How to change tanker speed

[sjhorsley]

I have tried everything I can find to increase the speed of the tanker.  No matter what it slows to 264 knots which is a little slow for the F-16.

I set the speed to 315 and it still spawns and stays at 264.

Edited 23 hours ago by sjhorsley

[sjhorsley]

Update: It seems to be related to altitude.  If I choose 25,000 feet I can get the speed up to 287 knots.  At 18,000 the tanker slows to somewhere between 247 and 264.  Is the AI set to specific limits?  Using a KC-135

[rob10]

It's a slightly tricky one because you need to set that in the ADVANCED WAYPOINT ACTION / PERFORM TASK / ORBIT function (on the waypoint for the starting point of the refueling orbit).  And note that it uses either TAS or MACH rather than KIAS, so the speed you'll see in cockpit is "slower" than what you set.  For the F-18 at 20K I will set it for 370 kts TAS and it will be about 270 kts IAS in the cockpit.  For the F-16 I use 424 kts in the advanced WP and that gives about 300 kts IAS in plane.

If you just set the speed in the normal WP it will be overridden by whatever you have set in the Orbit action.

Edited 22 hours ago by rob10

[sjhorsley]

27 minutes ago, rob10 said:

It's a slightly tricky one because you need to set that in the ADVANCED WAYPOINT ACTION / PERFORM TASK / ORBIT function (on the waypoint for the starting point of the refueling orbit).  And note that it uses either TAS or MACH rather than KIAS, so the speed you'll see in cockpit is "slower" than what you set.  For the F-18 at 20K I will set it for 370 kts TAS and it will be about 270 kts IAS in the cockpit.  For the F-16 I use 424 kts in the advanced WP and that gives about 300 kts IAS in plane.

If you just set the speed in the normal WP it will be overridden by whatever you have set in the Orbit action.

That was a great tip! I can now get the tanker to fly at 315 knots.  So much easier to refuel in the 16.  Back to practice now with better success already.

[buur]

For the AI I use following formula for the relation of IAS and TAS for slow moving planes like tankers.

IAS[kn] = TAS[kn] * ( 1 - 1.34*10^(-5) * h[ft])

This formula is only valid for AI because for AI there is no influence of temperature or pressure.