On Soviet turning time tests. Comments Please

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That must have been one weak pilot Juha to complain about heaviness at 350 km/h, but his explanation certainly explains why he didn't do any better. German pilots mention that it was possible to achieve full elevator deflection at speeds of even 750 km/h, with a firm two hands. Above 450 km/h German pilots noted that elevators started to become heavy, but they got used to it.
 
Soren
heh, you don't know the pilot, I happened to know who he was and he wasn't a weak one.

Juha
 
Hello Juha

109E-3
- 26,5-29sec at 1.26 ata (The supercharger seemed to have malfunctioned at low level, which was very important for these tests made at 1000m. German specs give 18.92 sec for a sustained turn at SL for the Emil, at 5 min rating, w/o using the 1-min special low-alt augmented rating.)

From Samoletostroenie about 23-26 with 1.33 ata, 5 min rew. German specs are just theorical estimates, not real condition trials.

Regards

VG-33
 
Thanks VG-33
will add the info to my table.

Juha
 
Odd then, maybe he was just having a bad day of cramps ? ;)

No seriously, there can be many reasons for such a thing, the state of the a/c, the strength of the pilot, heck the size of the pilot even. He was probably used to the light controls of a Buffalo and therefore needed some time to adjust to the 109. And it indeed did take time to adjust from one a/c to the other.

Mark Hanna:
"When you maneuver above 500km/h, two hands are required for a more aggressive performance. Either that or get on the trimmer to help. Despite this heavying up, it is still quite easy to get 5G at these speeds."

At 5 G's most pilots will black out btw.
 
Soren
he had been a test pilot ca 1½ year at the time of the 109 tests and had flew all kinds of planes at that time incl medium bombers. And he flew several 109s during the tests to get used the a/c etc. But yes, stick forces were much higher in 109G, 8-9kp/G, so exceptionally high, ca. as big as in Blenheim Mk I. In Brewster 239 they were ca 3kp/G, in Morane MS 406 2kp/G.

Juha
 
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RAE test pilots said it was almost impossible to pull the 109 into a hard enough turn to black out, due to the heavy stick forces required.
Basically, even though it might be shown on paper that the 109 could pull +7G, in real life it would not happen, the pilot would not be able to apply enough stick force.
The limititng factor is not aerodynamics, it's mechanical advantage, or lack of it in this case.
As Soren mentioned in another thread, if the 109 had had a different control system, it would have been a much more dangerous opponent.
 
Hello Claidemore
as i wrote on your 109 thread, the heaviness of control forces of 109 at high speeds might well has been deliberate to protect structures for overloading and so failure. 190 was more sturdy built than 109. Breaking up or more sturdy built but heavier Bf 109 might well have been less dangerous opponent. There are often trade offs in a/c design.

Juha
 
Gent's - you both know Cd0 is also a function of Reynolds Number? which in turn varies with airspeed, selected reference dimension (such as mean wing chord, or stream tube diameter, etc) and density?

Any published Cd0 from a wind tunnel test should also reference the Reynolds number as well as the scale of the model tested. The Lednicer paper is a specific example. In Mike Williams site, the performance comparison test report on the He 162 and Me 262 are specific examples in which parasite drag is referenced to specific velocities.

You CAN Calculate Cd0 when you have a specific and unique set of conditions such as max level speed for a specific power setting and altitude. How are you two going to calculate the Cd0 variances as the aircraft of interest enters the turn then proceeds to a max turn rate at a much lower velocity? How are you going to introduce Trim Drag into the parasite drag equation? It is relatively small in level flight but more significant in max turn/high AoA?

Soren, how do you validate ClMax in a max turn for the 109, and/or prove (not postulate) that the Clmax in the max turn at max AoA is the same as the Clmax for level flight stall?

Last but not least the Clmax of the system (wing body) may be calculated for a model in which the airframe is demonstration a sustained turn, maintaining level flight, but remember that the entire wing/body system (propeller, fuselage, wing, tail, etc) all contribute to both the total lift and drag of the system. The fuselage and tail contribution can be assumed negligible in level flight but becomes more interesting as the wings incline more to the vertical in a steeply banked turn.

What would be more interesting is to present the models you posed to each other above - and derive the turn rate/bank angle - which should agree closely with the flight test results

Assuming the model is correct to the physics....
 
Bill,

Regarding the Clmax, the only thing which really could change this even slightly would be aeroelasticity, but I highly doubt it had even a 1% effect on the Clmax, esp. on a slatted wing.

Having the Clmax of both a/c in clean configuration gives us a pretty perfect idea of how well each a/c turns at speed.

As for the Cd0 figures, the 109's is derived from full scale tests of a production a/c.

RAE test pilots said it was almost impossible to pull the 109 into a hard enough turn to black out, due to the heavy stick forces required.
Basically, even though it might be shown on paper that the 109 could pull +7G, in real life it would not happen, the pilot would not be able to apply enough stick force.

Not the case Claidemore. The normal pilot could pull full elevator deflection in the Bf-109 even at 750 km/h, but it required two hands on the stick. (Normally you just have one hand on the stick, the other controls the throttle etc etc..) So the pilot was indeed capable of pulling the Bf-109 into a quick 7 G turn if he really wished to do so, and many did, however it wasn't as fingertip easy an affair as in an a/c like the Spitfire.

As Soren mentioned in another thread, if the 109 had had a different control system, it would have been a much more dangerous opponent.

The main improvement would be on roll rate at high speeds Claidemore, that's what I was getting at, cause the 109 really lacked this. A full performance turn could be initiated at any speed up until the max permissable dive speed IF two hands were used, bu roll rate was another issue.
 
Anyway my position is the same as Hohun Gene's, and that is that the Bf-109 is clearly a better turn fighter than the P-40.

The Spitfire beats them both however, unlike what the Soviet tests seem to suggest at some points.
 
Bill,

Regarding the Clmax, the only thing which really could change this even slightly would be aeroelasticity, but I highly doubt it had even a 1% effect on the Clmax, esp. on a slatted wing.

Not true - clmax is an optimim figure for a clean wing, usually 2-d, with no regard for AR or other 3-D considerations and certainly not for wing body/prop system interactions..

Having the Clmax of both a/c in clean configuration gives us a pretty perfect idea of how well each a/c turns at speed.

True to a degree - see below

As for the Cd0 figures, the 109's is derived from full scale tests of a production a/c.

Thsat still would be Cd0 for one and only one velocity


Not the case Claidemore. The normal pilot could pull full elevator deflection in the Bf-109 even at 750 km/h, but it required two hands on the stick. (Normally you just have one hand on the stick, the other controls the throttle etc etc..) So the pilot was indeed capable of pulling the Bf-109 into a quick 7 G turn if he really wished to do so, and many did, however it wasn't as fingertip easy an affair as in an a/c like the Spitfire.



The main improvement would be on roll rate at high speeds Claidemore, that's what I was getting at, cause the 109 really lacked this. A full performance turn could be initiated at any speed up until the max permissable dive speed IF two hands were used, bu roll rate was another issue.

As I understand the 109 was stiff in both roll and turn at high speeds in comparison to P-51, Boosted P-38J-25 and above and Spitfire.
 
Hello drgong


Soren, how do you validate ClMax in a max turn for the 109, and/or prove (not postulate) that the Clmax in the max turn at max AoA is the same as the Clmax for level flight stall?


Thank you for your explanation. I think it will be hard to explain that to someone like soren since he even doesn't know that AoA for the Clmax is not the same than AoA for the best ToT Clman.

So from theoretical german data (Kurfurst site) for the 109E, On paper::



T : 18.92s
R: 203m

Vturn = 67.4 m/s
Gturn = 2.49 g

Cl man = 2 mg G/ rho*S* V^2 = 2*2450*9.81*2;49 / 1.225*16.2*67.41^2 = 1.33

As every one can see it's very different from Soren's Cl = 1.7 value.

And now from soviet real 109E-3 trials, In the real life::



V: 250 km/h* (* instrumental value, i suppose: real speed ~ 260-270 km/h)
T: 27.5

Vturn = 72.2 m/s
R = 315
Gt = 1.96

Cl man= 2 * 2600* 9.81* 1,96/ 1.114* 16.2 * 72.2^2 = 1.07

That means Cl max ~ 1.07 / (0,8…0.85) = 1.35

So it's close to british values for the Emil quoting Cl max = 1.4 max at a higher Re number.

Regards

VG


PS
What would be more interesting is to present the models you posed to each other above - and derive the turn rate/bank angle - which should agree closely with the flight test results
Assuming the model is correct to the physics...

I accept all remarks, with pleasure.
 
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Not true - clmax is an optimim figure for a clean wing, usually 2-d, with no regard for AR or other 3-D considerations and certainly not for wing body/prop system interactions

Bill the Clmax figure is derived directly from the full scale aircraft itself, so I really don't understand what it is you're getting at here ?

Prop thrust will only heighten the lift over the covered area as it will be moving faster over that portion. And the Clmax will increase with increases in AR. And the 109 featured both higher thrust a higher AR wing.

drgondog said:
Thsat still would be Cd0 for one and only one velocity

Cd0 is simply the drag coefficient at zero lift, that's all. To get the Cd we need to add the Cdi, which everything esle being equal is highest with the a/c wih the higest Clmax, the 109 in this case. However this is where the 109's small size comes in to help, as with every coefficient it needs to be multiplied with a real size figure.

VG-33 said:
I think it will be hard to explain that to someone like soren since he even doesn't know that AoA for the Clmax is not the same than AoA for the best ToT Clman.

Oh give me a break VG-33, you're the one who's in deep water my friend, not me. It's amazing you can't even see that yet :rolleyes:

A max performance turn is carried out at or close to the Clmax of the a/c at full power to achieve the smallest turn radius and highest turn rate. You're now trying to deny that VG-33, again demonstrating that you know nothing of what you're talking about and further ridiculing yourself.

And again your simple little calculations based on the flight tests don't prove squat.
 
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Regarding the Soviet Finnish tests. It is possible and highly likely that the high stick forces had a negative influence on these, esp. if one hand was used, which I believe is almost guaranteed.

The Bf-109 needed two hands for aggressive maneuvering at above 500 km/h, but with this full performance turns could also be made. That two hands were needed however was a disadvantage to some degree, that I can agree with.
 
Oh give me a break VG-33, you're the one who's in deep water my friend, not me. It's amazing you can't even see that yet :rolleyes:
A break, what for? Since your'e such a big scientist you will prove with no efforts thant j'm wrong.

A max performance turn is carried out at or close to the Clmax of the a/c at full power to achieve the smallest turn radius and highest turn rate.
What do you mean by close to or at Clmax?


VG - 33
 
The Bf-109 needed two hands for aggressive maneuvering at above 500 km/h, but with this full performance turns could also be made. That two hands were needed however was a disadvantage to some degree, that I can agree with.
"A disadvantage to some degree?" Sorry but if you need two hands to fly an aircraft, you're loosing the ability to effectively bank and thus complete coordinated turns. This was a problem in the MiG-15 and 21and is a MAJOR disadvantage.
 

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