From the Blenheim IV Pilot's Notes...
 

I received my digital copy of the Blenheim IV (Two Mercury XV engines) Pilot's Notes today.

Very enlightening.

First, Climbing...

"The aeroplane may be climbed in coarse pitch at full throttle (+5lb. Sq. In. boost) if necessary, but this is uneconomical.

(i) Watch the engine temperatures and if these approach the limiting figures, which are only allowed for a comparatively short duration of a climb, the cowling gills should be opened a little. These limits are:

Oil Temperature...................80 C.

Cylinder Head Temperature....210 C (30 minute limit)

The absolute limit of engine speed in level flight (for not more than five minutes) is 2750 rpm at +5lb. boost.

Limits for continuous cruising.

(a) Mixture control NORMAL. 2400 rpm +3.5 lb. boost.

(b) Mixture control WEAK 2400rpm +1.5 lb. boost."


Sure does not sound like the junker we have in the sim does it?

Everything about temperature control of the engines in the sim is whacky.

The real warm up and take off procedure is sort of close to the manual, except of course that you keep the cowl flaps closed on the real aircraft on takeoff and open on warm up. Also our ability to throttle up to taxi should occur much earlier than it does as well.

In short, the Bristol Mercury engines in real life were no more fragile or finicky in their operation than any other air cooled radial. They most certainly were not the fragile egg shells we currently have in game.

I sure hope that luthier and his FM programmer are aware of just how far off they are regarding the air cooled radial engines in the sim.

You clearly have a agenda and are totally wrong and nuts. :rolleyes:

So the in game plane can run 2400 rpm at 3.5 till it runs out of fuel? These performance numbers come directly from the official RAF Pilot's Notes, so you are saying the RAF didn't know it's own aircraft limits?

And why get personal?

Post reported.

No he isn't. ;)

There're a lot of things amiss with all the FM's, we all realise this and evidently so do the Dev's.

There's a slowly growing number of people who also realise that flying the Blen as it is, is a lot of fun.

I'm really looking forward to these two aspects of the Blenheim meeting up, but in the meantime I'm not going to cut my nose off to spite my face!

Flying the Blenheim is really rewarding, and come the day it matches more closely with the pilot's notes, that growing number of people is already racking up hours on the 'training' version.

As I said to El the other day though, the last thing we need is CEM simplifying to 1946 level as a result of critical 'community feedback'.

P.S. @ El, I don't think Furbs was being personal, just a bit ironic, is all ;)

El just read my post again and turn sarcasm radar on mate. :grin:

Interesting, ElAurens. It fits with Blackdog's earlier extracts and is certainly not well modelled in game. Still possible to fly (see ATAG_Dutch's thread) but I challenge anyway to take off with radiators closed! And you definitely can't fly on fine pitch all day.

You and I have been around this bunch for years *eons.

You definitely know how to ignore the one liners. :rolleyes:

Yup, just like i said in another thread, it's incorrect yet flyable. I'm a glass half full kind of guy, so i just like to think that if i can get the current, temperamental model up in the air and keep it flying then it will be all the more easier for me to work with the corrected one when it comes.

In other words, yes it should definitely be fixed but it's far from unusable in the meantime. We'll just have to re-learn how to fly it once it gets corrected.

Or, as someone else put it, the pessimist sees the glass as half-full with water, the optimist sees it as half-full with vodka :-P

Heartfelt apologies to furbs.

And yeah, I should know better after all these years.

I do have an agenda though.

I want the aircraft performance, for all the aircraft, red and blue, to be as historically accurate as possible.

Sorry for the fuss.

NP mate and thanks for posting this, with luck and more people posting real world data we can get to a FM we can enjoy.

You guys are being really nice and i appreciate it. My first day back on the forums and you're really making an effort to eliminate any moderating workload, so thank you and let's get flying :grin:

The reasons I am so fixated on the Blennie are that I am primarily a ground pounder, and I primarily fly red. Though I will fly blue from time to time.

As such, the Blenheim is the only choice we have for ground attack.

Oh how I wish we had a flyable Beaufighter to counter the Bf 110.

Though the early war part of me still wants an Anson.

And no, I'm not normally suicidal...

:grin:

The developers must have this data surely.

ElAurens,

may i ask where you got the digital copy of the Blenheim IV (Two Mercury XV engines) Pilot's Notes?

and how much?

Well after spending years and years doing research they should have ALL the real world data for all the aircraft they need.
One of the last updates had a posed pic of the guy doing the FM reading the spitfire notes, though why somebody didn't read it before release is beyond me.

Lets hope its something else that is stopping them getting the FMs right.
a bit like the "trees" affecting sound and they work it out soon.

http://www.flight-manuals.com/index.html

They are from Australia, but it was $15.95 US.

They have them available for the Blenheim I and IV.

Lots of others too!

Thanks:cool:

Although you may have just cost me a fair bit of money, lol!

and tell the developers also about a correct bombbay and flap programming......

Yes, we are somewhat limited for bombers on the red side. The Blenheim is still great fun now and will be very good if/when the temperature effects are corrected. Here's my level bombing video (not that +9 lb is possible in the current model):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plkNXa9lJfs

Plenty of suicidal to go around with just the Blenheim if you ask me :-P

I had made an offline mission before my hard drive crashed where i take off as wingman (i didn't want to aim the bombsight myself at that time) in a flight of 9 or so and we bomb an airfield near Calais. I placed some static 110s on the ramp, a few 88s and some light flak, set my flight's speed for 170-175mph or so (the approximate speed you get at +1 boost so that i stay withing the limits for auto lean mixture) and flight altitude was about 3000 feet or so.

The moment i reach the airfield in that mission all hell breaks loose and my heart sinks into my stomach :grin:

Btw, great video tutorial Jimbop ;)

Hi,

Thank you for kind words about my web site. I have around 2000 manuals available from ww1 to present day. I should also have available in the next few weeks the AP Volume 1 for the Blenheim.

I also have a very personal attachment to the Blenheim as my Great-great-uncle was the CO of 105 Squadron RAF. He was also the only recipient of the Victoria Cross flying the Blenheim IV.

Best regards,

Matt Savage
Mach One Manuals

Thanks for taking the time to stop in and relate the story of your family member's experience.

Thanks for making all these manuals accessable as well.

W. Cdr. Hughie Edwards V.C.
 

Found this link re: 105 Squadron, Wing Commander Hughie Edwards and the V.C.

http://www.webmaker.pwp.blueyonder.c...ntonMorley.htm

They fly Blenheim like me, very low (under power lines). :)

http://ww2today.com/4th-july-1941-wi...ds-wins-the-vc

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/t.../INF3_0432.jpg
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/t.../INF3_0432.htm

Sokol1

Amazing story. I was reading about Operation Jericho last night. Sure looking forward to the Mosquito too!

http://www.air-photo.com/english/jericho.html

Truly amazing story, gets you all fired up to do something similar in the sim :grin:

Here's another do or die Blenheim raid:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.ph...or_CloDo_.html

Scroll down to part 96.

RedToo.

Awesome, the famous Cologne raid.