Kurt Tank did it first

[Crusher]

Military Channel had an episode dedicated to the FW 190.
Towards the end it showed an aging A-series FW. Then next to it was a 3/4 scale FW that an enthusiast had built.  
Now, this man wanted his replica to be as close as possible. In 1981 or so, Beechcraft brought out a single point power control for engines. This man went to Beechcraft to ask if it would work on his model of the FW190. Beechcraft was amazed that the 1939 FW already had this feature and was disappointed that they could not be considered the inventors of the devise.

Is the AH FW going to have this feature updated to keep with the concept of authenticity in WWII plane modeling?

The Genious of Mr. Tank is awesome!:aok

[Krusty]

Historically the RPM were linked to the throttle, push it forward and both increase. However, you could over-ride this and manually control the RPM, the handle on the throttle rotated, so push/pull was throttle and twist fore/back was RPM. If HTC coded it in, we'd not be able to over-ride this.

I prefer the manual system, personally.

[justin_g]

Yup, manual pitch control on the Fw 190 was for emergency use only.

[Krusty]

so was war emergency power

[justin_g]

I meant "emergency" as in "somethings broken" - bear in mind that it is prop pitch, and not rpm that is adjusted, and the Kommandogerat can control this function more efficiently than any pilot could.

[Pooh21]

Kurt Tank rocked

[justin_g]

If i wanted to be picky i would point out that K.T. didn't work for BMW...

[Stang]

Kurt Tank was an idiot.  His plane sucks and is allied uber 50 cal fodder.

[Furball]

Kurt Tank was nothing compared to Sidney Camm.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by justin_g
bear in mind that it is prop pitch, and not rpm that is adjusted

FYI: Prop pitch was used to control RPM. The instruments in the cockpit usually indicate RPM as well, so while pitch might have been immediately affected, the general change was the RPM (or, how much work the engine was doing, and how much "bite" the prop had to take, which affected how much work the engine had to do).

[Crusher]

you have 2 control settings. One is manifold which controls the amount of fuel and the pressure the fuel mixture is delivered to the engine. This is the power aspect.
The next is Engine RPM a.k.a. governor control. This was a link similar to the one in your lawnmower. It sets the high limit of RPMs you wantand , more importantly, maintains that RPM at a steady state. If load conditions change, the RPM will not change ------->>given certain limits!

Remember, things were done manually back then to include rich/lean, turbo waste gate setting and RPM, Spark settings for ignition timing and trim and etc.. The pilot had a lot more to do that kept him very busy and left little time for window gazing.

The single point control greatly reduced the need to constantly trim the engine for each movement of either power or manifold levers. Variable pitch props were a rarity in WWII fighters simply because it was one more thing that could overload the pilot in combat. The term" constant speed prop" means just that. Though RPMs might vary, the distance the prop " moved" the plane stayed constant per revolution of the prop.

If all you needed was to slow the engine for a turn, the single point control was ideal as it set most other controls to preset detents. Minor (or fine)adjustments could still be made.
If the engine was malfunctioning, there would be little you could do in either single point or "normal" type controls. The only differnce in combat would be that you reduce engine power and RPM with one control. It was such a unique feature to the FW that it was overlooked for nearly 40 years.
As to the game, it would be the only series of  plane in the planeset in which both power and Rpm would respond together, the rest of the planes would still require 2 buttons to do the same thing.

You ought to talk to the old 30's and 40' pilots who did all those manipulations as 2nd nature.  Ask Great Grandpa about the cars that had to be hand cranked to be started and then the things he had to do while driving.

You young whippersnappers have got it far toooooo easy!  

[Krusty]

One clarification, you should be careful when you say "variable pitch props were rare" then a sentence or two later talk about "constant speed props" -- constant speed props have variable pitch, it's just that you don't set the pitch yourself, an oil reservoir does it for you.

In fact, almost (almost) every plane in WW2 had a variable pitch prop, they were mostly constant-speed props.

[Crusher]

in the concept of being able to vary the pitch in combat planes, it was rare. The larger multi-engine planes had several variations all controled by the pilot manually but to fighters, it added both weight to the plane and to the pilot's brain for very little effective result. You really would have to drive a Model T to begin to appreciate the conveniences of todays modern cars.

Did I mention the O2 mask controls in the things to do  list?  

[JAWS2003]

Originally posted by Krusty


In fact, almost (almost) every plane in WW2 had a variable pitch prop, they were mostly constant-speed props.

BF-109 E3 had plain variable prop pitch. E4 had it too in the begining.
 IAR-80/81(the plane in my avatar ) had the same system throughout the war.

[justin_g]

variable pitch control is an extra workload for a fighter pilot, every change in speed requires a pitch change to keep constant engine rpm's. Try the 109E in Il-2 and you will soon see it's not much fun. The early Spitfires with the 2-pitch prop would have been even worse!

As to the game, it would be the only series of plane in the planeset in which both power and Rpm would respond together, the rest of the planes would still require 2 buttons to do the same thing.

109's from F onward had single lever operation, I believe. Later Spitfires had an "auto" position for the prop lever(fully back), which if engaged allowed the throttle lever to also control rpm's.