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BenQuinn
Jun-04-2015, 09:23
I have set up my Mixture keys as follows;
Rich = M
Lean = N
70% = [alt] 7
50% = [alt] 5 etc
But these do not show on the red icon slider in the bottom left hand corner of my screen, it does not move.
My "Realism" settings are at 99.9%.
Have I missed something?
Many thanks in advance!
Taff

ATAG_Snapper
Jun-04-2015, 10:28
Hi Taff,

A lot of effort was put into making the mixture controls accurately modelled in the Hurricanes and Spitfires. This was done pre-Team Fusion by IvanK who worked directly with the original Maddox Games/1C devs. Prior to this the mixture controls were a horrible mess, which varied from model to model; a real nightmare.

Thanks to IvanK, it got all staightened out. The mixture controls work exactly the same as in the real Spitfires and Hurricanes.

1) There are only two mixture settings: Auto Rich (= 0% on Clod's scale) and Auto Lean (= 100%. Yes, it's goofy and counterintuitive, but there it is). Important to note that there is no such thing as "Full" Rich or Lean in any of the early Mark Spits and Hurries, nor is there any intermediate manual control of mixture. The real Spits and Hurries didn't have it, nor do the Clod versions.

2) As in the real Spits and Hurries, there is a mechanical linkage between the throttle lever and the mixture lever. When the throttle is pulled back, it physically pulls the mixture lever back with it into Auto Rich. With the throttle lever pulled back, it is physically impossible to push the mixture lever forward into Auto Lean. This was done to prevent addle-brained low-time pilots from either blowing their Merlin engines outright or failing to achieve fine throttle adjustment response at such crucial moments as throttling down for a landing and forgetting, after a long patrol, to also move their mixture lever back to Auto Rich as well.

3) For 99.99% of your flying on Clod, do what the real Battle of Britain pilots did and leave the mixture lever back in its Auto Rich position for climb, dive, cruise, landing, and combat. The carburetor automatically adjust the mixture for optimal performance at all altitudes, engine boost, and prop pitch settings. When to use Auto Lean?

A couple of cases:

a) you need to patrol/loiter for 2 or more hours while capping or on convoy patrol. Once you reach altitude, you coarsen your prop settings to give revs below 2200 rpms and throttle to give manifold boost below 0 psi. At the first sign of combat you immediately pull the mixture lever back to Auto Rich, and increase throttle and rpms to suit the situation.

b) you took off with less than 100% fuel and find yourself far from home with only 12 gallons of fuel and a big Channel to cross.

Hope this helps! :salute:

farley
Jun-04-2015, 11:03
a) you need to patrol/loiter for 2 or more hours while capping or on convoy patrol. Once you reach altitude, you coarsen your prop settings to give revs below 2200 rpms and throttle to give manifold boost below 0 psi. At the first sign of combat you immediately pull the mixture lever back to Auto Rich, and increase throttle and rpms to suit the situation.


Good info Snapper.

In regards to the manifold, is there a preferred boost to fly at? For eg, i don't know what boost setting to cruise along at. What is best for engine life?

ATAG_Dave
Jun-04-2015, 11:15
Good info Snapper.

In regards to the manifold, is there a preferred boost to fly at? For eg, i don't know what boost setting to cruise along at. What is best for engine life?

You can cruise at whatever boost setting you like...it depends what you are trying to achieve? It also of course depends on what altitude you are cruising at as boost falls off the higher you go of course....

If your question is what is safe to cruise at while maintining good speed then my answer (others will disagree perhaps) is to maintian full boost (BCO engaged / 110% ) but manage your revs (prop pitch) and rads- its revs that kill spit / hurri engines not boost in my experience. Rightly or wrongly from a historical perspectve you can fly mk1a (100) / mkiia spits all day long on full boost (ie 12lb / 110% setting) as long as you are sensible with your rads and revs - sensible for revs meaning 2750 in the mk1a and 2800 in the iia (you can go higher revs for short periods also).

:salute:

BenQuinn
Jun-04-2015, 11:56
Hi Taff,

3) For 99.99% of your flying on Clod, do what the real Battle of Britain pilots did and leave the mixture lever back in its Auto Rich position for climb, dive, cruise, landing, and combat. The carburetor automatically adjust the mixture for optimal performance at all altitudes, engine boost, and prop pitch settings. When to use Auto Lean?

A couple of cases:

a) you need to patrol/loiter for 2 or more hours while capping or on convoy patrol. Once you reach altitude, you coarsen your prop settings to give revs below 2200 rpms and throttle to give manifold boost below 0 psi. At the first sign of combat you immediately pull the mixture lever back to Auto Rich, and increase throttle and rpms to suit the situation.

b) you took off with less than 100% fuel and find yourself far from home with only 12 gallons of fuel and a big Channel to cross.

Hope this helps! :salute:

It most certainly does, after some thought I realised that the Merlin (no relative) engine was such a powerful beasty that it had too be treated with the greatest respect and deference!
The pilots during The Battle had a lot too contend with and so anything that made their life easier was a blessing! Such reality in a Sim adds to the enjoyment of the game!

Many thanks Snapper
:salute:
Taff

farley
Jun-04-2015, 12:07
You can cruise at whatever boost setting you like...it depends what you are trying to achieve? It also of course depends on what altitude you are cruising at as boost falls off the higher you go of course....

If your question is what is safe to cruise at while maintining good speed then my answer (others will disagree perhaps) is to maintian full boost (BCO engaged / 110% ) but manage your revs (prop pitch) and rads- its revs that kill spit / hurri engines not boost in my experience. Rightly or wrongly from a historical perspectve you can fly mk1a (100) / mkiia spits all day long on full boost (ie 12lb / 110% setting) as long as you are sensible with your rads and revs - sensible for revs meaning 2750 in the mk1a and 2800 in the iia (you can go higher revs for short periods also).

:salute:

Thanks for this Dave. Ya, you are right, it's the revs that will wear the engine, and probably, for the most part, determine fuel consumption. I suppose a higher boost might add to higher engine temps, but that too would be mostly determined by revs.
Thanks for your response.

Oh, one more query. In combat, do you run at the same settings, of 12+ boost at 2750 RPMs, or are you better to go 2800 rpm with a lower boost? Is one going to give a better speed than the other? Will the higher revs equal increased climb rate?
It would be nice to run at lower rpms, because then i'd have less chance of wrecking the engine, and one thing less to worry about in a dogfight.

ATAG_Colander
Jun-04-2015, 12:16
It would be nice to run at lower rpms, because then i'd have less chance of wrecking the engine, and one thing less to worry about in a dogfight.

With the experienced pilots on the CLOD servers, you will be needing every bit of speed/power you can get :)

ATAG_Dave
Jun-04-2015, 14:01
Thanks for this Dave. Ya, you are right, it's the revs that will wear the engine, and probably, for the most part, determine fuel consumption. I suppose a higher boost might add to higher engine temps, but that too would be mostly determined by revs.
Thanks for your response.

Oh, one more query. In combat, do you run at the same settings, of 12+ boost at 2750 RPMs, or are you better to go 2800 rpm with a lower boost? Is one going to give a better speed than the other? Will the higher revs equal increased climb rate?
It would be nice to run at lower rpms, because then i'd have less chance of wrecking the engine, and one thing less to worry about in a dogfight.

I use full boost then in spit 1a 2800 rpm, iia 2850 to 2900 for combat - with occasional increases / decreases depending on the situation of course- the iia can generally take more abuse than the 1a :). obviously if you end up very slow turnfighting and / or doing repeated stall climbs and so on you have to roll revs / boost back or you will be blow your rad/engine very quickly. but then being slow is rarely a good idea in the first place of course but im sure we are all guilty of it from time to time :D

manage the rads based on the temps. remember in iia you can push your temps well past 120deg without a problem - but in the 1a i think the max is about 116 / 117 deg.

:salute:

EDIT: Apologies to the OP - that went a bit off topic