Nursing a damaged aircraft to safety?

[bladeracer]

I tried searching and found nothing unfortunately.
Has anybody put together some basic tips on how to get your aircraft to safety when it's damaged, particularly engine damage?
Anybody know of any official instructions provided to real pilots to deal with damage to their aircraft?

[NukeItFromOrbit]

I'm afraid I can't offer much help but I've always found trying to bring a damaged aircraft back home has been one of my favorite parts of the IL2 series. I'm not certain what you can do about engine damage besides watch the gauges, but if your steadily losing power just try to make the most out of the altitude you have.

Perhaps operating at a lower throttle setting can help get a few more minutes of useful life out a damaged engine?

[bladeracer]

Indeed, an hour or more of juggling things to make it home may sound boring but it certainly is riveting, and so satisfying if you make it

I don't know how well the mechanical systems are modeled in the game so I don't know what can help and hinder.
I've never seen any measurable drag from opening the radiator flaps so I don't know if closing them reduces drag at all.
Do the lighting systems put any load on the engine?
If the engine is damaged I try to find the lowest throttle position that will hold a steady speed and altitude and trim the aircraft to hold that if possible, then watch the temp and pressure gauges. Reducing prop pitch _seems_ to help but I can't think of any way to tell for sure.

[Igo kyu]

Get as high as you can and glide for the lines when you have to?

You're rarely high enough to make it, but I hate it that the autopilot always tries to fly at some set (usually low) height, that's good if the engine keeps going, but if it fails it's useless.

There may be a cleverer way I don't know about, but single player that is what works best for me.

I'm not really convinced that in 1946 series IL*2 you can affect the lifetime of the engine, maybe you can, I've never been sure, it would be good if you could.

[Luno13]

Il-2 doesn't really model true complex engine management to any degree.

However, radiators and propeller pitch do affect drag. If the engine stops, feather the prop or reduce the pitch and close the radiators. Make for best glide speed which is close to the best rate of climb speed (maybe a tad slower). This will allow you to glide as far as possible for the altitude that you have. Don't make the common mistake of adding full flaps while gliding - they will slow you down more than they could ever possibly help. You can add them at the last moment, however.

Also, since 4.10, the power level does affect "life span" of the damaged engine and even under normal conditions, keeping the power level too high can lead to power loss (random probability I think). This is toggled by the "engine reliability" switch.

[K_Freddie]

Drop to 40-50% throttle, flaps raised and trim for best glidepath. Set radiators to position-1 and monitor temperatures, pressures and revs. From here it's lever juggling. Instead of a direct path, follow close to rivers as this gives you more altitude to play with.

[rga]

And always prepare for the case you have to crash land. When you have feeling that you cannot stay in the air any longer, go for a crash landing immediately (unless you're still in enemy territory, but even in that case you don't have much choice). Crash landing in IL-2 is not so risky as in real life, since IL-2 world is pretty flat, but it doesn't mean you will survive 100 out of 100. Fly toward the river, it's very flat there with virtually no obstacles. And unless you land on a airstrip with proper power control, wheel down landing is out of question. It's always nice to have your aircraft still in one piece, but the risk of losing pilot is greater as well. IRL, belly landing does quite few damage to the fuselage, and bent propeller can be replaced easily in matter of hours. Just don't break your wing

[TinyTim]

Originally Posted by bladeracer

I've never seen any measurable drag from opening the radiator flaps so I don't know if closing them reduces drag at all.

Then it appears you've never been in a race for your life with an enemy AC of very similar top speed chasing you. Like running away in a Fw 190 D from a La-7. Opening and closing rads is a matter of life and death in such a scenario.

In my humble experience, the difference in top speed between open and closed radiators amount to somewhere between 25-30 kph top speed difference.

[Feathered_IV]

Back in the day on Zeke vs Wildcat, I slugged it out with a SBD near Wake Island. In the end the gunner was dead, the plane was a wreck and the guy flying was wounded with a near total black screen. Didn't have the heart to finish him off and ended up flying his wing and talking him down via the hud text to a passable belly landing just short of his base. Everybody on the server cheered by the end of it. Was one of the best moments I had in the game.

[K_Freddie]

Originally Posted by TinyTim

Then it appears you've never been in a race for your life with an enemy AC of very similar top speed chasing you. Like running away in a Fw 190 D from a La-7. Opening and closing rads is a matter of life and death in such a scenario.

Long ago when I was a Luftwaffe FW190A9 pilot (Still wouldn't fly anything else) I was set upon by 2 LA7s from above, on a Berlin map.

I just turned away and headed for ground level. I couldn't head direct for my airfield as they would've caught me, so I went on a verrrrrrrry slow turning detour towards my airfied and safety of AAA. It was a 10-15 minute run playing with every lever available.. Prop pitch, trim, radiators. One LA gave up but the other was determined, but I was gaining on him all the time. Not much but enough to stay out of trouble. I made it back to my airfield and that's where the LA's flight ended...

The FW gets you home anytime