The update is now live!---== UPDATE FL2058: NAVY BLUE ==---By: Robert, Grumpy and Bollok
All made possible by: Bcamel (creator of the program used to model the airplanes), and Idunno (who has shared a vast amount of aerodynamical knowledge).
--= F4U Corsair series =--The whole F4U series has been fully remodeled. See further below for details.
--= Propdrag change =--The amount of drag generated by the airscrew when at idle throttle or engine off has been lowered globally for all remodeled fighters. This means that the braking effect is somewhat reduced when chopping the throttle mid-air, but more importantly the fighters can glide for a longer distance (a bit closer to real life numbers) when the engine is dead.
--= Macchi C.202's and C.205 =--The C.202 Fulgores and the C.205 Veltro have had their engines and dragcos corrected. They are all now ~8 mph slower than previously, this according to better speed data found. Also the C.205 now only has 1 minute of WEP instead of 5 min, as per Daimler-Benz 605A engine data (The C.205 used a license built DB 605 engine). Both the C.202's and the C.205 have had their climb rate slightly improved to match historical data though.
--= Fw 190 series =--The whole Fw 190 series has now a somewhat harsher stall behavior. In real life the Fw 190's had no washout for the wings and the stall when maneuvering was very sudden and violent with nearly zero warning.
--= F6F-5 Hellcat =--The F6F-5 has gotten a complete engine rehaul and dragco retweak. This since better engine and speed data was found when remodeling the F4U's, and the Hellcat used a near identical engine as the F4U-1D. The F6F-5 was actually just as fast as a F4U, and it's a misconception that the F6F-5 was slower. This was discovered in ww2 when Vaught lent Grumman a F4U-1 to help find out why the F6F was underperforming in speed tests, and in the trials it was found that the Hellcat could pretty much fly side by side with the Corsair at full throttle. It was simply an instruments error that had the F6F's gauges show a lower velocity than it really had. The Hellcat is now generally 5-6 mph faster than before and ~15 mph faster at WEP at low altitude. This also improves the F6F-5's sustained turning performance at the deck when using WEP, due to it's now better power/weight ratio and less drag. The 60" Water injection WEP has a total tank capacity for 14 minutes use, at 5 minutes stints.
--= The left engines are the right engines??? =--A coding error has been found that affects all FM's with multiple engines. Previous programmers, far far back in time, seems to have mistakenly reversed the engine hardpoints, so if you hit the ground with the left wing, the right wing engines will take damage instead. This only affects damage from hitting the ground though and not bullet damage, which uses hitboxes to calculate the damage. As this coding error does not have much impact on the game, it will be fixed for each multi-engine plane one at a time when it's time for said plane to get a full rehaul of it's flightmodel. For now the P-38's have had their engine hardpoints corrected.
--== THE F4U CORSAIR SERIES FULL REHAUL ==--The F4U Corsairs are known for their impressive records in the Pacific theather but also made a good account of themselves over Europe. They were used by several countries even after the war. The F4U's are designed for carrier operation and are heavy birds with powerful radial engines. The stall speed is fairly high at 97 mph at 12000 lb, and the roll rate is similar to a P-51 although somewhat worse at high speeds. The Corsairs are primarily boom n zoom fighters, with 6x .50 cal machine guns, but they can turn quite sharply for a few laps at speed thanks to their thick wings and good max AoA. The controls get sluggish at very high speeds though. The F4U's have an excellent wing efficiency and retain their energy well, and the -1D and -4 can even hold a sustained turn quite fine with their good power/weight ratios. Going into low n' slow maneuvering vs nimbler opponents can be dangerous as the Corsair flightmodels now have a more realistic, and notably higher, stall speed than before. All in all the Corsairs are very potent fighters and should excel when their pilots keep the speed high and work with wingmen for boom n zoom tactics.
--= F4U-1 =--The F4U-1 fields the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8 engine with a power output of 2000 hp at 1750 ft. The -1 has fuel to spare and is quite heavy at 12738 lb. Against opponents of the same era this fighter is fast and does best at boom n zooming wingman tactics. The power/weight ratio is not superb so sustained turn fighting is inadvisable unless matched against the Fw 190 or P-47.
--= F4U-1A =--The F4U-1A is 75 lb heavier than the -1, but has the R-2800-8W engine which can use water injection at 60" Hg WEP (5 min stints, 9 min total tank capacity). The max power output is as such improved to 2250 hp at 900 ft and the -1A has a 15-20 mph faster top speed than it's predecessor. The -1A can also carry a drop tank for long range operations.
--= F4U-1D =--The F4U-1D also fields the R-2800-8W engine but carries notably less fuel and weighs in at 12086 lb, which is 726 lb lighter than the -1A. This results in a better climb rate and sustained turning ability, being fairly on par with a P-38L in a turnfight. For long range operations the -1D can carry two droptanks and also has a good variety of ground attack ordnance with rockets and heavy bombs.
--= F4U-4 =--The F4U-4 didn't see duty until the very end of the war but was a great improvement to the Corsair series. It had full metal alloy wings to save some weight, and was equipped with the new P&W R-2800-18W engine with a four blade propeller. This beast of an engine could produce 2450 hp with water injection (5 min stints, ~11 min tank capacity). While being 337 lb heavier than the -1D, the -4 still has a better power/weight ratio at WEP and can almost challenge a C.205 Veltro in a sustained turn. The F4U-4 is ~18 mph faster than the -1D at the deck and ~60 mph faster at 26000 ft, since the -1D has a lower FTH (Full Throttle Height). The -4 can carry the same ordnance as the -1D.
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/Robert
Robert
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