Complex Engine Management

[Gothkrieger]

Do you guys fly with complex engine management? Been looking at Hyperloby and most seem to have that box checked off. I have been flying with most of the realism switches turned on but a few are not, mainly to do with navigation aids and the complex engine management. Both are topics in the sim that I either know little about or as in navigation, depend on the aids. I think I would require a map print out beside me if I was to fly without nav aids, and then, one river bend looks a lot like another, unless you are familiar with the landscape.

[fruitbat]

we fly with complex management on, but it really isn't that complex, and won't take you long to learn the basics at all. personally i hate flying without that now, because you can't control certain things without it.

we tend to always fly with your own map icon on, so you won't have to worry about nav just yet!

[rox]

Basically we fly on all realistic settings except that we have external view, player map icon and waypoints, and the speedbar turned on

[T_O_A_D]

Look at my sig and you will find your way to my 4.09 server, and you can get a feel of how we fly most times.

Only difference is a few of us host with the colored tags instead of the gray.

[Gothkrieger]

Look at my sig and you will find your way to my 4.09 server, and you can get a feel of how we fly most times.

Only difference is a few of us host with the colored tags instead of the gray.

Went to http://www.propsandpistons.co.nr/, where did you want me to go from there, was it the videos?

[BluBear]

Just connect up to TOAD's server in game and have a go. (observing the mod details at the top of the web page, and the address)

It's handy when you just want to jump in and get involved, being an MDS and all.

Even when there's no-one else around it can still be more fun than a blast on the QMB in my opinion.

[rox]

As far as complex engine management goes, basically it boils down to this:

Mixture - on some planes, mostly russian and japanese, you need to lower this a bit as you climb higher. when your engine starts acting weird and starts letting out smoke through the exhaust, just lower the mixture until it stops doing that

Prop pitch - many planes have automatic prop pitch control and can be flown like that with no worries, others that don't can be flown on 100% without much fear, but it's better to lower it to 90-80% when in fast dives. Keep on 100 when climbing. If you wish to conserve fuel and keep the engine cooler, lower pitch to 90-80% when cruising. Also, on some planes, like the Dora, it shouldn't be touched because you can fry the engine easily.

Supercharger - in planes that have manual supercharger switch, you need to change supercharger speed at a certain altitude, for the engine to work better. most planes have 2 supercharger speeds, some have 3. The altitude for switching supercharger speeds is different for different planes (read plane manual), but usually the first switch is somewhere between 2000 and 3000 meters. If unsure, you can look at your manifold pressure gauge as you change supercharger speeds, the supercharger setting at which the manifold pressure gauge shows a higher reading is better.

it's fairly simple really, and most of the time you don't have to worry about any of this except switching supercharger in some planes as you fly higher...

[Gothkrieger]

As far as complex engine management goes, basically it boils down to this:

Mixture - on some planes, mostly russian and japanese, you need to lower this a bit as you climb higher. when your engine starts acting weird and starts letting out smoke through the exhaust, just lower the mixture until it stops doing that

Prop pitch - many planes have automatic prop pitch control and can be flown like that with no worries, others that don't can be flown on 100% without much fear, but it's better to lower it to 90-80% when in fast dives. Keep on 100 when climbing. If you wish to conserve fuel and keep the engine cooler, lower pitch to 90-80% when cruising. Also, on some planes, like the Dora, it shouldn't be touched because you can fry the engine easily.

Supercharger - in planes that have manual supercharger switch, you need to change supercharger speed at a certain altitude, for the engine to work better. most planes have 2 supercharger speeds, some have 3. The altitude for switching supercharger speeds is different for different planes (read plane manual), but usually the first switch is somewhere between 2000 and 3000 meters. If unsure, you can look at your manifold pressure gauge as you change supercharger speeds, the supercharger setting at which the manifold pressure gauge shows a higher reading is better.

it's fairly simple really, and most of the time you don't have to worry about any of this except switching supercharger in some planes as you fly higher...

So in a Bf109 I should not have to worry about much at all. Saw a discussion somewhere lately about whether or not the 109 even had prop pitch adjustment. I guess I will have to select that option and see what happens. Now you guys that use it must use the keyboard to operate the functions as if you are like me the stick & throttle buttons are all used for other things, Yes?

[rox]

So in a Bf109 I should not have to worry about much at all. Saw a discussion somewhere lately about whether or not the 109 even had prop pitch adjustment. I guess I will have to select that option and see what happens. Now you guys that use it must use the keyboard to operate the functions as if you are like me the stick & throttle buttons are all used for other things, Yes?

I never touch it in a 109 and I do just fine. I do remember some talk about it though, so I guess you could use it to squeeze out the last drops of performance in it, if you know how, but again, not using it won't make you fly significantly worse Not sure if you can ruin the engine with the wrong settings though...

[Gothkrieger]

So in a Bf109 I should not have to worry about much at all. Saw a discussion somewhere lately about whether or not the 109 even had prop pitch adjustment. I guess I will have to select that option and see what happens. Now you guys that use it must use the keyboard to operate the functions as if you are like me the stick & throttle buttons are all used for other things, Yes?

I never touch it in a 109 and I do just fine. I do remember some talk about it though, so I guess you could use it to squeeze out the last drops of performance in it, if you know how, but again, not using it won't make you fly significantly worse Not sure if you can ruin the engine with the wrong settings though...

Sounds like you fly other planes that may require adjusting of settings, if you do, do you use the keyboard to do it or do you have it somehow mapped to your stick & throttle?

[fruitbat]

you can do it either way.

personally i have enough buttons on my hotas stuff now, thats its all on that, but for years i used the keyboard for lots of things.

you can map anything to any button you want on a joystick really, in the controls section in the il2 gui.

you just have to find some arrangement that suits you.

@Rox, you can defiantly blow the engine on a 109 using manual badly. Only time i use manual on a 109 is for cruise settings, drops the rpm much more than just reducing the throttle with auto pitch.

[rox]

Yeah I really wouldn't know since I only use manual PP in FW 190A's.

I use the keyboard because I never quite got used to the toggle switches on my stick. Actually I use the keyboard for everything except the actual flying and shooting....which is probably not what you wanna do if you have a good hotas with lots of buttons, I don't...