Bf109 max speed...

[Anders_And]

Sorry guys for an annoying question...
I come from 10 years of Il2 playing and I cant get the bf109E to speed up here in this game...

So what do I do?
Well I start at an airfield and open radiator fully start up the engine and give her full power.. After take off I retract the gear and close raditor slightly to not overheat. Max speed I can accelerate to is ca 390km/h IAS in level flight at sealevel... What am I missing or forgetting?? :/

I realise this question sounds soooo noobish..
cheers

[trumps]

Are you using CEM? Prop pitch is the key, I usually fly at full throttle, rad fully open, oil cooler 50% and keep prop pitch adjusted to give me about 23-2400rpm. 420ish kph at 3-4000m level flight is about the norm from memory.

Craig

[Anders_And]

yup im using CEM... I turned it off just to see what difference it makes and with CEM off I get ca 440km/h at sea level...
Playing with prop pitch didnt affect speed so much as expected. What difference does oil cooler have on speed?
Since the temp guages are not working properly its difficult to use them I think.

I am deffinately missing something!
:/

[Anders_And]

I solved the problem!! I had to play more with the prop pitch that was all! Thx guys!

[Anders_And]

In all honesty, I don't find the oil cooler does anything unless radical changes are made (i.e. closing it to around 20%) if I'm pushing my engine hard. Normally, I'll fly with the rpm at the lower end of the powerband (2000-2200) so the engine stays cooler anyways. Oil cooler seems to have less effect on speed than the water rads. Keep the water as closed as you can, keeping the temp around 96-98 under power (rpm>2300), and you'll pick up maybe 10-20kph from full open water rads.

Thx for the tip cheesehawk!

[Bullit]

I solved the problem!! I had to play more with the prop pitch that was all! Thx guys!

Anders (or anybody else) can you tell me exactly what you did with your prop as Iam also having this issue, Iam playing the Eagle Campaign at the moment and cannot stay up with my lead pilots, I am playing like you with CEM but can only get about 350kph at level flight at max with full throttle and max prop.

[Bullit]

Thank you for the tips Cheesehawk will try this method where do you keep your prop during these phases? Since the recent patches the 109 Prop only seems to have three settings- feather one notch up and then max.

[Ze-Jamz]

Thank you for the tips Cheesehawk will try this method where do you keep your prop during these phases? Since the recent patches the 109 Prop only seems to have three settings- feather one notch up and then max.

No mate..that is feather your prop.

were talking about Prop Pitch increase and decrease which is mapped to a slider on your joystick OR 2 diff buttons (increase & decrease)

When you adjust your PP (prop pitch) you will see your clock hands just right of your gun sight (nevi) move too... Max PP is when the clock hands are reading 12'oclock the least PP is when the clock hands are reading 9o'clock.

Keeping in mind what Cheesehawk has said and i totaly agree practice with your PP ingame and your see what it does to your RPM..keep throttle at MAX for these tests..Radiator half way open and Oil rad at 40% (half way ish on slider)

Quick advice PP at 12o'clock when taking off for maximum thrust (pull from propeller blades)... then adjust (decrease) to keep your RPM at 23000RPM then when in level flight (cruise at 400-430kph) adjust it to around 10o'clock depending on your Altitude

The higher you go your notice your be decreasing the PP more and still be maintaining the same cruise speed

A WARNING though...when your high and you dive you must adjust your PP so your RPM doesn't go to High... try and keep it on the red mark if at possible but this will take practice..if you don't your cook your engine

hth

[Bullit]

Thank you z Jamz spot on explanation didn't realise there were such fine adjustments using the clock, will be trying this this evening much appreciated

[TomcatViP]

Pls keep in mind that the pitch of the propeller increase actually when the dial moves counterclockwise ;)

AT 12 o-clock pitch angle is minimal and it required less torque from the eng to turn the prop at that speed

At 8h30 (max value) the pitch angle is maximal and required the max torque to spin the prop at a given speed

The more the pitch, the more air is pushed backwrd to generate a propulsive effect.

You have to use the 3 indicators : rpm, pitch and ata to ctrl the propulsive power at disposal for your flight.

[Bullit]

Just had a couple of hours on COD and big improvement in speed for the 109 for me I can now stay up with lead AI pilots and not blow my engine in the process, using the tips and hints provided by you Gents thank you Cheesehawk/Ze Jamz/and TomcatVIP

[Ze-Jamz]

Just had a couple of hours on COD and big improvement in speed for the 109 for me I can now stay up with lead AI pilots and not blow my engine in the process, using the tips and hints provided by you Gents thank you Cheesehawk/Ze Jamz/and TomcatVIP

np m8