After the Mk III series the next Seafire variant to appear was the Seafire F Mk XV, which was powered by a Griffon VI (single-stage supercharger, rated at 1,850 hp (1,379 kW) at 2,000 ft (610 ft) driving a 10 ft 5 in Rotol propeller. Designed in response to Specification N.4/43 this appeared to be a navalised Spitfire F Mk XII; in reality the Mk XV was an amalgamation of a strengthened Seafire III airframe and wings with the wing fuel tanks, retractable tailwheel, larger elevators and broad-chord "pointed" rudder of the Spitfire VIII. In addition, the engine cowling was different to that of the Spitfire XII series, being secured with a larger number of fasteners and lacking the acorn shaped blister behind the spinner. On the first 50 aircraft manufactured by Cunliffe-Owen a heavier, strengthened A-frame arrestor hook was fitted to cope with the greater weight. On subsequent Mk XVs a new form of "sting" type arrestor hook was used, attached to the reinforced rudder post at the rear of the fuselage and housed in a fairing below the base of the shortened rudder. A vee-shaped guard forward of the tailwheel prevented arrestor wires getting tangled up with the tailwheel.
390 Seafire XVs were built by Cunliffe-Owen and Westland from late 1944. Six prototypes had been built by Supermarine.
One problem which immediately surfaced was the poor deck behaviour of this mark, especially on take-off. At full power the slipstream of the propeller, which swung to the left (as opposed to the Merlin, which swung to the right), often forced the Spitfire to swing to starboard, even with the rudder hard over on opposite lock. This sometimes led to a collision with the carrier's island. The undercarriage oleo legs were still the same of those of the much lighter Merlin engined Spitfires, meaning that the swing was often accompanied by a series of hops. As an interim measure it was recommended that pilots avoid using full power on take-off (+10 lb "boost" maximum was recommended). There were also problems involved with this swing being strongly accentuated in the event of an asymmetric firing of the RATOG equipment. In the event none of the "first generation" Griffon-engine Seafires were to use RATOG at sea unless they were ranged forward of the first crash barrier on deck.
Effects
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-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.
-Continuous blue flames with smoke if engine is running .
-War Emergency Power is controlled by the WEP.gau (Tick 1 or 0)
-Wing cannon with flash, smoke and falling cartridges can be triggered with the standard Strobe key (O).
It is much nicer however if you put the FS2004/FSX standard Strobe key (O) to the trigger from your joystick. You can change this in the Key menu.
It is a good idea if you replace the standard (L) key for lights by the L+CTRL, (normaly activating the landing lights only). This avoids you having to have all lights on when pulling the trigger.
Installation:
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-Unzip " Seafire15" into a temporary file and move the "Seafire15" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
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-Read instructions carefully when installing the gauges , say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....most of the gauges are not going to work !
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-Leave the fighters.cab in your panel folder.
-Paste the WEP.gau into your flightsim\gauges folder.
-Copy the effects into the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder.
-Add the 20can.wav in your Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\sound folder.
ATTENTION :
-For FS2004, change the FS9_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
-For FSX change the FSX_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
If having trouble with the cockpit transparencies in FSX acceleration, copy the glass.bmp and propdisk. bmp files from the Acceleration.texture into the Spit18 texture folder.
-Sound aliased to default DC-3. This can easily be replaced by my Spit18 sounds if you like more realism.
Tips for flying the Seafire
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Real late model Spitfires (post Mk IX) were hugely powerful and known to be difficult to fly, especially on takeoff and landing. Further, the Griffon engine rotates counter clockwise; the opposite direction to the Merlin. So the torque pull on this aircraft is to the right, requiring left rudder to compensate. Why would anyone deliberately design an engine that works backwards? Well, it's British :-).
Takeoff:
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Taxi slowly to avoid a groundloop. Start slightly left of centreline.
Apply only 50% power - _no_ more. Use left rudder and left brake if needed to maintain a track along the centreline. If you still cant track straight, back off the throttle. At about 100mph, the tail will rise. At 110mph, pull back gently. Once airborne, retract gear & flaps & ease power on for climb out. Adjust mixture as necessary during climb.
Level Flight:
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An economical cruising speed is about 300mph near sea level, just off boost.
Wind the pitch control back 3-4 notches to bring rpm down and set mixture. Elevator trim is speed dependent. So if you change your speed, re-trim.
With that much torque you'll find the need to fly hands on to maintain straight & level flight. Trimmed properly, only minor adjustment is required, but you cant let the stick go & wander off like in the Cessna. . At Full WEP, hold on!
Landing:
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Enter circuit at 1200' at 125mph, lower gear, then as speed drops, select full flaps.
Maintain 115mph min, 120 max in turns. Forward visibility is an issue, so approach in an arc from downwind to final, all the time watching the runway. (Activecamera's great for this)
Use rudder to check your alignment (a light crosswind is helpful).
On final, maintain exactly 100mph on descent.
This is where you reverse what you usually do.
Use pitch to control speed (too fast pull back/too slow, nose down) and throttle to control descent rate (Dropping short, more power/too high, less power). This takes practice!
You should aim for a point about 20' behind the runway edge and aim to reach that point at 100mph, about 25' agl.
Now (throttles should be closed) pull back to LEVEL FLIGHT about a foot off the runway. Maintain level flight by continuing to pull back (you're now flaring the aircraft) and use rudder to correct any crosswind deviation. CRITICAL: KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL.
The aircraft will settle onto the ground at about 65mph (it stalls at 63), all three points simultaneously. Use brakes gently although she shouldnt groundloop. Avoid big swings on the ground as the track is narrow & the Spitfire is easy to tip over.
CREDITS
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Special thanks to :
-GMAX for the drawing program and Microsoft for their makmdls.mdk.
-Morton for the original textures.
LEGAL:
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The project is released as freeware. You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit.
You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. Non commercial repaints-remakes are welcome but I would appreciate very much receiving a copy of your model.
This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does.
Happy Landings!
A.F.Scrub
March 2011
Email: af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com
