Can damage affect the VTOL

[Gunfreak]

My plane got damaged in a dogfight. As I went for a landing I was completely clean, and about 1900lb of fuel when i started my approach. Yet could not keep a hover unless I went well above 100% and using lots of water. 

The day before I landed having 2 sidewinders and 2 empty fuel tanks. And could hover indefinitely at about R105 not using any water. At around 1400lb of fuel. 

[Vakarian]

2 sidewinders and 2 empty tanks weigh less than the difference in fuel you had in sorties. While it is possible that the damage taken could hamper the engine performance, that would also be indicated by some warning going on and you should see it on annunciation lights.

Were the weather conditions (temperature is of most relevance here) identical in those two flights and did you land at exactly the same place (airfield)?  

[ricktoberfest]

5 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

My plane got damaged in a dogfight. As I went for a landing I was completely clean, and about 1900lb of fuel when i started my approach. Yet could not keep a hover unless I went well above 100% and using lots of water. 

The day before I landed having 2 sidewinders and 2 empty fuel tanks. And could hover indefinitely at about R105 not using any water. At around 1400lb of fuel. 

If you over-stressed your engines during the dogfight they might create less power  (like during landing when you notice it). Keep an eye on your engine temps and try not to go over 645EGT for more than you have to. 

[Gunfreak]

35 minutes ago, ricktoberfest said:

If you over-stressed your engines during the dogfight they might create less power  (like during landing when you notice it). Keep an eye on your engine temps and try not to go over 645EGT for more than you have to. 

That might be it. It was a long and hard dogfight. 

[TAIPAN_]

ENG EXC warning is what to look for. Divert to an airfield instead of VTOL.