Je Anes) Meal beef TSBs oe pe Hegsersohniat 100 Fichter Brief Wandling Trisis. Acdsee MeROft 3-4487/58 ~ AS.68- AM.Teft 5B.5960/R.DoT ste Reason for tests Frans on a 11.4109 ety Tt vas desired that milots 6h handle the aerepiane for clmpartecn with our ova atroraft. Rance of investi zt MorY The AbrOplane ieee ste nae Dehariouy ‘iPughout the speed ran ims notcde were alaoteirie? out. ‘ \, Ny” the aeroplane does not possess ony of the vice: Wad was rumoured were experienced. One objection to it mkhé lack of space in tne cockpit. There fe no hoaf © large pilot, In general flying qualities the aeroplane is in: to doth tho Cpitfiro and tho ilurricane at all specds end in all conditions of flight. It is mich infe=tor ct speeds ia excess of 250 mepehs and at 400 mepeh. rocovery from a dive is difficult ‘eesuse of the heaviness of the elevator. Tiris heaviness of the elovator makes all nanoeuvres in the lodping plane above 290 nepoh. Ci2Pioult including steep climbing tras. To @iffercnce vas expe=tenced bet cen clinking turns to right and left. Tt doos not possess tho control which allows of good quality flying and this is particularly noticeable in acrobatics. Archives of M. Williams\ hie RCP aR NE Ti Bia ak es ein I Ay —— of virst Part of Report A.4,4.2.8./755. ASROPLANG AND ARWA-ENT EXPERIVENPAL SSTABLISEME)T. BOSCOMBE DOWN. A.A.A.B.B.Ref: 8.4487/58-0.5.66, AM-Ref:— §-B.5860/R-D.T.4. Messerschnidt 109 Fighter. Brief jlandis finiss 1+ Gookpit. gy 141 Zose of entry ani conforte The coo! O enter but is rather eramped for 9 large ey me pedals are not adjustable by the pil gan be moved forward or backward by the rigrer ‘of about two inches. They can only just be wean small pilot. The coupe touches the head of a nor) Lot when the scat is in the raised position. lot has to bend his neck oven when the seat is in 1 at position. There is little noise when ‘the hood is even when the side panels ore open, The coat warn and the ventilation appears to be adequate. lew. ‘There is a blind area straight fo: and tends to about 20 degrees to either side of the nose wien aeroplane is on the ground. ‘There ina D, panel situated on the left hand side of 1 sighting panel. This is very easy to operate and allows the pilot a reasonable view to the left forward. There is no draught and little noise when the panel is open, Tt 4s of a good sige and it is not necessary for the pilot to lean to one side in order to see through it. 1.5 Seat adjustment and straps. The straps are of the usual Continental pattern and are readily adjustable to fit various sized pilots. The seat ean be lowered or raised by means of a lever situated on the left hand side of the seat. 1.4Brake: ‘The brakes are operated by the toes as wereal the brakes on the "Fury". Originally the brakes vere Aifficult to operate, but wooden blocks have been added to raise the pedals and these aro better but the braking system 4s not considered os good as the hand operated system. ‘There is no locking device for parking. 1.5 Controls: All controls work with very little friction on the sround and@ there is no play. Longitudinal trim Amgertonted. by means of a noveble tail-plane. The actuating sine roiGte 4s positioned on the left hand side of the cockpita Yt is easy to operate, does not slip, and can be moyed\ayer tie whole range in about 18 seconds. Neithor rudag@piHs nor aileron Dias is supplied. The throttle box ig wp claborate consisting only of the throttle lever and a tuttebfly mt for prevent: slip. There is no mixture @o(tPellever. ‘The engine mixture is controlled automatically(by)an aneroid. ‘The V.D-1, sirsor contro] is easy to opepatesind does not slip. The flaps are controlled neohankeakyiby a hand wheel and on the fleps thenselvos. y eee rarked are markings mpigiyean be seen by the pilot. fron nero to 40°decrees (fully dow) in tens of degrees. On ‘the lowbr Bight hand side of the dashboord is the uxlercamriage goRicdul To the eft are Andicator ignts widle on the rivat is a Bechanical indicator. The control is satisfactory ani throws out after the operation is completed. ‘The engine has tvo Anjector pumps and 9 control allows the pilot to use either pump or both, The radiatar flaps are controlled by an arm on the right hand side of the cockpit. Bach radiator flap has an Andieator which rrotrafes through the wing, 4 further control which is mique inasmuch as it has not been seen before in this country is one which retards the ignition for the express purpose of heating the engine cylimiers so as to burn of] off the sparking plugs if they should becone oiled up. Photographs of the cockpit layont are attached at the ond of this report. 1.6 Instruments. The gauges and instruments ere well markeds and easily read. The oil and petrol pressure gauges have maxima ond minim markings. The compass is sinilar to the P.3. and is situated at the top of the instrument panel, The sole aid to cloud flying consists of an American-type turn-ani- bank indicator, 1.7 Tllumination. No night flying was carried out so it is not kno that the cockpit d2lunination is like, 4 41.8 Zmergency exits. For exit in the air the ooupe hale Se) be jettisoned by pulling a single lever on the left nak done of the hood, There is no strong-point to support wk aeroplane ain onsidered that ‘the event of overturning on the ground and it” ae a pilot would have great difficulty in oxtdgating himself in that case since the rudder is very aneli. afi “the hood would be on or very near the ground. 2.0 Hendling and £: alate’ 2.1 Ground handling. RxeghtJor the poor visibility and the rather unsatisfactory braked {iain presents no difficulties. The undercarriage ig gdd and there 1s no tendency for the tail to lift when the braiés Gre full on, 2.2. ZakevoPl and initial olimb. There is a slight tendency to awit, right on take-off and this changes to a tendenoy to swing AefPpinmediately the aeroplane is in the air, Both these tendencies jpre easily overcone by use of rudder. The tail comes up quickly and the forward view is thon satisfactory. The unferoarriare can be raised as scon as the aeroplane is off the ground and this | operation has no noticeable effect on trim. The undercarriage retracts outwards and“upwards and the whole operation takes about 8 seconds. The best speed for raising the flaps is abort 125 mepohsAe I. 2.5 Controls in level flight. A11 controls ere light, quick in Tesponse, and effective up to a speed of 250 mepsh. after which they become oxtrenely heavy. This is particularly so in the case of the elevator which is out of harmony with the other controls+ to stert with, being noticesbly heavier, and in the dive it becomes almost immovable. It is to be particularly stressed that the controls of this aeroplane are pleasantly light at all speeds un to about 250 mepehi and they then appear to tighten up very suddenly 90 that, as stated above, at high speeds they are practically immovable. It hap been stated by experionced pilots who have flow tis aeroplans that, in the event of attack from behind made by the attack oan be easily broken off by the attacked by pulling ap Yaiby; quidkly froma Give. hie pilot of the ¥.%.109 would nayer BE able stability 1s considered to be too figina? nomal encods Zor a £3 Dut at high speeds the aeroplenesbagones longitwlinally neutral stable. No testa wore 2.5 Gontrol and stabi: ‘The stalling speed with Paps and undercarriage up is 150 XH (81 mep.h.) Cy ASR. sy fore "down 4s 100'KRH (62 m.p.h, ) ASR. 05 \geroplane at tho stall. > At the approach to the stall the left wing tenle to drop and the control colum has to be moved to the right. The nose also tends to turn to the left so that same right rudder has to be applied, The stall ocours with the control column just aft of the central position, Werning is given by a fore and aft pitohing and a noticeable high rate of descent. If the control column is not moved fran the above position the left wing drops followed by the nose. If the control oolum is pulled right back and rudder is applied to stop the turn, the aeroplane falls into a spin.-5- 2.0 Approach and landing. The best gliding speed has been found to be 9S mph, This ise little fast but is the best bocau the airspeed Andicator is not well marked at the lower end of tho scale and it is therefore easier to hola the higher speed constant. ‘The aeroplane is easy to Jana, ‘The attitute on the ground is steeper than most monoplanos, being comparable to a biplane, The ground mm vee not measured but 44a not appear to be unusually lonj; and was estimated to de about the sare as the Hurricane and Spitfire, There is no-fgnienoy to swing after lending. If the engine is opened up with the Maps and underearriage set for landing the aeroplane besores tal¥hoavy but oan be held until retrinmed and olinbs avay satisfogtonitly. 5.0. Acrobatics. 3.1 Loop: ‘to the heaviness and ineffectiveness ofth®élevator, If a normal It is impossible to execute a 1¢6p ‘in the normel manner due loop is attempted, the aeroplane Midks over on the top of the loco. The only way in which a loop oart'be done is by winding the tat] trin back. ven then great_cané HuBt be taken to ensure that the aeroplane does not flick out of the ‘Ieopron the top. 5.2 Slow-rolla. Thievery easy to slow-roll the aeroplane at specis up to 250 pepghsbit at higher specs the controls are so heavy that difficulty, 4g ‘Wxperienced. A great deal of rudder has to be used in the ¢Oia2wne this 1s unusual in the nodern fighter. Very tight rolls carebe erected at specds up to 190 mph. Slight snatching of the ailcrons is noticeable in rolls at speeds of 185 = 220K.P.H . \ 3.5 Half voll off a loop. This manoeuvre is difficult for the sace reason ag given in 5.1 above. “then rolling off to the loft the acroplane has to be cheaked as it tonds to flick out in the opposite @ireotion. To the right the difficulty is overeaxing a tendency tomands a high-speed stall. Provided the control column is eased forward, however, the manoeuvre can be completed successfully 4.0 Summary of flying qualities. General reports on the handling of the aeroplane witch were received before the arrival of the aeroplane itself 1ea one to believe6 ‘that numerous faults existed but these have been found to be untrue, The aeroplane is pleasant to fly at speods up to 250 mp.he the only objection being the leck of space in the cockpit. This ebjeotion is a very real one in the ease of a large pilot. At speeds in excess of 250 m.p.h. the controls sutdenly decane very heavy and at 400 mepsh. recovery from a dive 4s difficult Decanse of the heaviness of the elevator, This heaviness of the _ elevator makes all manocuvres in the looping plane shove 250 m.pahy @fficult, including steep olimbing turns. No @ifforence was ) experienced between climbing turns to right and left. In general flying qualities the aeroplangstguinferior to both the Spitfire and the tfurricane at all speeda/and in ol] conditions of flight. Tt does not possess the controll wich allows of good quality flying and this is particularlyneticeable in acrobatics.