Mosquito in 4.12.2 - overheating engine right after take off...

[Raven Morpheus]

OK I may have been exaggerating the time to overheat, it feels like a minute but it's more like 3 minutes with the Corsair.


And here's a track with the Corsair at Midway - http://www.mediafire.com/download/rd...at_Midway.ntrk

That was done with a completely clean unmodded stock 4.12.2 install.

At about 3 minutes when I'm making the left turn to line up on the runway is when the engine starts to overheat. I need to work on my landings again though, I was coming in/down way too hot. Lol.


Here's a track with the Mosquito but it's from my modded install with SAS Modact 5.3, I tried it in the stock clean unmodded install just now but couldn't replicate what I saw last night. Both times I tried it last night, on BOTH installs modded or unmodded I was getting a result as per this track. Just before the track stops is where the engines begin to overheat. If I had tried to turn back and land the engines would have failed on me.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pj..._Normandy.ntrk

The mods I'm using in that install are SAS Modact 5.3 and TFM-412. Neither of those to my knowledge affect engine overheating or the Mosquito FM or anything else that could cause accelerated overheating.

[Raven Morpheus]

OK I think I found the key to my overheating of engines.

Prop pitch (and probably radiator opening)!!!

I just did a QMB flight vs 4 empty HE-111's on the Normandy map flying out of Carentan and although the engine overheated a couple of minutes after take off I was able to cool it by reducing the prop pitch so the RPM's dropped, and I opened the radiators.

I found it difficult to get speed up by doing that though, and I found it difficult to catch up with the HE-111's to intercept them to begin with (not least because I headed in the wrong direction for about 2-3 minutes whilst I sorted out my plane for a reasonable level flight and to gain speed), but for the rest of the flight I managed to achieve a fairly constant 200mph at about 3000ft +/- 100ft with RPM's between 2500 and 2700.

So, I'm guessing I now need to learn what RPM to keep planes at for cruising and climbing/combat. Is there a handy crib sheet with such info (doesn't seem like the included Aircraft Guide for Il2 1946 contains such info)?

[Woke Up Dead]

There might be a crib-sheet but it's not necessary, it's not that complicated. There are three simple rules to follow to avoid overheating, in order from most to least important:

Open your radiators. In most planes you can do this in stages, in the Mosquito it's only fully opened or closed. Even in planes with stages to radiators there's not much benefit in trying to fiddle with partially opened rads to get just the right balance of cooling and speed; just keep them all the way open and "save up" some engine cooling for when you're in trouble and need to close them fully for speed.

Prop pitch. If you're not climbing, fighting, or chasing, there's no reason to be at 100% pitch. Reducing pitch to 85% will give you lots of performance and will help you keep engine temperature low. In some planes even reducing just to 95% is enough to get rid of the overheat message.

Throttle. Same as pitch, no reason to be at 100% or more if you're not climbing, chasing, running, or fighting. 95% throttle, 90% pitch, and open rads will keep most planes from overheating on most maps.

Those are the "big three" rules to keep your engine cool. Once you get a hang of those, you can tweak your performance further with these tips:

Maximize fuel mixture. This is mostly for Soviet and some Pacific theater planes; bumping fuel mixture to 120% from takeoff to an altitude where the engine starts to smoke helps to cool it a little.

Climb at a faster speed. Download the "IL2 Compare" tool for best climb speeds of all planes. They typically range from 210km/h to 280km/h for monoplane fighters. Climb 10-20km/h faster to climb almost as fast but with a cooler engine.

Reduce prop pitch during a fast dive. In most planes reducing pitch to 80% in a dive above 400km/h won't slow you down, may even let you go a bit faster, and will cool your engine.

You should have no trouble catching those Heinkels at 90% pitch, 90% throttle, and open radiators in your Mosquito. Does the Mosquito have supercharger stages, and if so, are you switching them at the correct altitudes?