Spitfire

[Barrakooda]

Gamary

I think the tabs on ruddr MAY be something to do with trim. In the sim Il1946 you had to apply rudder trim to prevent roll when flying.

I also recall a vid on YouTube that showed a present day spit pilot applying trim to wing ailerons using a rubber mallet & block of wood as done by spit pilots during WW2.

Could be wrong, hard to search on an iphone

[Jarink]

Are you sure the rudder trim tab is split? I don't see in any photos where there's a second linkage that would allow for independent movement of the two halves of the tab.

The Griffon turned the opposite direction of the Merlin; that bump could be a modification to allow more trim to be applied in the (new) direction needed without having to re-run the entire trim adjustment linkage.

[Jarink]

Well, curiosity got the better of me and the rudder trim tab is indeed split.
Sort of.

This is from a Spit Mk XVIII, but it's still a Griffon version, so I think it would be similar. The trim tab is indeed split, but the halves do not move independently. It's more of a "S" shape.

According to Rich Palmer (he works on this and other WWII fighters, so he should know!)

The rudder is very big but light. The rudder tab is one piece but about 1/2 is displaced so there is always an air load pushing the rudder to the left. The tab also functions as an Anti-Boost tab similar to a Mustang's rudder tab. Trim tab is in the neutral position and the following pics show how it moves with the rudder.

(the image is on photobucket, so it should be OK to link to it?)


There's actually several pictures on this page of the rudder trim tab.
(Link for the whole page)

[Skyraider3D]

They look very good mate! Great work!

[gamary]

Thanks guys!

And now for another $1000 question! I'm supposed to depict RM791. I was told it had standard (i.e. unclipped) wings as well as the standard-style fuselage (i.e. no teardrop canopy).

I found this pictures of it:



My first reaction was that this looked like a clipped wing to me. I did some more research and it seems RM791 served in Belgium after the war as SG-22, and pictures of SG-22 clearly show clipped wings.

However, the wingtips were rather easily changed I believe, so the fact that SG-22 was clipped doesn't necessarily imply RM791 was as well.

So my question(s) is (are): does anyone have info or another picture of RM791. If not, what do you see in the above picture: a clipped or standard wing?

Even though my first impression was that it was clipped, I'm not so sure anymore.

Of course, the shadow cast by the wingtip is just outside the photo's frame.

[Mangas]

So my question(s) is (are): does anyone have info or another picture of RM791. If not, what do you see in the above picture: a clipped or standard wing?

This is a good question, Bertrand.
I've found this info, regarding RM791... It doesn't proove much, but:
41 Squadron
W/C Keefer 125 Wing
Colin Gray's Mk XIV Spitfire - LSP Discussion - LSP Forums

[Skyraider3D]

What wings it had in Belgium is of very little relevance, I think, as they could've been changed. That picture shows a plane with standard wing tips. You can recognise it by the starboard navigation light bulb protruding from the leading edge. On the clipped wing those lights are flush.

[pkassak]

exactly, navigation light was different on clipped wing tip, this is standard...