorry guys, but look at freeware aircraft available, there are some lovely animated pilot figures.
There is some lovely engine intake detail on the Tempest, including the option to alter the cowling flap aperture from within the cockpit. In VC you can alter this by a lever clearly marked. Overall, the exterior to both aircraft is very acceptable. A special mention has to go to the cannon firing sequence, which I was quite impressed with. You have pop (press S) outside the steeds to appreciate it, see the pictures. I would not have liked being on the receiving end of that ordinance!
Lighting, well both aircraft sport the white formation lights at the rear and nav lighting on the wing tips. The Spit has, well 'balls' of red and green on the wing tips, which while they are adequate for the purpose, are not as accurate as the same on the Tempest; these are very convincing.
INTERIOR
Both aircraft have a 2D and 3D options, both in the former are OK, all the instruments are there, easy to see and disseminate and of course use. In my humble opinion, the cockpits 'come-alive' in the 3D option. Flight is very manageable in this mode and provides a more realistic feel. Let's not ignore the detail on offer. In this mode, you can appreciate the hard work, as you scan around the respective 'office'.
FLIGHT
Now this is the part the program is all about. Once you have taxied or lined up on the chosen runway and selected the appropriate flap setting, move the throttle forward in a gentle transition, then wait a little to get rudder control. Remember, these aircraft have a 'thumpingly' large engines in the nose, so if you do not want to do some 360's on the runway add the juice in a gradual manner and correct its torque yaw. If you do not, believe me, you will be all over the place, not that I have done that you understand... Steering at low speeds is done via the rudder. Typical with any tail dragger one has to yaw left and right to avoid hitting Ginger's MG TF, and scaring off his pet dog, the customary black labrador. Well something like that!While taxiing both aircraft I found the experience a little 'tetchy' i.e., if you do not taxi at, what can only be the exact, or correct speed, the aircraft wants to dig-in a wing tip. I will put this down to the accurate programming, not that I have ever flown a Spitfire or Tempest; not very many have I would wager. The flight dynamics 'feel' accurate. You find the very useful addition of differential brakes on both aircraft a real benefit.
It has always been my belief that the Spitfire and Tempest look their best as soon as the undercarriage is retracted. By heavens that view is vindicated, as I hope the pictures in this review amply demonstrate.
I am not embarrassed to say I simulated many a 'strafing' mission in the Tempest at near tree top height, and ascended to the heights In the Spitfire 'throwing' it around in the clear blue yonder. Did I have fun? You bet.
Like all things that go up, they must come down. This is where you can test your mettle, so to speak. To achieve the perfect 'three pointer' is a work of art. I hasten to add a good friend of mine who owns a Chipmunk achieves this majestic art form almost every time, so it cannot be that hard!? Can it?
It is! All you budding Douglas Barders, and who ever the equivalent ace is from New Zealand (and of course, other Commonwealth countries) beware. Treat these beauties with the care they deserve.
Get the revs right, flaps down, rate of descent within limits...you will very 'quickly' throw caution to wind and you will do short finals and perfect three pointers. There is no shame to at least bounce once upon landing. For those who have watched the Battle of Britain Epic film will remember some of the very bouncy landings from the fighters.
The sound, oh the sound. I just love the gurgle of the Merlin, from start-up to cruise and idle the sound is a piece of art, and truly enhances the program. The sound form the Tempest sounds remarkably similar to the Merlin in the Spit? Oh well, this engine sound is at least authentic.
OBSERVATIONS & CONCLUSION
Some of you may be aware of the Just Flight Spitfire package released not too long ago. Indeed it was reviewed. At that time I sang its worthy praises. If you have purchased it, then I recon you will think hard to buy, or not to buy, this offering, the Spit obviously resembles the previous package, (because it's a Spit!) despite being a different developer.Clearly, the main bulwark of this package is the Tempest. It has clearly been created to a very similar standard. If I was pushed, I would have to say I felt the Spitfire had the edge on overall graphic quality.
I am not aware of the Tempest being commercially available previousl, despite there may be one, so for me this provides an excellent opportunity to add this 'beast' to the line-up.
I would imagine our fellow 'simmers' in New Zealand will be purchasing this one for obvious reasons. You won't be disappointed.
If you love the wonderful aircraft of the 1940's then this has to be a must. And I have to 'come-out' and say I adore any WW2 offerings as sight of my aircraft 'hangar' would testify.
I do have to mention that in my opinion, there could have been some very minor tweaks that would have entered this offering in the must get category. For example, pilot figure being more animated in flight, smoke plumes from the manifolds upon starting (you get some beautiful smoke from the cannon firing sequence), different engine sound for the Tempest, not the Merlin as in the Spitfire, (even if it isn't an exact copy, it sounds like it) upon take off, the port wheel on the Tempest wobbles, which in real live would provide one with a serious worry!
A cautionary note, developers have to realise that when you have some stunning freeware aircraft from the likes of Rick Piper, Dave Maltby and Kirk Olsson, you really have to supply products without defect, and presented to exacting standards, or guess what? Well, I guess that's obvious.
The acid test is would I buy it? Well actually yes I would, if not just for the Tempest which I love, for the reasons as above, but also for the Tropical Spitfire which is a welcome addition to this package. I would say with the beautiful Spitfires form Just Flight's Spitfire Package, previously reviewed, I now have a veritable squadron of Spitfires and beautiful Hawker Tempest, to defend our shores and go on the odd strafing mission with the Tempest.
If however, you do not already a Spitfire in your 'hangar' then this package will provide you with two wonderful aircraft of the 1940's era.
Have fun, I know I am!
Onwards and upwards.
Nigel C Martin
nigel.martin10@btinternet.com
