Brilliant thread chaps, especially Blackdog (cheers mate). I've been struggling with the Blenheim and got there eventually by good ol' trial & error method.
And I quite enjoyed it to be honest although there was some cursing involved, obviously...
I came a bit too late as I managed to figure out most of it by reading the pilot notes (and realising they don't really work all that much in CLoD) and simply flying the Blenheim, got her up to 15k feet (colleague Valec got the crate even higher up, apparently to 16.5k!)
I finished reading this thread and I see that everything has been covered in detail, but there might be few bits and bobs missing:
1. Mixture is not working properly (or not at all although you won't be able to start the engine with the lever on Full Lean) - this is an FM issue for all planes at this moment, but it has got rather big impact on the Blenheim if you're silly enough to test the max ceiling.
2. The 2 position de Havilland propeller is not quite working as we tought - and I believe this is actually correctly modelled ingame (I am surprised too!). Apparently, these 2 position propellers were sort of stop gap solution to improve the preformance of the fixed pitch propellers (Watts...) and introduction of the modern CSP props. Oneof the early solutions (considered as temporary even back then) was the 2 position de Havilland propeller acting as a fixed pitch in either full coarse or full fine pitch. BUT: the mechanism was similar to a bicycle pump and the pilots soon dioscovered that it was possible and safe to use the settings inbetween these two preset angles, improving climbing performance and optimising the performance alltogether. The RAF authorities soon encouraged this practice and it was soon included in official manuals. This is obviously a storry of DH 2 pitch prop as used on Merlin III engines, but the props being similar and seing the way the Blenheim propeller is modelled ingame, I can't see why not. Mind you this is completely missing on the DH Hurricane although it certainly should be that way, too!
In fact, apart from the 2 extreme settings intended by designer, there is indeed some limited space for getting a better performance by setting the prop in a sweet spot between coarse and fine (cca between 5 and 35 percent, watch the RPM) just like in real life. It was not as easy as with the Rotol CSP and certain experience was required, but the way it is modelled ingame at the moment (Beta 1.03) is good enough to represent it.
3. carb-heat usage is simplified, engines start to run rough at the alt of cca 5500-6000ft, move the lever slightly to keep them run smoothly and keep doing so in small steps untill cca 7500 feets. Switching it full on straight away robs you of RPM in climb. This is certainly not as per real manual but that's how it seems to work ingame.
My apologies if I happen to repeat some information, I just thought someone might find it helpful.
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