m10bob -> RE: Jack Tony Tojo (8/29/2007 2:20:09 PM)
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IRL climb and speed are very important. The reason climb rate is (to pilots) the most important is that all planes lose altitude anytime they make a turn. To turn a plane, without losing altitude, a pilot generally will push the throttle forward to feed more fuel, and pull ever so slightly back on the stick, (to keep the plane in a climbing mode, while turning. The more maneuverable planes will generally have an abulity to turn longer before they lose their altitude and or speed sufficient to stall out. This is why in WW1 a Fokker Dr1 triplane which only flew at 103 mph (on a good day) was a match for a SPAD 13 with a speed of 137, (truly one of the fastest planes of that war). BTW, some folks don't know that in WW1 some of the German planes had a little wing between the landing wheels, which of themselves were sufficient to carry the weight of the pilot! The Fokker D 7 comes to mind, as does the D 8.. That little wing was considered a "secret weapon" as important as the later F 86's "floating tailplane"..
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