He does good work (FlightFizzix), and he posts videos about flight dynamics and a lot of the work that he does. Coincidentally, AH used his version of the flight model for v1.3.0 and then reverted back to a previous version after people complained it was too difficult to fly. He has done other flight models for AH and noted he has had to remove roll tendencies, p-factor, etc. from the configs because people were complaining.
AH is all over the place. For v1.6.5, they updated the flight model but then stuck an engine config in there that was last updated in 2022, reverting to pre modern prop. Itās so bizarre and arbitrary. I think your approach is still the most reliable.
There is another mod for the flight model on flightsim.to, but it is not very good. With it, the aircraft cruises at over 400 mph indicated.
Yes, I remember version 1.3, and I didnāt like it, reverted back to the 1.2 I still use with the mod.
I started saving all the versions of all my aircraft to an external hard drive a long time ago, so I can always roll back to a previous version. Certainly needed it here.
I tried that one, but itās obsolete after one of the AH updates the Mustang did get. I am trying to get is as accurate as I can, the flight_model.cfg is now ok apart from one little quirk upon lift off or transition from ground to air physics. The engine.cfg on the other hand is giving me the go around, AH have fudged the prop physics so it acts more like a fixed pitch prop than an actual accurate representation of a HS constant speed. I had all sorts of RPM issues related to throttle & prop settings. I am also going to fudge things but still try & get it as close as I can to the real aircraftās performance. I will get this all tested by some Mustang gurus & will try & release it if itās any good!
I would be interested to hear your thoughts about the water radiator remaining open even though the ship is flying at cruise or max continuous - doesnāt seem right to me, but I havenāt brought that up to AH at this point-
Godspeed on your work, I would be interested in taking it on a checkride
I am giving up, I got close but thereās just config setup that is just not playing ball & itās over my head even with Ai assistance. I got a pretty good flight model then the prop/engine gave me a tonne of grief. I see why AH went about it as they did as it was an early MSFS2020 addon & the sim wasnāt able to accommodate many of the Mustangās systems at that point. They had to fudge a workaround on a constant speed prop & the WEP settings & it could never be perfect.
Warbird_Sims mod on flightsim.to is very close, probably as close as it can get without a full overhaul.
I have a 150mm extension on my warthog & TPR pedal setup & have readjusted my control sensitivities to compensate for this, It really has made all the difference, even to other aircraft so I strongly suggest adjusting this to your controllers. I used Ai to help with that too!
What specific things are you having issues with? The stock aircraft attains 61ā military and 67ā WEP as it is supposed to.
Are you talking about the interaction with the blower? Because that is a very common issue due to sim limitations that devs have had to work around. I think the GotFriends F4F even has a fictional gear in an attempt to get full power on takeoff while still getting benefits of higher gears at higher altitudes. Oddly enough, the Milviz Corsairās supercharger setup still works pretty well after several years of sim updates and even in MSFS 2024.
I would take the mod by Warbird_Sims with a grain of salt. I tried it again today. Performance is quite off. A quick test at 5000ā ASL had it going 45 KTAS too fast at max continuous. It cannot cruise at 1600 RPM. CG is way off (22% MAC with wing tanks half full and fuselage quarter full). Looking at the configs, the profile drag is set super low and engine power is too low.
Then I realized he copy-pasted entire sections from the Milviz Corsair into his configs for the P-51D, tweaked a couple things here and there, and called it good. Yikes.
Ok, I got my flight_model.cfg to a point where it was pretty good, Iām not sure of actual numbers as itās not something iām used to but to me it felt plausible compared with the Asobo Mustang mod. I also got the stall characteristics very good. I still had a remaining issue where on the cusp between ground physics & flight physics, the plane would just completely lose grip & control both at the same time causing instability & unrealistic behavior. Both prior to & after this the the characteristics were good. Were I came unstuck was in the engine.cfg. AH at the time due to MSFS insufficiencies had to fudge things in regards to the constant speed prop physics. Itās setup as a fixed pitch but adjusted to work sort of like a constant speed prop. I messed with this for hours & couldnāt get it right. I donāt know enough about config file adjustment & both me & ChatGPT were sometimes getting lost. I just really want a good authentic wartime Mustang, I donāt even care if itās not study level I just want it to be as close as it can get to the performance & feel of the real aircraft. At that point I can even overlook the 3D modelling issues as the cockpit & all that I see in & around that is ok & thatās where most of my time is spent. It does look great in VR!
Are you interested in giving it a crack? Maybe the engine.cfg issue I am having is a combo between the propeller & the supercharger. Where it stands currently is that my prop lever is doing weird stuff, the RPM & manifold pressures are getting closer to where they need to be but then the prop/thrust is too low & can only get to 70mph on takeoff roll @ 61āman & 3000rpm prop full increase & mixture full ritch. Ai is struggling to figure it out, maybe I now need to tell it that the supercharger is also a workaround/fudged setupā¦
Well, Iāll admit I am much quicker to criticize the work of others than to promote my own. Itās a bad habit, but Iām working on it.
I have had my own version of a modified flight model going with this bird just about since it was released four years ago. It has changed forms over time. I used to adjust based on feel, and then I realized the fallibility of my own judgment in that I have absolutely no idea what a P-51D āfeelsā like when flying, so I resorted to referring to flight test and technical data as much as I could.
My current setup is using 1.6.5 with modified (my own adjustments) versions of the flight model and engine from a version released earlier this year (I canāt remember the version). It works well enough for my taste, but I havenāt done any actual adjustments in a while.
My typical way of maintaining configuration files that I have adjusted is to compare stock configs once an update is released and then implement any necessary changes into my modded version. That is made incredibly difficult when a developer decides to abandon completely a config that has been updated over time and resort to a previous one from several years ago. I would like to wait until I see 1.7.3 (still havenāt gotten the update email) to see what shenanigans were pulled with that one before I look too deeply into changes.
Iām not trying to be rude here, but I still donāt know what you are trying to accomplish with the engine/prop. Of all my gripes with this aircraft, very few of them have been with the engine config. It produces the MP I expect and I can adjust RPM accordingly. I can achieve various cruise settings, and power seems reasonable to me. I donāt like that I canāt control the supercharger manually, but that is a problem that exists across several aircraft.
The stock config produces 3000 RPM and 61ā with enough power to take the aircraft off the ground reasonably. Are you using modern prop variables or relying on the tables?
I agree, with the engine.cfg, I have abandoned that now. I only looked & edited it as I was trying to go for as realistic as possible & Ai took me down that path which became a merry go round hence why I abandoned the idea. Ai was not taking into account that AH had to make workarounds in itās setup & it was trying to work it as per the real aircraft & how the current MSFS2020 is setup regarding aircraft systems etc.
I am now just going to see what I can get by editing the flight_model.cfg alone. I have a thrustmaster warthog setup with a 150mm stick extension & am going to run a setup that caters for that. I have gone through & created a sensitivity set in my controller sim settings too, this has already made a huge difference to the stock AH Mustang & now that I know I can have separate setups on the controllers I have created a Mustang specific set. This alone has tamed the stock AH model. It still needs refinement in itās flight_model as it doesnāt stall correctly & there are a couple of other small tweaks to get it more realistic if they can be achieved.
No audio upgrade from AH, it now has the option of the Echo19 audio pack purchased separately - and completely elevates the experience of the original addon IMO.
Just go buy Echo19ās sound pack, it works for AH & Asobo P-51ās & is superior to everything else out there. The flybys are amazing & if you have ChasePlane then tower view is an absolute for your own personal airshowsā¦ It has all the mustang sounds you could ever want internal & external plus itās not an expensive packageā¦ If you love the Mustang then itās a must have!
I think the only update in 1.7.3 is to the fuel system & Iām not even sure what was done to that or how it has changed. I have been down with COVID for a few days & messed around with my sim. I have been flying the stock AH Mustang over the last couple of days & it hasnāt been all that bad. I used ChatGPT to run me up some controller sensitivity adjustments to suit my gear & I now have an overall controller setting for the sim but also a Mustang specific tune which I can switch between. It has made a massive difference to the feel & even the control of the P-51. I have a full Warthog system with a 150mm extension & a set of TPRās. Tuning your sensitivities to your specific controllers is highly recommended, donāt know why I didnāt go into it more soonerā¦
One thing Iāve found that helps (but doesnāt completely cure) the takeoff difficulty and pitch sensitivity in flight is to change the CG. By default itās around 38-39% MAC. You want to pull it back to around 35% MAC.
Has anybody who bought this direct from the AH website actually got an email about downloading the new 1.7.3 version? I have not and Iāve been checking my spam folder.
The other thing is that usually the old update emails will take you to the latest version. I have an old email from May 2024 for 1.3.0, and it only brings me to 1.6.5 for download. And Iām not really excited to reach out to AH about it either.
Yeah, I tried the same method with an old email but only got 1.65 too. And yes, not keen to talk to them either. Seems to be the common feeling about AHā¦.
Please note that if you have the Honeycomb Bravo, version 1.7.3 of the AH Mustang may lose itās elevator trim function. You will need to defeat the AP function on the Honeycomb to make it work.
