What am I doing wrong here.. can't figure it out.

[DocSigma]

With complex CEM and TE enabled I've been trying to get these planes to turnover without success.

1: Magnetos are on
2: Fuel clocks are on
3: Radiator and/or carb heat open

At all prop. pitches and mixture settings after i attempt to turn over the engine with I press the prop spins up and the plane stalls showrtly after. I'm not sure what the secret is to get these started and stay started. Any tips would be great. I've followed a few online vids doing the same thing and my planes just don't start.

[Dores]

Make sure you have some very slight (5-10%) throttle applied when pressing I, and then wait a minute before you increase the throttle. That should do the trick!

[Extreme_One]

I pump fuel a few times before pressing I and I have throttle set to 0.

[isaemin]

Prop on max
Mixture and throttle on 10%

[Redroach]

yeah, handpump, actuated 3-5 times (plus low throttle) lets the engine start on first time, mostly.

On a side note: I fully understand one has questions while learning CEM. Nobody here fell from heaven as a perfect pilot right from the start. But what eludes me is that obviously nobody doesn't even bother to look at the countless threads on this subject so that he could find easy answers within seconds. Is it because forums are also hard to use? Or is it that everybody is just the special snowflake that deserves his own thread out of principle?

Side note no.2: It's an old tradition in Il-2 that you are supposed to figure out for yourselves how to "use" certain aircraft (but maybe a gauge explanation thingy like in Il-2 wouldn't hurt in CoD as well). The kicker on that is that you can do this by documentation for the real planes, given the realism of the simulation. This is a pretty interesting thing for many, including myself. Of course, asking is certainly not forbidden, it's actually encouraged provided one knows some netiquette imo.

[Extreme_One]

Originally Posted by Redroach

...Nobody here fell from heaven as a perfect pilot right from the start...

Apparently some dude going by the name RayBanJockey actually did just that. Born ace.

To be fair it's damn hard to work out some of the more complex aspects (and even some of the not so complex) if this is your first sim.

[PVT_Shepperd]

Originally Posted by Extreme_One

To be fair it's damn hard to work out some of the more complex aspects (and even some of the not so complex) if this is your first sim.

And it is even harder because sometimes you dont know which feature is included or if it is buggy. There should have been much more documentation. And the documentation like the manual has so many errors that its useless most of the time.
If the sim would be finished I could use the original manuals of those aircrafts. But that will take much time till this stage will be reached.

[Blackdog_kt]

The sim models the quirks of engine operation and staying within limits, but it doesn't really feature in-depth checlists for every aircraft that will bite you in the behind if you do things wrong.

In that sense, there's a generic and easy way to get things rolling in almost every aircraft if not all of them:

1) Turn on batteries, fuel cocks and fuel tank selectors if the airplane has them. In aircraft with air-cooled radials, turn on the carb heat if the engines refuse to start due to low outside temperatures.
2) Turn on magnetos.
3) If the aircraft is equipped with a primer pump use it 2-4 times to pump some fuel into the engine. I see a lot of people saying using the hand-pump helps, but in many aircraft that is an emergency pump for lowering gear/flaps/etc when your hydraulics are shot out and not a fuel pump. Experiment with it and see if it makes any difference.
3) Mixture full rich.
4) For most aircraft, prop pitch set for highest RPM. There are a few exceptions here and there but usually most aircraft start with the RPM on high setting.
5) "Crack" the throttle, that means to just advance it a bit (about 10% of the way or so).
6) Press the "I" key to engage the starter.

From that point on, just "jiggle" the throttle to keep the engine from stalling initially. When you get to the point that you can keep a steady idle, step on the brakes and advance throttle a bit to idle around 1000 RPM (800-1200 is good for most aircraft), since otherwise the spark plugs get dirty and you lose performance. I'm not sure if the sim models this, but in any case you can prevent it by idling a bit higher.

Also, run-up the engines before take-off to clean any spark plug fouling and ensure top power. Finally, turn off the carb heat before taking off with an aircraft that has radial air-cooled engines, because running with carb heat on during take-off thins the air too much in the carbs and it's like you're running with too rich mixture, ie the engines will choke.

[BlackbusheFlyer]

Another couple of things to add to check..

1. Set Direction Gyro from the Compass.
2. Wait till engine water temperature reaches 60 degrees before taxing and certainly before attempting to take off.

Also, remember at the moment the hurricane and spitfire mixture is backwards, you need to put them fully forward (should be lean but is in fact rich).

[DocSigma]

Thanks guys... all points well taken.

I tried the small throttle increment by about 10% and it turned over first time.

Again, thanks so much.