Reposted from Delphi Flight Sim Forum courtesy of Tucker Hatfield from Dynamix.
(Taken from the Dynamix Flight Model guidelines as reported by Tucker Hatfield from Dynamix.)
Allied Planes
1. The Morane type N "Bullet" was an adaptation of a pre-war racing plane design. It was a wing warper, and therefore had poor roll characteristics. It was not very maneuverable, had a poor climb rate, and was quite slow compared with later designs. It was copied by Anthony Fokker for his E I-EIV planes, but it could out-climb, out-turn, and out-run an Eindecker. Its primary drawback was the unreliability of the deflector plate firing system, which could weaken the motor mounts, shatter the prop, or deflect bullets back towards the pilot or into the engine. It had a top speed of 93 mph.
2. The DH2 was known by its pilots as the "spinning incinerator." It was faster and more agile than the Eindecker it was built to defeat, but was quickly outclassed by later designs. It was designed to be an inherently stable plane and could be flown "Hands off." The unobstructed field of view and fire made this pusher design a formidable adversary in 1915. Top speed was 93 mph
3. The Nieuport 11 "Bebe" was a very agile (if under-powered) plane, designed as a sesquiplane. It was very difficult to best in the German planes available when it was introduced, and inspired the sesquiplane design of the Albatross DIII, and the design of the Pfalz DIII. It had a tendency lose its narrow lower wing in a dive, it was relatively slow, and the wing-mounted Lewis gun provided inadequate firepower. With a top speed of only 97 mph, it was faster than the Fokker EIII, but slower than any of the later German aircraft.
4. The Nieuport 17 was a larger and faster version of the Bebe, with a wing mounted Lewis gun and a fixed Vickers synchronized machine gun for greater fire power. Although fitted with a much larger engine than the Nieuport 11 (130 Hp vs. 80 Hp) it only achieved and increase of 5 mph to 102 mph top speed. It also suffered from the lower wing failures than plagued the Nieuport 11. Despite its shortcomings, many of the mid-war allied aces favored this plane.
5. The Nieuport 24 was an up-engined, up-gunned version of the Nieuport 17, and shared its virtues and failings, but with a top speed of 109 mph and twin Vickers machine guns, was a formidable adversary to the Albatross DIII it frequently flew against.
6. The Nieuport 28 was larger and heavier than the previous Nieuports, and unlike its predecessors in the line it was a biplane rather than a sesquiplane. This prevented the lower wing failures that had plagued its predecessors, but the 28 would shed its upper wing fabric in a dive, making it just as vulnerable. The change also reduced the maneuverability of the 28, but the larger engines available allowed it to reach 123 mph, making it faster than any German plane of the war.
7. The SPAD VII was fast for its time, reaching 120 mph in level flight. It had superb dive characteristics and was very durable, but was not very maneuverable. With only a single Vickers machine gun, it was at a distinct disadvantage against the better-armed German planes. The Pfalz DXII was designed to imitate the flying characteristics of the SPAD, copying its wing profile exactly.
8. The SPAD XIII was one of the fastest planes of the war with a top speed of 138 mph. With twin Vickers machine guns, it was a well-armed and formidable opponent. While it had an excellent climb rate and outstanding dive characteristics, it was not very maneuverable and was at its using best in hit-and-run tactics.
9. The Sopwith Pup was perhaps one of the most maneuverable planes of the war, having twice the turn rate of an Albatross DIII. With a top speed of 106 mph, it was a very able plane in the middle war years, but later planes were too fast for the Pup to remain competitive. Its main failings were unfavorable stall characteristics caused by the wing airfoil design, and its single machine Vickers machine gun which provided an inadequate rate of fire.
10. The Sopwith Triplane "Tripehound" was an excellent plane with an outstanding rate of climb, excellent maneuverability, and a top speed of 117 mph. It shared the poor stall characteristics of all the Sopwith planes, and was under-armed with only a single Vickers machine gun. The plane would have made more of an impact in the war if it were not for politics and procurement rivalry between the RNAS and the RFC.
11. The Sopwith Camel was designed to replace the Pup and Tripehound, with twin Vickers machine guns and a top speed of 118 mph. It was extremely maneuverable, but very unstable. It was tail heavy, and required constant forward pressure on the stick, and had a very nasty tendency to stall into a vicious spin which was nearly unrecoverable. More Camel pilots were killed in non-combat accidents than died at the hands of the enemy.
12. The Sopwith Snipe was all that the Camel aspired to be. Larger, more powerful, more stable, and much easier to fly, the Snipe was introduced very late in the war and continued to serve well into the 1920's. It had a top speed of 121 mph.
13. The SE5a was a very capable plane, being very fast, stable, and easy to fly. Early pilot reports were unfavorable as it was not as maneuverable as the Nieuports and Sopwiths to which they were accustomed, but in combat its speed and its stable shooting platform more than made up for its slow turning. It has been called (as have the Fokker DVII and the Sopwith Camel) The best fighter of WWI.