New Vampire

[petermcleland]

Lief,

I have it downloaded but have not yet had time to install it due to other commitments...Will report in due course

[Bridon Bear]

Will this shot inspire you UKMIL...?



Sorry about the nose cut off short...in a bound volume of Profile Publications (N0 48)

Regards.

Bridon Bear

[migman29]

It looks quite a good swag.

I'll bag it and have a go too.

I can imagine,to quote Leif, it being a "little bugger" to slow down.
The Alphasim T.11 is just the same.I find you need a longish runway and land a bit "hot" other wise too much flap and overuse of the airbrakes means it'll fall out of the sky(try it at altitude near the stall!!).

Don't forget that early engines like the Goblin,Ghost,Welland and Derwent weren't renowned for having a lot of spare "poke" and fast throttle response.
Too fast a cycle(open-shut-open)and they'd flame out on you,hence the reason I tend to use a longer runway,higher speeds,high power settings and avoid short runways like the plague.

I tried to get into Ternhill ,where strangely enough T.11's were based,and made a complete balls of it .
I shot off the end,down the hill,through the hedge and slid across the road on it's belly having left the undercart behind somewhere .

Mark :-({|=

[Nosnilmot]

For repaint inspiration try Warpaint Vol 27 ..... most squadrons UK armed forces and forign covered. Generally a super series for colour scheme reference (and largely relate to British types !).

[ukmil]

ok we can do that one

[hobby]

As a challenge I thought that I would try a few ccts & bumps. I am not a real pilot and Peter M's opinion and handling test is eagerly awaited. In view of what migman29 wrote about slowing down and long runways I had a couple of ccts in nil wind conditions.

In the absence of any 'Pilots Notes' I had a quick look at the acft cfg which indicated a full flap stall speed of 72kts and a clean stall speed of 92kts.
For my first cct I reduced the fuel of a 'clean' to half before t/o. Looking at the aircraft loading diagram I think that the acft CofG is too far forward. I added a 200lb load for an equipped pilot at station 1 but I think that the Cof G is still too far forward.

Anyway for t/o I closed the hood, nil flap, selected 't/o & landing' view and slowly advanced the throttle knowing that my angle of climb on leaving the runway would have to shallow to avoid striking the booms on the runway. Low power gives low acceleration and I waited until 120kts before lifting the nosewheel clear on the rnwy. Slowly climbing away at 1000fpm I retracted the u/c asap and turned gently into a left hand cct at Tacoma. Very sensitive in roll and tricky to trim to a steady climb at 150kts. Still have not mastered a nice smooth initial turn.

Flew downwind in nil wind at about 150kts in clean condition and made a long leg before turning base. Just on base turn I increased my power before selecting speeed brakes 'out' and maintained a steady decrease in speed to 140kts with the runway dead ahead. Pitch trim found to not be easy. Extended 1st stage flap with speed brakes extended to achieve a steady descent at about 120kts. Second stage flap at 110kts followed by u/c down aiming at 90kts on short finals. Speed brakes remain 'out' until the landing roll was completed. Used runway approach lights to aid correct height on approach. I was trying for about 80kts on touchdown with a very slight flare with full flap applied. By raising the flaps immediately all wheels were on the runway, closing the throttle and quite savage on/off with the brakes I managed to bring the acft to stop in 0.5nm (2640ft) on two consecutive circuits.

I think the acft cfg could be improved by some expert attention and perhaps a 200lb load should be added as standard for pilot, parachute and survival equipment.

The final recommendations must come from Peter M of course. Peter, we await your verdict.

[petermcleland]

Well, I've flown it a couple of times and I don't wish to knock anyone who has so obviously put a lot of work into this aeroplane. However, I have to say that it doesn't fly like a Vampire and the panel does not really resemble the photograph in my Pilot's Notes. I know that there were variations in the panel over the years but the omission of a Machmeter in an aircraft with a rather important Mach Crit is pretty unforgiveable.

My other disappointments were the aileron and elevator feel and performance...I note that they are both "bumped up" in the Aircraft.cfg and could well benefit from being put down again. Thrust is low as indicated by the poor take-off performance. Flap drag is certainly too low while airbrake drag is way too high. Also the real aircraft has a very strong nose up change of trim as the flap goes down, necessitating much winding of the trim wheel...This effect is totally absent from the model.

The aircraft needs a lot of work to make its handling characteristics show some similarity to real life and at the moment I have a lot of things going on and can't spare the time to work on it. I'm not even sure that I can fix it. Meanwhile, I'll leave it in the hangar and think about it when I can spare some time :think:

[DispatchDragon]

Thank you Peter

Its nice to hear from some one who flew them ..........ALot


Leif

[Nigel H-J]

Thanks Peter, having flown it a number of times there are definitely tweeks needed for the cfg, having read those two handling reports the Vamp is now sadly grounded and hangered. :sad:

[AndyG]

Well ..... the panel does not really resemble the photograph in my Pilot's Notes.

As there is no VC I guess that part could be remedied. :think: Any chance you could post a copy of that photograph Peter, it would be a good base for me to work from.

AndyG