4.13.3m Debugging

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by gaunt1

Something is terribly wrong with the Bf-110D FM! The plane is extremely sluggish, particularly during take off. I highly doubt this was the case in RL.

I even did a small test. I compared the Bf-110D with default loadout to a ridiculously heavily loaded He-111H11 (2x 1800kg bombs + 100% fuel), and I actually found taking off with the Heinkel much easier, even without using flaps! The Bf-110 needed almost the whole runway, while the 111 needed around 2/3 only. After dropping the bombs, it also turned far better then the 110.

Remember, the He-111 was designed as a medium bomber, so with maximum normal combat load of fuel and ordinance it should still take off and fly reasonably well.

By contrast, the Bf-110 was designed as a heavy fighter, with smaller wing area and higher wing loading, so turning it into a long-range strike/convoy escort fighter by attaching a huge drag-inducing fuel tank to its belly and loading up with bombs is going to seriously impair its handling.

More importantly, most of the He-111H series had more powerful engines than the early Bf-110s (2 x 1,300 HP engines vs. 2 x 1,085 HP for the Bf-110). As you observed, the extra HP really come in handy on take-off and landing.