Help! Keep blowing the engine.

[Ctrl E]

no matter how i keep juggling the mixture and radiators i seem to keep destroying the engine and having my windscreen covered in oil.

a little help?

[JG53Frankyboy]

planetype and CEM setting please !

[Ctrl E]

all of them! and what is CEM?

[JG53Frankyboy]

Complex Engine Management


well, if ALL (the planes differ a little bit to be honest....) than , after the engine have started , warm them up !
The Radials need 200° cylinder temperatur as example to work proper :D
The liquid cooled, 60° for oil and water , at least not lower than 40°, is a good try !

and dont touch the emergency power systems for a normal start................

[Plt Off JRB Meaker]

If it's a Spit or Hurri,make sure you're rads are open fully on taxing(Especially the Spit),and take off,once airborne you can turn them down to about half open.

Also don't have you're throttle open on full all of the time,the Brit engines don't like it.

Can't tell you about the Nazi kites as I don't fly 'em;)

[VO101_Tom]

no matter how i keep juggling the mixture and radiators i seem to keep destroying the engine and having my windscreen covered in oil.

a little help?

Which aircraft? 109 have water and oil radiator separately, you have to open both.

[FG28_Kodiak]

no matter how i keep juggling the mixture and radiators i seem to keep destroying the engine and having my windscreen covered in oil.

a little help?

You should download 2GFleas "Aircraft Operations Checklists"
http://www.2gvsap.org/flea/OP2GvSAPINST_3710.1A.pdf
there you find the operational data for some planes included in CoD.

[robtek]

Bf109 and Bf110
If you open the oil cooler before start-up you wait a looong time to get to 40°C!
Open the radiator (water) to 50% and leave the oil-cooler closed until you have reached 40°C Oil-Temp, then open to 50% also.
You can accelerate the warm up by running at slightly elevated rpm's, but stay below the rpm when the engine starts shaking!!

[VO101_Tom]

Bf109 and Bf110
If you open the oil cooler before start-up you wait a looong time to get to 40°C!
Open the radiator (water) to 50% and leave the oil-cooler closed until you have reached 40°C Oil-Temp, then open to 50% also.
You can accelerate the warm up by running at slightly elevated rpm's, but stay below the rpm when the engine starts shaking!!

I am sorry for this, but the 109 does not demand an operation like this. If the PP stay on 12:00, you can take off immediately after engine start.

[Rather peeved]

So for the Spit and Hurri ...

Does prop pitch play a factor at all in blowing the engine?

So basically i should be opening radiator (and oil rad?) on start up - then closing to half way on take off. then throttling back as soon as airborne?

[primerunner]

Besides what has been covered already, I'd check to see if the anthropomorphic control are causing the issue. I have had issues with it not letting me adjust the rad's. so you might turn it off.

[aus3620]

I think most of us have had the same problem you mention. The advice from previous posters is the solution. Once you get off the ground and into a furball then the pitch issue becomes an on-going challenge, particularly in vertical combat. Juggling engine management and bandits is a handful, but it is the complex nature of the challenge that makes it fun. I seem to blow my engine and have to bug out of the action most of the time at the moment!

[JG53Frankyboy]

So for the Spit and Hurri ...

Does prop pitch play a factor at all in blowing the engine?

So basically i should be opening radiator (and oil rad?) on start up - then closing to half way on take off. then throttling back as soon as airborne?


well, for the start the pitch should be on fine to get the best acceleration. So you have also to be carefull not to overrev the engine. And overrev with a cold angine is even worser !

As example, when you have the Mercury of the Blenheim at the desired 200°, the propeller at fine (you have only the two setting fine and coarse in the Blenheim) giving FULL throttle is very dangerous as the revs are very high..........i personally dont get over 2400rpm , 2500rpm only for short time. But, thats part of the game, everyone has to make his own Pilothandbook ................

[5-in-50]

Spitfire and Hurricane:


Fully open radiator vent for takeoff and climb out
Do not exceed a 'Boost' value of "4" for any more than 30-60 seconds, but DO use full power for takeoff
radiator vent can be half-closed in the cruise
Changing prop pitch directly affects the 'Boost' pressure, if you change to course pitch, reset your boost to somewhere below "4" to prevent engine damage
In a dive, throttle back to prevent an propeller overspeed condition and only throttle back up when you've slowed down again
Prop pitch can overspeed the engine causing damage, but often the problem lies in the increasing manifold pressure (boost) as the pilot decreases prop pitch

[Rather peeved]

How do i judge boost value? What is it?

[JG53Frankyboy]

small advice, select a plane, enable the mouse icon (F10) and move it around the cockpit and learn what is what in the cockpit.

[5-in-50]

How do i judge boost value? What is it?

Manifold Pressure, or Boost, is an instrument on the right side of the panel above the RPM gauge. It features a redline that starts around "3" and finishes after "5". "4" is the maximum continuous power setting - ie: running continuously without overheating. You can exceed it, but only for short periods.

[Plt Off JRB Meaker]

small advice, select a plane, enable the mouse icon (F10) and move it around the cockpit and learn what is what in the cockpit.

Yes,this is top advice,you need understand how the actions you take whilst in you're cockpit effect the behaviour of you're aircraft.

Without this understanding you're just going to go round in circles mentally trying to grasp what's going on with the controls.

Another top tip,that I learnt is don't keep changing aircraft,stick to an aircraft,learn the controls,understand as I mentioned earlier what these controls do and how they affect you're aircraft.

It takes time and patience mate:)

[NedLynch]

If I may I would have two questions regarding boost and radiator position.

Do I understand it correctly that boost can only be influenced "indirectly" by adjusting throttle and prop pitch (WEP excluded) ?

In combat would it be advisable to leave the radiator(s) fully open or does that cause too much drag and will give you a significant disadvantage, enough of a disadvantage to close them fully or to a degree and live with the risk of blowing your engine/overheating your engine?

I finally did manage to get my Me 109 in free flight to run cool enough ( no more oil on the cockpit window, looks cool though :rolleyes:) but I tend to leave the water radiator fully open and the oil radiator maybe 1/4 open with throttle set to 75% or a little less and playing around with the prop pitch.

It is quite amazing how much speed you can actually get with a trimmed aircraft and the right prop pitch-playing-around (yes that is the professional nomenclature for the procedure) at a rather low throttle setting.

[NedLynch]

Thanks for the advice, I do like a margin of error ;-).

[Ctrl E]

Thanks for the advice, I do like a margin of error ;-).

thanks all. in the spit and hurri i think i was simply flogging the engine. for cruise now i never have throttle more than three quarters.

anyone know what the max boost the spit can take for how long? as in - if i need to really flog the thing to get max performance to get out of trouble or whatever.

[41Sqn_Banks]

The Merlin III is cleared for +6 1/4 boost for 30 minutes, however you have to keep it blow 2600 RPM. Alway keep an eye on your oil temperature, it must not exeed 90°.

[Richie]

The only thing I have problems with is the prop pitch on the 109 and only when I'm fighting.

[Danelov]

Ah the world of liquid cooled engines. That remember me, Boyington. When he had arrived to Birmania with the AVG , he made a familiarisation flight with a P-40. As usually he fly the machine near or like how he fly aircrafts of the USMC(radial engines, air cooled). In this flight in the pattern, he send the throttle to the gate and pafff!!, the MP-boost indicator go to the hell. The mechanic awaiting him at ground was all, minus happy.