Overheating disparity

[TAW_Impalor]

Hello, I'm sure everyone noticed: FW190 never ever overheats, P51 always does and BF109 is somewhere in between. I find P-51 really hard to keep cool in a dogfight. Is this true to life or some unintended bug?

[Echo38]

I don't have the knowledge to answer your question, but a couple of things to note: the FW 190 has a radial engine, while the other two have in-lines. The Merlin-equipped P-51D was specifically meant to be a high-altitude bomber escort, and it's really cold up there. Not sure if these factors can explain the disparity, but they might be involved.

[Solty]

I don't have the knowledge to answer your question, but a couple of things to note: the FW 190 has a radial engine, while the other two have in-lines. The Merlin-equipped P-51D was specifically meant to be a high-altitude bomber escort, and it's really cold up there. Not sure if these factors can explain the disparity, but they might be involved.

No. The Fw190D9 had inline V-12 engine. Jumo213

 

The Packard 1650-7 (similar to Merlin 66) was an upgraded version for better low altitude performace too...

[Crumpp]

I think you need to do a DCS repair. My Dora engine goes out quite regularly if I do not fly it by the approved ratings or run it out of MW50.

 

In fact it died at the top of the climb on ACG server today when I had it set at ~3100rpm for the climb out.

[golani79]

Yeah, the Dora engine died on me too on several occasions because of overheating.

[Echo38]

No. The Fw190D9 had inline V-12 engine. Jumo213

 

Oh, of course! Dora! Damn stupid of me. When I hear FW 190, I always think of the FW 190A, because that's the one I always saw & read about when I was young. You see, I've not yet flown (or flown against) the FW 190 in DCS, as I haven't been able to use a joystick since just after the P-51D was released proper (quite a while before the FW 190 was even in playable beta). Without the familiarity gained from hours of seeing/flying it in DCS, I forgot that the 190 that we have in the sim is the in-line D. I must be going senile to miss something like that; my apologies.

 

: /

Edited March 15, 2015 by Echo38

[TAW_Impalor]

I did a repair after the last update (Mig 21 got problems). I often see the oil temp going over the limit on Dora, but yet to experience the engine seizure. I don't fly it often though. But between 109 and P51, the latter is definitely more prone to overheating and is harder to fly...

[Crumpp]

I don't fly it often though.

 

Fly it more often!

 

 

What engine settings do you typically use on the P-51?

[Mobius_cz]

I did a repair after the last update (Mig 21 got problems). I often see the oil temp going over the limit on Dora, but yet to experience the engine seizure. I don't fly it often though. But between 109 and P51, the latter is definitely more prone to overheating and is harder to fly...

 

Ideal temp for oil is between 110 and 130°C, but for a limited time (i think i read for a few minutes) you can fly with oil temp at 130°C.

 

Everything depends on the cooling system. IMO Bf-109 has very very good cooling system i have never flown it full open. FW-190D9 has also very good cooling system. The offten problem is, that it sometimes does not react quickly enough and if i am not mistaken FW 190D9 can climb on 3250 RPM for 30 minutes. So without MW-50 it is quite hard to overheat :pilotfly:

[Exorcet]

The problem with the P-51 might be with how the automatic cooling system works. If you just open them fully on the runway before takeoff it becomes really difficult to overheat. In auto mode though, they never fully open, even if your plane is basically on fire.

[TAW_Impalor]

What engine settings do you typically use on the P-51?

 

I climb with 2700/46 and IAS 170, open rads. It takes several loops around the airfield to get to an adequate hight. But when I start chasing a german plane, I need more power and usually overheat ((

[t4trouble]

Overheating becomes an issue when climbing at high engine settings and low speed.You should be fine climbing at 2700/46 and IAS 170 with auto rads.

[TAW_Impalor]

That's what I say. Climbing I can manage. The problem becomes when I start fighting. Maybe there is a way to adapt some special tactics against the german planes, but I am yet to find it.

[OutOnTheOP]

Just keep your speed up. The mustang turns better than the Dora at speed, and perhaps more importantly, it seems to burn less speed when making turns at high airspeed. If you get below about 230 mph, the mustang starts to wallow, and under 250 you'll have cooling issues at combat power settings.

 

Not really sure what advice to give vs the Kurfurst; I have been out of country since out released; haven't played against it yet.

[TAW_Impalor]

OK. I think this is the crucial part that I missed in the P-51 manual (page 82: "The OPEN position of the switch is spring-loaded and must be held in this position manually in order to further open the coolant flap." So my binding just instantaneously flipped the switch without actually OPENING the coolant flap. And then turned off the actuator!

 

Now, as there is no indicator or external motion, can somebody tell me how many SECONDS to hold that button to make sure it opens all the way from a closed position?

 

Secondly, there is no similar phrase for the oil radiator. Do I also need to hold that switch and for how many seconds??

Edited March 17, 2015 by impalor

[OutOnTheOP]

OK. I think this is the crucial part that I missed in the P-51 manual (page 82: "The OPEN position of the switch is spring-loaded and must be held in this position manually in order to further open the coolant flap." So my binding just instantaneously flipped the switch without actually OPENING the coolant flap. And then turned off the actuator!

 

Now, as there is no indicator or external motion, can somebody tell me how many SECONDS to hold that button to make sure it opens all the way from a closed position?

 

Secondly, there is no similar phrase for the oil radiator. Do I also need to hold that switch and for how many seconds??

 

That would do it all right. It's pretty slow, takes like 10-15 seconds to fully open. Be advised, leaving the radiator doors hanging open comes with a not insignificant drag penalty. Personally, I only ever use manual open when I can see the temperatures starting to rise out of the green (generally this means I have put on a rapid increase of power settings, or rapid decrease of airspeed). I hold it only long enough that i can see the temperatures gauge start to drop back down, then *immediately* set it back to auto.

 

Auto works fine, it's just that it didn't respond to large, sudden changes fast enough. 90+% of the time, it's best to leave it on auto.

 

Oh, and the oil radiator functions in exactly the same manner as the coolant radiator. I believe it also requires about ten seconds. I don't have access to the game at the moment, but you could always just load up a mission, go to external view, and count how many seconds it takes for the doors to stop moving. They *do* move on the external model, after all.

Edited March 17, 2015 by OutOnTheOP

[TAW_Impalor]

Yep, they do move and drag.. )) Thanks for your reply!

[DieHard]

Hello, I'm sure everyone noticed: FW190 never ever overheats, P51 always does and BF109 is somewhere in between. I find P-51 really hard to keep cool in a dogfight. Is this true to life or some unintended bug?

 

Full realism on. I use the manual cooling cowl flaps to maintain 100 degrees C. I run the engine faster than recommended and fly a full tank out and about and rtb and out again, no problem. Fw-190 definitely has cooling issues for me in automatic.

 

Yep, piston aircraft need constant engine management attention.

[DieHard]

OK. I think this is the crucial part that I missed in the P-51 manual (page 82: "The OPEN position of the switch is spring-loaded and must be held in this position manually in order to further open the coolant flap." So my binding just instantaneously flipped the switch without actually OPENING the coolant flap. And then turned off the actuator!

 

Now, as there is no indicator or external motion, can somebody tell me how many SECONDS to hold that button to make sure it opens all the way from a closed position?

 

Secondly, there is no similar phrase for the oil radiator. Do I also need to hold that switch and for how many seconds??

 

I don't.

 

Page 84 in my flight manual.

 

In full realism: Options / Controls

=====================

 

Left Alt + a = Radiator Coolant Switch Open

 

Left Alt + s = Radiator Oil Open

 

Once set, they stay open from what I see.

 

In the beta, I thought I remembered seeing the outer cowl flaps physically open using the exterior view, when using the manually controlled settings. But now (I just checked) the cowl flaps do not open using the DoW server.

Maybe I fly the German aircraft too much, and my rememberer is broken!

 

Watch your temperature gauges and adjust accordingly.

 

To close the covers for both and set the switches back to Auto in one action for each:

=====================================================

 

Left Control + Left Shift + a = Radiator Coolant Cover

 

Left Control + Left Shift + s = Radiator Oil Cover

 

I have an analog wheel on my Fighterstick to control the engine RPM.

 

My throttle controls the manifold pressure.

 

RPM and manifold pressure have colored shaded preferred operating ranges on the front dash gauges to maintain within when in cruise, not fighting.

 

There is also a carburetor temperature gauge to watch-out for using the ram air and heating selector levers on the left side and set them as desired.

 

Piston aircraft in DCS and real life need to have their engines monitored constantly.

 

In real life, not the endlessly stupid furballs one encounters online. How long did a real engagement last? Engine wide open. Maybe a minute at most? Another minute to leave Dodge and get some separation.

Edited March 30, 2015 by DieHard

[HotTom]

Now, as there is no indicator or external motion, can somebody tell me how many SECONDS to hold that button to make sure it opens all the way from a closed position?

 

Secondly, there is no similar phrase for the oil radiator. Do I also need to hold that switch and for how many seconds??

 

I have the switches mapped to two stick buttons. If you hold both switches open for 20 seconds (I count it off) before releasing them, the switches will pop back into neutral and stay there until adjusted again, and the intake will stay fully open. That's what I do and overheating is rare if I maintain speed (250mph +). The trick is to remember to put it back into automnatic when the fight is over and the temp drops below normal.