Having noticed that real life Spitfires on take-off seem to raise their tails and lift-off quicker, it occurred to me that maybe we were using insufficient boost. The stop on the Spitfire throttle quadrant is normally adjustable and set at max take-off boost setting (+12), so that you don’t have to think about watching dials, you simply push the throttle to the stop.
I tested a take-off at full max load, 1,000 lb bombs with full tanks and ammo, and pushing the throttle to +14 boost. Take-off is quicker. You need to be careful to feed in throttle smoothly but quite rapidly and to let go of the brakes before the boost comes up too much. I find that this setting also requires a little more rudder bias.
Up to now I have been using +6 or +7 boost at all times in DCS for take-off, which is fine when the aircraft is light, even if a bit long. The Pilots Notes give +7 to +9 as the take-off boost setting at normal loads.
For reference here are the DCS take-off weights for different load outs :
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100%, Bombs 1,000 lbs : 8195 lbs
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100%, Tank 45 gal Torpedo, Bombs 500 lbs: 8017 lbs
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100%, Tank 45 gal Slipper, Bombs 500 lbs : 8004 lbs
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100%, Tank 45 gal Torpedo : 7540 lbs
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100%, Tank 45 gal Slipper : 7527 lbs
Fuel 100%, Ammo 100% : 7221 lbs
Fuel 100% : 6969 lbs
Fuel 50%, Ammo 100% : 6949 lbs
Fuel 50% : 6697 lbs
Empty : 6425 lbs
I recommend all EAF pilots to use higher take-off boost when loaded above 8,000 lbs. Note also that at high take-off weights the elevator trim should be set to 0.
@ Puff : Although the gate stop on my controls is not adjustable, it is set at roughly the right place for the max take-off setting. To check this I re-calibrated my throttle for DCS in the Windows USB controller set up panel so that the full range included the ‘beyond the gate’ portion and then tested the setting in DCS.
The gate stop gives just over +14 boost, ie just below the red band on the boost dial, which is a bit more than the max take-off setting. Pushing beyond the gate indeed pushes the boost into the red zone. (I am now considering the addition of an adjustable stop so that it can be calibrated at +12)
Remember that if you go back to sims with earlier model Spits with button operated WEP, you’ll need to re-calibrate 100% throttle to the gate stop and rely on the electro-optical switch that is beyond the gate to activate WEP.