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Good cruise throttle setting?


DarkFire

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I decided to put some time in to the F/A-18 while I patiently wait for the Tiffy to be released. I'm brand new at the Hornet and am still learning the very basics around how it handles.

 

I know that this is dependent on loadout (drag), meterological conditions and altitude, but is there a ballpark figure for what is a good cruise throttle setting that's reasonably fuel efficient but that also allows for decent progress? I'm used to using 88-92% RPM in my Flanker for example so I'm wondering if there's a general equivalent engine RPM for the Hornet.

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It changes greatly based on altitude and conditions. FPAS page gives you the speed to match based on mach number for either best range or best endurance. Best endurance is usually around 0.5 mach or lower. Best range I've seen between 0.65 - 0.75 mach depending on just how high you cruise at.

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There we go, I didn't even know that page existed. Much more learning to be done.

 

Thanks all for the information 👍

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System Spec: Cooler Master Cosmos C700P Black Edition case. | AMD 5950X CPU | MSI RTX-3090 GPU | 32GB HyperX Predator PC4000 RAM | | TM Warthog stick & throttle | TrackIR 5 | Samsung 980 Pro NVMe 4 SSD 1TB (boot) | Samsung 870 QVO SSD 4TB (games) | Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

 

Personal wish list: DCS: Su-27SM & DCS: Avro Vulcan.

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Yep FPAS page is a new one for this new Hornet pilot as well, will have to check out out much thanks.

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I just learned about the FPAS page a month or so ago. When I am flying a mission and am starting to head to the carrier I set the tacan so I then have distance to carrier. Then I check FPAS which has a range #. Since I suck at tanking from a plane,  I am always happy to see a range # larger than carrier distance.

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7 hours ago, CBStu said:

I just learned about the FPAS page a month or so ago. When I am flying a mission and am starting to head to the carrier I set the tacan so I then have distance to carrier. Then I check FPAS which has a range #. Since I suck at tanking from a plane,  I am always happy to see a range # larger than carrier distance.

You don't even necessarily need to use the FPAS Page for this. With a TACAN selected, the estimated amount of fuel remaining at the TACAN location will be displayed in the HSI data block. Same for the currently selected waypoint. 

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37 minutes ago, Bunny Clark said:

You don't even necessarily need to use the FPAS Page for this. With a TACAN selected, the estimated amount of fuel remaining at the TACAN location will be displayed in the HSI data block. Same for the currently selected waypoint. 

 

That's also very good to know, all the more reason to make use of the TACAN system.

System Spec: Cooler Master Cosmos C700P Black Edition case. | AMD 5950X CPU | MSI RTX-3090 GPU | 32GB HyperX Predator PC4000 RAM | | TM Warthog stick & throttle | TrackIR 5 | Samsung 980 Pro NVMe 4 SSD 1TB (boot) | Samsung 870 QVO SSD 4TB (games) | Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

 

Personal wish list: DCS: Su-27SM & DCS: Avro Vulcan.

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21 hours ago, Bunny Clark said:

You don't even necessarily need to use the FPAS Page for this. With a TACAN selected, the estimated amount of fuel remaining at the TACAN location will be displayed in the HSI data block. Same for the currently selected waypoint. 

What does it assume for altitude, power, and speed to calculate predicted fuel remaining? 

"Subsonic is below Mach 1, supersonic is up to Mach 5. Above Mach 5 is hypersonic. And reentry from space, well, that's like Mach a lot."

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On 3/24/2021 at 5:38 PM, Bunny Clark said:

You don't even necessarily need to use the FPAS Page for this. With a TACAN selected, the estimated amount of fuel remaining at the TACAN location will be displayed in the HSI data block. Same for the currently selected waypoint. 

That is great info. Thank you.

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On 3/25/2021 at 2:12 PM, Machalot said:

What does it assume for altitude, power, and speed to calculate predicted fuel remaining? 

I believe it uses current altitude and fuel flow. 

 

So if you want to know your best mach or altitude for range or endurance, you'll need to check the FPAS Page. But for a quick check of fuel remaining at destination, you can just look at the HSI. 

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On 3/24/2021 at 4:11 AM, kengou said:

It changes greatly based on altitude and conditions. FPAS page gives you the speed to match based on mach number for either best range or best endurance. Best endurance is usually around 0.5 mach or lower. Best range I've seen between 0.65 - 0.75 mach depending on just how high you cruise at.

 

It should also vary depending wind, weight, drag coefficient (load out) temperature and air density (pressure altitude). 

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1 minute ago, Swiftwin9s said:

Alternatively, you can estimate best range or endurance by using AOA:
4.2 = Best Range
5.6 = Best Endurance

Of course, this doesn't work in DCS.

Seems like there are a lot of assumptions built into this. Whether a given AoA is compatible with level flight depends on weight, altitude, and airspeed. For example, if it requires afterburner to fly at 4.2 deg AoA I don't see how that could be best range. Do you know what the assumptions are? 

"Subsonic is below Mach 1, supersonic is up to Mach 5. Above Mach 5 is hypersonic. And reentry from space, well, that's like Mach a lot."

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6 minutes ago, Machalot said:

Seems like there are a lot of assumptions built into this. Whether a given AoA is compatible with level flight depends on weight, altitude, and airspeed. For example, if it requires afterburner to fly at 4.2 deg AoA I don't see how that could be best range. Do you know what the assumptions are? 

4.2 AOA but not faster than 0.85 IMN. Other than that, its just those AOAs straight. The AOAs are what FPAS is flying you towards to achieve max range or endurance.

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16 hours ago, Machalot said:

Seems like there are a lot of assumptions built into this. Whether a given AoA is compatible with level flight depends on weight, altitude, and airspeed. For example, if it requires afterburner to fly at 4.2 deg AoA I don't see how that could be best range. Do you know what the assumptions are? 

AoA is a result of A/C-weight/aerodynamic loading: turning, airdensity (altitude) and airspeed 🙂

 

You don't even need altitude in the equation, as IAS already accounts for airdensity 🎉

 

This is atleast my understanding of aerodynamics 😛  It could be wrong, I do have flaws 😛 

 

Sometimes you need A/B for ideal flight.

F.ex. ideal climb-speed, set on FPAS-page. With a max-loaded Hornet, you will not be able to achieve the ideal climb-speed without A/B.

 

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1 hour ago, TimRobertsen said:

I just had to test it out 😬

 

The "Heavy" at 40k ft is greyed out because the Hornet really didn't want to fly with that weight at that altitude 😆 So, those numbers aren't worth looking too much at 😛 

AoA Test.jpg

 

As previously reported, its all out of whack right now.

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