How To Engine Start Up

[addman]

How about the G.50? Could we get some detailed instructions on how to start it? Seems like the fuel cock is stuck in it.

[cre8tive Delay]

did anyone manage to start 110s engines yet?
edit: got it. I forgot to choose each engine seperately before the start.
Is there a way to bind keys for a direct start for engine one and engine two so that I don't have to select them seperately?

[Groundhog]

I can start engines on 110.

same as 109 except 2 engines.

Can't take off as plane seems to be over takeoff weight and can't figure out how to remove fuel.

GH

[realhammer]

I can't startup the 109e3

I followed the instructions,but when I press "I" to start the engine,it shows"engine stopping".

I enabled the AI control,it still can't start the engine either,"engine stopping" again and again....

[Jimbosmith]

i am just uploading a video of the g50 and the br20 so they should be up tonight

I would like to do some more detailed videos with the correct temps and all, but im still trying to figure all that stuff out lol, il try to include my temps and such in future videos

Also yes i think the fuel cock is broke in the g50 i couldnt get it to move but was able to start without using it

[bando]

I see on the last 2 vids you're taking the plane up. Good deal.
Would love to see you do that with the Blennheim though.


Thanks for making these vids.

[Tymi]

Originally Posted by realhammer

I can't startup the 109e3

I followed the instructions,but when I press "I" to start the engine,it shows"engine stopping".

I enabled the AI control,it still can't start the engine either,"engine stopping" again and again....

Dunno if this helps but i had that problem when i made a mission in the FMB and tried to take off from a field. When i moved the plane to an airfield the engine started normally.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by Tymi

Dunno if this helps but i had that problem when i made a mission in the FMB and tried to take off from a field. When i moved the plane to an airfield the engine started normally.

This might actually be a feature and not a bug. I'm very surprised they went to the trouble of modeling this if it's done on purpose.

To clarify, our start-up procedures are a bit simplified even though the rest of the engine model seems very accurate and true to life. The biggest difference between CoD and a real aircraft is the starter.

While we seem to have a universal starter, the "I" key (and i say we seem to have because maybe it goes a bit deeper), these planes had different types. Some aircraft required power from the on-board battery to turn the engine for starting. Some used an inertia starter that spins up a flywheel to high RPM (as an example, about 20.000 RPM for the P-47 if i'm not mistaken), which is then linked to the engine via a clutch and transfers all that rotational energy to start the engine.
Others like the B-17 used a combination that had both an inertial flywheel and if that didn't do the trick, it kept turning the engine via a battery powered direct-drive system.
It gets even crazier, the Spitfire used pressurized air in the early models but later switched to blank shotgun cartridges to provide the energy for starting.

The principle is simple, you need something with enough energy that is either able to transfer a big "jolt" to the engine in a small time frame or provide a smaller rotational force over a longer amount of time.

The thing to remember here is that this power source wasn't always found on the aircraft. For example, in WWI and even in some general aviation aircraft up until the early 50s (like the original Piper Cub) it was possible to start the engine by turning the propeller by hand.

The 109 is one of those aircraft that relied on manual labor. I bet you've all seen wartime videos in black and white, where the mechanics insert a hand-crank into the side of the cowling and start turning it furiously. This is usually accompanied by a sound that intensifies in pitch, like something is spinning up inside the cowling. My guess is that the mechanics manually spin up a flywheel for an inertial starter and when it reaches full RPM, the pilot engages the starter to turn the engine. Long story short, you can't start it if you don't have a ground crewman nearby and they are hard to come by in the countryside

I think something to this effect is also stated in the PDF manual, namely that certain aircraft rely on external equipment to start their engines and mid-air or field restarts are not possible because the sim takes that into account.

[MadTommy]

Jimbosmith thank you very much!

[DoolittleRaider]

This all makes me think of the Hollywood movies where an escaped Allied pilot sneaks onto a German airfield, climbs in a fighter, and takes off on his escape flight to the West. He only has seconds to look at and immediately understand the controls, switches, gauges, Start-Up procedure, etc...and he doesn't know how to read any German....and a dozen German guards are racing towards the aircraft.... No Sweat! He flys off into the setting sun to the West! Free at last!


One true story of such an escape was that of Bob Hoover who escaped after 18months or so as a POW in Stalag I, went over to an airfield from which he'd seen for many many months from the Stalag FW-190's conducting operations. Relatively late in the war, he "only" had to fly a short distance to the Netherlands to reach Allied lines.

I think his story is well detailed in various articles and books. I met him several years back and discussed this FW-190 escape. He told me that a fellow USAAF pilot prisoner had flown a captured FW-190 in England (or US??) before he was shot down on a combat mission over Germany. [Hoover was also a test pilot in US (and UK??) before he went into combat]. That other pilot taught Hoover all he could about the FW-190, including specifically the cockpit layout. As I recall, the pilot drew the cockpit for Hoover, in the sand (?) I think?... Thus, Hoover was familiar with the FW190 cockpit, instruments, controls, and start-up procedures, etc, etc...

Therefore, it was somewhat of a Piece of Cake for him. I doubt that any others could have pulled off such a Hollywood escape. Though, probably there were some...

Imagine this, yourself, the very first time you sit in a COD aircraft cockpit with Full CEM...whichever aircraft, LW or RAF...with NO manual of Instruction...and try to start-up in just 2-3 minutes or less, and then takeoff successfully. That would be a challenge for the best of Flight Simmers!