Stability and Control characteristics of the Early Mark Spitfires

[Sandstone]

Originally Posted by Crumpp

:That is the Spitfire's issue. Nobody is claiming it should be less maneuverable. The longitudinal axis should be so maneuverable as to be very difficult to precisely control.

This is where you don't convince me.

The Spitfire certainly did have undesireable pitch stability, but was it enough to make it "very difficult" to control precisely? I don't think it was. I think this because pilot accounts seldom mention longitudinal stability and because low-hours pilots flew it without problem. You obviously think it was, but this interpretation doesn't seem to be backed up by much in the way of evidence and, to me at least, comes over as no more than an assertion. Certainly, nothing convincing has been presented.

You say we shouldn't consider Spitfire pilot acounts. But if we are to determine how much of a problem was actually caused to real Spitfire pilots by the stability issue then that is exactly what we have to do. I can't see any way round this.