Fuel Burnin'

[The Fugitive]

I've NEVER seen where burning the fuel in certain tanks have ever given you an advantage.

Burning fuel in one wing tank to give you a better roll in that dirrection is also going to show a good enemy that you always roll to one side, making it much easyer to know which way your going to roll.

Also, think about this, if you burn off the wing tanks last then the extra fuel will give you more inerta in a roll once you get it going, so you'll roll faster.

Burning the fuel in the 190 discribed above, is suppose to work as well, but if you have the trim keymapped to your stick, you can do the same "pull out" with a few flicks of the button.

Learning to to "game the game" isn't going to help as much as you think. Learning to fight KNOWING your plane, fuel load, ammo, alt ablities, and how to fight in that plane with a ful load....BnZ... 75% both....50% turn and burn...25% head for home... is more important and will make you a better fighter.

Sure you can burn the wing tanks in a hog first and then you believe you can fight, but what if you get jumped by a 190 and you only have burned off half of the fuel in the wings? Do you bail? No you fight! and if the 190 pilot is any good, you better know "how" to fight with fuel in your wings!

[bozon]

In most planes the order of burning fuel tanks is near meaningless. Unless you are very familiar with the plane you will not notice it at all, so I suggest you just leave it on auto.

A different consideration might be the NUMBER of fuel tanks you have fuel in. This is important in case your main tank is hit and leaks. For example, I sometimes leave 15-20% in the AUX tank of the P47 just in case the main tank is hit.

Lastly, if you want to get more preformance out of your ride by managing the fuel the best way is to fly economically and take less fuel to begin with. Bring up the clipbord and press E6B. On the page that opens you'll see RPM and MAN setting for max cruise and "normal" power. Use these values to get some idea of how much to reduce throttle and RPM to save fuel.

I reduce RPM and MAN when I'm cruising to the target (not climbing) and more importantly - on the way back. The JUG carries a HUGE amount of fuel and burn it really fast. By flying economically I can extend the "quality" low fuel load time of fighting. Just try it and see, you can RTB from far away with just a few drops in the tank.

Bozon

[Mace2004]

Just a couple of notes.  

-Fuel distribution is a RL issue but I've never seen any difference within AH.  

-Heavy is bad, light is good.  

-Take 50%-75% internal with drops....always.  

-Don't get in a heavy turning engagement with external stores (including drops) or at high fuel weight.  

-High weight + high speed = ripping off 262 wings (happens with others also).  People tend to forget that the heavier the plane the lower your g-limit so they dive into a fight going 450 with 90% fuel and start a pull out and "pop"....off come the wings.

-Don't think AH actually models fuel leaks from individual tanks.  I've had an AUX tank leak and the leak continued even after that tank was "dry" so you can't really save fuel in the event of a leak or isolate a leaking tank.  If you're leaking...you're leaking until all your fuel is gone.

-There is no "general rule" for draining tanks since airplanes are not all the same.  For instance, draining an aux tank first may improve pitch in some airplanes and worsen it in others.  Some aux tanks are mounted well aft of the pilot, others are under him and some (header tanks) are mounted in front so their contribution to CG varies.  Wing tanks are typically at the CG and have very little effect on pitch although, theoretically, they do affect roll.  If modeled correctly, draining wing tanks first will improve roll rate but you should keep them equal otherwise you'll do funky things to stall characteristics.

[wes34th]

I read a good article on the p-51.Drop one of your tanks on the runway before takeoff.Then, take off and quickly get up to cruise alt.,speed,heading to target.Don't use wep to climb!Only drop your last tank when you see a fight you want to get into.Also, use your e6b feature to monitor your fuel consumption.Use the 51 with it's good points (b and z)
and avoid turn fights.After a fight climb,climb,climb!!Return to base (if you can:) when it's time (don't get greedy).

In closing, I have found this method works well and I don't complicate things with fuel loads.

Good Hunting!



wes34th quote of the day:"But, do I really have to study to be a good pilot."

[hammer]

A couple of notes on previous replies:

1) Aces High does model fuel weight by individual tank. Try emptying out a single wing tank and see how the plane handles. Someone mentioned burning fuel in only one wing to increase roll.... bad idea. Empty them both. A plane with empty wing tanks will roll faster than a plane with full wing tanks in both directions.

2) AH does[/u] model fuel leaks from individual tanks. The vapor trail, however, continues after the tank is empy.

3) The number of planes with significant performance changes based on which tank is emptied first is fairly small. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are the P-51 (burn aux first), the FWs (burn aft first), the spit8 (burn wings first), the F4U-1 (burn wings first). I'm sure there are others. The majority of planes burn the tanks in the correct order. The more important consideration is how much fuel you take in the first place.

4) There is no reason not to use WEP on climb-out. At a minimum, use WEP until your engine temperature is at normal operating temperature unless you are concerned about having enough fuel to complete your planned sortie

5) Drop tank(s) and a reduced internal fuel load are good multi-purpose load. Be aware, though, that the drop tank(s) will reduce your climb rate more than the same amount of internal fuel.

[Yoshimbo]

good info:aok

[Murdr]

Originally posted by Murdr
Much, but not all of AH planes have the optimum fuel consumption managment automatically.

Let me requalify that...The auto fuel managment are in line with the conventional wisdom of a real life pilot for all the planes I can think of.  Sim pilots have different priorities, and their safety is not an issue.  So in AH there are a few instances where tips might be given to manage your fuel manually.

[Rocket]

I wish I still had all my old stuff saved.  I used to have a discussion saved from the boards on this subject from back in 2001 or 2002 (amazing history repeats itself).  Some of the guys would swear by using certain tanks first to make the plane fly to its maximum.   Sure we should be able to handle the plane in the worst of conditions and then enjoy the advantage that it has once the fuel burns off but since this is a sim and you can control some of your enviroment using the fuel to your advantage is just another weapon.  

I don't know if all the UBB stuff is archived on here for searching but it wouldn't hurt to try to look back and see what is out there.  I know I used to have some of the info on my website back then.  The built in AH fuel management is OK but tries to keep things balanced abit, where sometimes unbalanced is a good thing.  Yosh I will dig around and see if I had anything survive the death of my old HDD and if I find it I will put it up here for ya.

S!
Rocket

[Auger]

"The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire."
  -- Sir Charles Kingsford Smith

Learn to fly them well with full tanks, and avoid situations where your fuel state is the line between life and death.  Dueling same aircraft is the only situation where how much gas is in the tanks should be a significant concern.  If weight is really that much of a factor, you may want to fire off half your ammo on the runway to get that extra edge.

[Yoshimbo]

TX Rocket

[Nemeth]

Originally posted by hammer
the drop tank(s) will reduce your climb rate more than the same amount of internal fuel.

in the spit 9 and 14 (not to sure w/ seaf, 8 or 16) if you substitute the DT for internal (75% -> 50% w/ DT) you can actually climb at a slower speed (ive gotten to aprox 100Mph w/ the DT on compared to aprox. 115Mph w/out the DT)
IDK if this is a in game error or not, but it works
this is good against alters and BNZ, since u can climb at a faster rate

[Yoshimbo]

cool:aok tx

[BugsBunny]

Originally posted by Yoshimbo
I need a list of which fuel tanks to use first to get maximum performance out of an aircraft.

I need to know it for fighters, attack planes, and yes even bombers.

any1 have a site with this info?

if not plz list.

for instance:

I've heard that in the ki-61 u should burn the wing tanks first to get better roll,
and with the ki84 u should burn the middle tank first

These are all AH myths.  Assuming this stuff is even modeled in the game, it will not make any diference.  If we are talking about dog fighting, being able to predict where the bud guy is going to be and having your guns pointing there at the right time, knowing what your and his plane can do, taking advantage of your plains straingth and his weakneses will always win you the fight.  The rest is made up from people wanting to sound good.

Will hear thigs about the combat trim, fuel tanks, ammo loads, triming the plane in the midle of a fight, etc.  Focus on learning how to fight.  everything else makes very litle diference if any.  If anyone wants to test it, I can fight the same way with the stall limiter on and off.

[Krusty]

The FW190s' aft tank isn't much of an issue. The tanks are right next to each other. What is an issue is the FW190A-8s "aux" tank. This tank is further aft than normal tanks. When full of fuel it will make you unstable, like the P51's aux tank. However, even when NOT fueled, the added weight of this tank can STILL make you unstable!

NOTE: THIS IS MANDATORY:

You must take a drop tank on a 190A-8. This is not an option. You may drop the tank at any time, but you need the weight of the rack. Historically these racks were left on at all times to help counter-balance the weight of the aux tank. I believe AH2 models the weight of the rack as well, so you need the RACK even if you don't have fuel in the aux tank OR want to carry a DT/ord.

EDIT: Note no other FW190 has the aux tank, this only applies to the A-8. Also note that you should drain aux before external, because you never know when you will need to fight.

[Krusty]

Auger is quite right in his assessment. Take fuel enough for the sortie. Fight whatever fight you have when you get there, and fly out. Make sure you have fuel for all legs of that sortie. The rest will tend to itself. Unless you're wallowing with 100% at 120mph, fuel is NOT going to be the reason you died.

Nemeth, check the numbers. 25% internal fuel is NOT the same as 1 full DT. Spits without wing tanks carry 102 gallons. Spits with wing tanks carry 130. The DT is (I THINK) 30gal on the spit. DTs on a P47D-25 carries 370 internal gallons but can add another 375 in external DTs. You can't always just count "DT" as "25% of internal". Just an FYI

[EDIT: Oh, and the default climb speed will often give you the best rate of climb. Check your climb meter. When you reduce speed to 100 you are doing much less than what you are doing at 150. You are travelling faster but you aren't as draggy (100mph is cutting into the air at a much harsher angle), and if your stall buzzer goes off even if very quiet, it means you're increasing your drag much more. It's best to just leave it at default for max effective climb. there are a few exceptions, but for the most part this is true.]


Somebody mentioned the P47 aux tank -- I'll usually fly P47s with Main tank draining, saving aux for the likely chance that I will get a fuel leak in my main. P47s are fuel leak magnets. However you only get the aux tank filled if you take 100% internal. If you're on a short flight just don't take DTs and you'll be good on 100% internal. Trust me you'll use it all up.