by Splinter562 » Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:51 pm
Sadly, you can't really do a true knife edge like you see in the air shows in FS. Most flight sims, including MSFS, do fairly well in normal flight conditions but start to break down towards the edge of the envelope. This is because it is very difficult to accurately model high alpha, high beta, and trans/supersonic conditions on a desktop. Commercial Level-C and D simulators can have several dozen computers to achieve the tolerances needed for certification.
For knife edges in particular, I do not believe that MSFS is accounting for side-lift in its simulation. Many competition aerobatic aircraft will use the fuselage to generate some lift force. This aids in sustaining the knife edge for a longer period of time. Without it, you are relying solely on momentum and the vertical component of the engine's thrust which won't last you for long.
Another one that does not work particularly well in MSFS is the spin. I've only seen a couple add-on aircraft that allow for reasonable recreation of spins, but even those had some areas where they broke down (incipient stage and airspeed). They seemed to be more faked that actually simulated, but they worked well enough to get the point across.