Complex engine management

[NLS61]

Originally Posted by SG1_Gunkan

This game is going to change completely the type of combats in IL2 1946, the king will be the one managing the engine... until FW190 and Komandogerat comes...

As far as I know this Komandogerate was a ricg pain in the %^&*!@ when they started with them and they never got it completely right.
source Focke wulf at war published by ian allan ltd.

Niels

[BadByte]

If La-5 makes it into CoD, I will not fly it with complex engine management on .
"For example, rapid acceleration required moving no less than six levers." Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin_La-5

[JG53Frankyboy]

Originally Posted by SG1_Gunkan

........................Inthe spit there is no something like pitch, i only have two position and i don't really understand, one is to slow and one is too high.

..........................?

you most propably selected a Spit version with the two speed propeller ??
At least the Manual confirms that the Mk.IIa has a CSP.

a lot of planes are missing in the manual , actually i expected this
After worldwide release the community should open here in the forum for every plane (and version) a own topic with pilotnotes - pilotnotes by selfexperience...

[Azimech]

I once had a Citroën DS 21 Pallas semi-automatic 1968, running on LPG. The engine is a 2.1 liter 4 cylinder. I asked too much of that engine, so one day I started to lose power at high speed. Looking in the mirror I saw big plumes of blue smoke appearing, and extra intermittent power drops started to appear. After that I lost cylinder number 2. Examination proved the ignition timing was wrong, I burned a hole in the top of that piston. Those intermittent power drops were the result of engine oil being pushed out of the oilpan and into the intake manifold through the breather, at some moments choking the engine. Coolant temperature was always OK. Even on 3 cylinders the car was quite quick though, and a joy to drive. Even if the engine sounded a bit rough.

This is not comparable with super/turbocharged aircraft engines, car engines have their oil vapors fed back to the engine by law, burning them with the fuel/air mix. Since almost all aircraft engines use dry-sump lubrication, there isn't much oil to lose, except the oil mist in the crankcase that will be pushed past the other pistons due to the supercharged pressure in the intake manifold: the flow passes the intake valve and goes through the hole in the piston, into the crankcase.
The engines that spray a jet of oil against the bottom of the piston for additional cooling will lose oil, through the piston hole, at a disturbing rate. The risk of explosions in the crankcase increases dramatically because of the stoichiometric mix of fuel and air in case of a carburetted engine. In case of fuel injection, where injecting happened right into the combustion chamber after closing of the intake valve, the risk of explosion is negligible.

Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) is the defining parameter, as this is controlled by manifold pressure, engine RPM, IAS, mixture setting and cowl flaps a well as atmospheric conditions like humidity or rain. This can be measured roughly with coolant/oil temperature, but not always. Fast increases in CHT can happen if the engine RPM is too high, manifold pressure too high for the engine RPM setting, IAS is too low, the mixture is too lean and temperature in the intake manifold is not even at max OR mixture is too rich and manifold pressure and temperature are too high; while the heat capacity of the oil/coolant system takes time to catch up with the true condition in the cylinder head(s) and produces an incorrect reading, depending on the placement of the temperature sensor.

Some planes can use a very rich mixture for cooling the engine. This was the main reason Rolls Royce and Supermarine chose carburetors above fuel injection, because they felt the fuel was an effective charge cooler and it made the supercharger considerably more efficient. Some late war planes like the FW190-A8 used a fuel injector in front of the supercharger to cool the charge but fuel consumption obviously skyrocketed. More on that later, we don't know yet how CoD handles a super rich mixture with high manifold pressures.

The ever present spook that always flies with you is the danger of engine knock. It means that the fuel mixture in the cylinders of your engine spontaneously combusts, before the spark plug fires. When the spark plug fires, there's already a flame front, so when a new front hits the other, a very high pressure spike hammers on all the components in that cylinder. It literally is like using a hammer inside your engine. A very high CHT will increase the risk of knock dramatically.

Forms of damage that can appear from engine knocking:

*Shattered ceramic isolators on the spark plugs/ Melted spark plugs. Since every engine has two spark plugs per cylinder, this will lead to only a slight decrease in power unless both fail, that's a lot of unburned fuel in the exhaust manifold. P47/P38/B17/B24 hate that, can lead to explosions in the exhaust manifold or turbocharger in extreme cases.

*Holes in the cylinder head. In case of a water cooled engine this will lead to excessive loss of oil due to supercharger pressure blowing past the intake valve and through the hole, under the camshaft cover. Will probably produce a lot of oil on the windscreen. In case of a carburetted engine: explosions through the crankcase breather can produce engine fire. Explosions under the camshaft cover may warp or dislocate the camshaft cover, may lead to engine fire and rapid loss of oil, in case of inverted V12's the scavenging pump will not return the oil to the oil tank, worsening the problem.

*Sometimes the explosions rupture hoses between engine and oil tank: instant loss of oil pressure OR the scavenging pump leaks the oil into engine bay instead of refilling the oil tank.
Carburetted radials will blow huge amounts of explosive mixture in the engine bay and the spark plugs will ignite it, engine fire unless enough airflow past the cylinders.
Fuel injected radials will less easily catch fire and less severe due to injection when the piston is already half past it's compression stroke and the intake valve is already closed.

*Damaged bearings of the piston rod (clunking sound until the rod or piston breaks).

*Damaged bearings of the crankshaft (again clunking sound, shaft may break in two or engine block may burst, even explode).

*Damage to the valves/ valve seats. Will lead to backfires, loss of compression and possibly engine fire.

Some of these symptoms are comparable with running too long with high CHT or prolonged over-revving, even without engine knock.
IL2 only drops power, plays a sample and ultimately stops the engine. In real life, engine fires were a big and common problem. IL2 doesn't model engine fire caused by abuse by the pilot. I'm guessing (hoping) CoD does.

In real life but unknown if correctly modeled in CoD:
In case you have a hole in your piston or cylinder head and don't want a burning or exploding engine: lower manifold pressure so it's under ambient air pressure, let the engine suck for it, fresh air from outside will flush the crankcase. And lean the mixture. If you're flying a multiple engined plane: cut off fuel and feather the prop.

Summary:

Keep the manifold pressure in tune with your engine RPM, check original manuals or training video's on YouTube for your engine. There are different settings for take-off, climbing, climbing on combat power, cruise (important!), pursuit and descent. It's important you know all of them. Same for radiator settings.

Check the colour of the flames from your exhaust stack and correct the mixture accordingly, during climb and during dive. CoD manual has more on this.

Always choose the correct supercharger setting at the right altitude. Throttle back a bit before you switch, the pressure or RPM increase may overshoot the max.

For WEP, Never exceed manifold pressure and RPM settings for longer than stated in the manual.

Keep your coolant and oil temperatures steady.

Adjust throttle slowly so you don't run the risk of overshooting your max manifold pressure or engine RPM.

Never use sharp throttle increases when flying planes with turbochargers (none in CoD).

[SG1_Gunkan]

Thank you so much Azimech!!!

[kendo65]

As already posted early Spits only have 2 pitches - coarse and fine.

Also, the manual suggests turning 'overheating' option off when you are getting to grips with CEM - apparently Luthier still does!

[Kianoni]

I surely hope correct operating procedures are released. Would love to see some printable checklists too. and maps!
I want to use my kneeboard

[Triggaaar]

This is going to be tough, and great.

Originally Posted by T}{OR

But if you mess with the pitch & throttle in order to keep the RPM gauge needle in a desired location you shouldn't blow the engine.

That's easy when crusing/climbing/shallow diving etc, but when in a dogfight and doing loops etc, where your speed will be dramtically changing all the time, it must be a nightmare.

[BadAim]

The boost gauge is your friend. There will be no more slamming the throttle to the firewall and flying 'till you run out of fuel. CEM is certainly a different world now.

[Multimetal]

Really goes to show just how important pilot training and time on the type were in aerial combat. Most average pilots would have their hands very full just flying the bloody plane at a high performance level without blowing up the engine, never mind shooting and maneuvering at the same time. It also probably sheds some light on why losses in training and operational accidents were almost always higher than losses in combat. I'm sure that over the life of this sim we'll get used to it and be rewarded with a whole new level of realism!