Aircraft icing

[Snuff_Pidgeon]

I found this vid on ice forming on aircraft, it may not be so important for sow, but in future where high alt bombing is taking place or even the eastern front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I40DQcK_6Ung

will be taking place.

[TheGrunch]

Originally Posted by Snuff_Pidgeon

it may not be so important for sow.

Well, the top cover of Lufwaffe formations often operated at 30,000 feet toward the end of the Battle of Britain, so it's a good idea for SoW even. Probably very hard to simulate, though.

[Snuff_Pidgeon]

Originally Posted by TheGrunch

Well, the top cover of Lufwaffe formations often operated at 30,000 feet toward the end of the Battle of Britain, so it's a good idea for SoW even. Probably very hard to simulate, though.

Yes Grunch you are right,and it would be difficult to simulate but Oleg is doing amazing things at the momemt.

[TheGrunch]

Originally Posted by Snuff_Pidgeon

Yes Grunch you are right,and it would be difficult to simulate but Oleg is doing amazing things at the momemt.

Actually, I imagine it could just be a timer that started at a certain altitude that increased the weight of your aircraft up to a certain point, and then gradually decreased back to your normal weight once you went below that altitude. No need to make it more complicated than that at first. Visual effects optional, I guess. Good suggestion, definitely.

[JVM]

Considering the flight mechanics of each aircraft are mostly simulated via a number of equations (and not tables) it would not be very difficult to integrate a modification of the proper lift/drag coefficients as well as weight to simulate very well icing effects.
The visual aspect would be taken care of via texture evolutions which are already anticipated in the game.

But...and this is a big but!

- this has to happen in real time (so does this change of coefficients and weight I have mentioned)
- icing happens only in visible humidity, i.e. clouds...but this was depending on temperature (itself depending on altitude, air mass and air layers = time of the year) and several other factors, the biggest one for clear icing (the most dangerous) being water in surfusion: this becomes quite complicated in reality but could possibly be simplified sufficiently for the purpose of the game...
- icing simulation must take in account initial conditions: say you enter an icing zone and a good accumulation occurs, sufficient enough to severely affect your ability to stay airborne...your only hope is to get out of the clouds which may not too safe depending where you are (due a little to enemy, a lot to potential high ground), but you are out of choices; if you succeed, the ice is not going to disappear instantly, far from it! at worst, it will just not increase and will beging to decrease very slowly (sublimation in the airflow). this may be slow enough to let you harmonize your altitude with the ground around you!
Obviously if you go low enough without hitting anything and the temperature goes above zero, it will go much faster...
However, simulating this whole increase/decrease aspect will be difficult unless it is much simplified.

This being said, there were no big issue with icing during the hot summer of BoB (maybe one or two poor souls lost into a thunderstorm), so OM has still some time to think about it!

Besides, the flight planning of bombing missions did take this aspect in account in order to avoid these situations: in most cases the bombers were fully loaded and forcing them to go willingly in known icing conditions would have been...difficult...and stupid risk taking.

On the other hand, transport aircraft like the C-47, 46 or 54 were fully equipped to deal with icing....bombers and fighters were not. Many losses of the JG3xx Geschwadern during the Reich Defence nights were due to flying in icing conditions with fighters not equipped for it.

JVM

[TheGrunch]

Originally Posted by JVM

This being said, there were no big issue with icing during the hot summer of BoB (maybe one or two poor souls lost into a thunderstorm), so OM has still some time to think about it!

That's true, although apparently there was some pretty terrible weather shortly after the battle. Thanks for the explanation about icing, not something I've ever really known about.

[philip.ed]

This being said, there were no big issue with icing during the hot summer of BoB (maybe one or two poor souls lost into a thunderstorm), so OM has still some time to think about it!

I beg to differ. From reading various accounts by pilots, ice was a regular problem when on long patrols (particularly in the early stages of battle). Trust me, no matter about the summer time it was bloody cold at over 20000 feet!