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

[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?

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by Raven Morpheus

OK well that's the sort of info/advice I'm after.

Basically what I need is a crib sheet set out something like this -

Plane name: F4U-1D 1944
Cruise settings -
Throttle: 80%
Prop Pitch: 90%
Mix: ?
Radiator position: ?

That way I can use the same settings as someone who can fly without problems and see what happens.

Shortly I'll make tracks with the Mosquito on Normandy, and the Corsair on Midway and see what happens with a clean install. As I've said though clean or modded I seem to get the same results.



Yes.

I think this is a specific issue you're having... it's just not this difficult so something is wrong. You already know to open radiators, not ram throttle to 110% all the time, etc. I think we can safely same newbie mistakes are out.

I grabbed a F4U-1A, Midway QMB scramble, hit the 110% WEP held it there, took off and climbed to 1500 meters before I got bored of my test. No overheat.

[Raven Morpheus]

No, I don't think there is anything wrong, other than my lack of pitch adjustment and not having radiators open, because I was getting the issue, certainly with the F4U, in a stock install. You can see what I was doing in the track I posted a link to.

So, if there was something wrong it would be in the patches from 4.11 to 4.12.2 and it's obviously not because others aren't having the same issues - presumably because they know how to manage their prop pitch, radiators and throttle.

In 4.10 I was only managing throttle. I've never bothered with radiators or prop pitch. I've always left prop pitch on 100% or "auto pitch". But you obviously can't get away with doing that in v4.12.2.

I've done 2 missions with the Mosquito since learning to manage my prop pitch, in the 633 Squadron campaign (which appears to work fine in 4.12.2), and I've not had any problems with overheating.


@Woke Up Dead - thanks. One reason I'd like a crib sheet is because I tend to get bored with IL2, put it away for a while but then pick it up again later, and in the meantime I've forgotten stuff. So a crib sheet with vairous details like cruise RPM and supercharger change over points would be very helpful. It seems like every time in the last 18 months I've come back to IL2 I've had to do a refresher course...