F4u-4 and F8F

[pandacat]

Originally Posted by horseback

I've been flying Corsairs and Hellcats a lot lately, and I should make a few points about the FMs.

First, while the performance is there with full engine power (110% throttle), it often seems a bit sluggish if not downright weak at less than full power. It sometimes seems an all or nothing proposition with these two. I've found that changing supercharger stages appropriately (stage 1 from sea level to around 4500 ft/1500m, stage 2 from 4500 to 17500 ft, and stage 3 above 17500 ft) helps, keeping your cowl gills (radiator flaps) at 30%, and your prop pitch between 90 and 80% when you want to speed up without overheating are big helps. When you're cruising, drop your rpms to about 2250 and your manifold pressure to about 30-35 inches with your radiator at 30% at any altitude (and the higher you get, the better against the Japanese fighters).

Thanks for the tips. I have question on your PP usage. I read WD's writing on PP. He said it's ideal to always keep RPM with in the power band. For corsair, it's between 2700-2600. Within that band, you get highest thrust. If you drop PP down to between 80% to 90%, you will only get 2500 in level flight. With less thrust, how would you be able to go fast?