SOURCE: NACA 868
METHOD: The tests in NACA 868 were done at 10,000ft therefore the in-game testing is also done at 10,000ft. Some of the planes can not obtain the high speeds in level flight, therefore it requires the test to be started at a point higher than 10,000ft, then dive down to 10,000ft and stabilize the plane at 10,000ft before the initial roll. The in-game settings for each plane was as follows
MAP: Crimea
WEATHER: Clear
TIME: 12:00PM
FUEL: 75%
WEAPON LOADOUT: DEFAULT
DISCLAIMER: Note that exact matches in aircraft is not possible in that some were not specify listed in the NACA document and/or the plane was not available (simulated) within the game. In these cases I picked what I considered to be the closets match. Therefore keep this in mind while reviewing the data, in that the difference you see may be due to the fact that the plane is different. Small difference in aircraft type can have a big effect on the roll-rate. Take the P-51B vs. XP-51, two very similar looking aircraft, but two very different roll-rates. Also keep in mind that the NACA 868 data was done with a 50lb stick force limit (except for the ZERO). We don’t know exactly what force Oleg chooses to simulate. What is known is a change in the force limit would not change the general shape of the curves. The only change the force limit would have is in shifting the roll-rate peak point. With less than 50lbs the point would occur sooner, with more than 50lbs it might cause the point to occur later.
TEST RESULTS: The following graph is a digitize version of the NACA 868 data points.
The following graph is from the simulated planes in the game.
MY SUMMARY: As you can see, all the planes seem to roll too fast at slow speeds, and too slow at fast speeds. This would not be a show stopper if they were at least relative to the real world roll rates. That is to say, if they were all off by a certain percent it would not be a big deal, in that each plane still maintains it’s *relative* advantage or disadvantage over another plane. But, that is not the case. In some instance the roll-rates are nothing like their real world counter parts. Take the P-51B vs. Fw190 for example. In real life the Fw190 had a real roll rate advantage over the P51 from 0mph to 360mph, at which point the P-51 gains a slight advantage. Now look at the in-game data, the P-51B starts rolling BETTER than the Fw190 from 270mph and above! Now you know why you couldn’t apply real world high speed roll tactics in your Fw190 against a P51B. The reason is because the two planes are nothing like their real world counter parts. Also note, the Fw190 roll-rate peak is at ~200mph and not ~260mph, and that the peak is around 180°/sec instead of the 160°/sec. now you know why the Fw190 seems *twitchy* at slow speeds and is hard to control, the roll-rate is too sensitive.
EXTRA:
Here is a link to a pdf file version of these plots that gives much better resolution and allows you to zoom in.
NACA 868 vs. IN-GAME roll-rates
Here is a link to the individual graphs per plane per real world data.
ALL PLANES
