Ok, so I tried out the NeoQB Dr1 for FSX. I can see there are some definite similarities as well as some significant differences. There are a few things that the ROF Dr1 does that really disappoint me.
1) It requires a lot of down elevator to fly level. Much more than I have seen in any Dr1 flying today.
2) It is far too stable in yaw
3) It has insufficient adverse yaw
After looking at the aircraft parameters and aerodynamics files in FSX, I have a lot of room to tweak the FM. If ROF uses something similar, I think I will be able to provide useable information for making the changes relatively easy if they want to make them in ROF.
In just a few minutes, I managed to change the horizontal stabilizer angle of incidence to reduce the amount of nose down elevator deflection required. In FSX, the horizontal AOI was set at -1 degree. On the actual plane, it is at +4.7 degrees (causes a nose down pitching moment). I didn't get it to settle in on a particular angle yet, since I am learning to edit the files and how to save them (setting file permissions and such).
My first goal will be to get the plane to fly in a slip without my input. That would show that I can get the yaw stability down to realistic levels. Second, I will try to increase the adverse yaw. If I can get those two things to work properly, it would warrant continued work on the FM to see if I can get the performance parameters to match historical data.
For anyone interested in modifying FSX files, here are some tools I have found helpful and free to use:
You need this one to edit .AIR files: https://ootb.wordpress.com/aam/ (this program has nice definitions of the many coefficients found in the files)
This website also has ok definitions: https://ootb.wordpress.com/aam/
Here is a list of things in the AIR file from MS: https://msdn.microso...y/cc707067.aspx
Finally, there is a .CFG file for each aircraft which stores physical dimensions and scalars (for aerodynamics in the .AIR file) for the aircraft. FSX uses a otto cycle model to give engine power/rpm. It accounts for engine bore and stroke, mechanical efficiency, etc. If the ROF guys are using a model similar to this, I can see how it would be a very time consuming process to tweak each plane to fly just as it should. For me, I guess that will be part of the fun!