Originally posted by quintv
WEP: having read most of Soda's evaluations before I signed up for this game;I understood that WEP was, in planes where this would be the case (boost systems involving injecting liquids and the such) time limited.
Reading some threads here though I now get the impression that on all planes, regardless of what "WEP" meant for that specific engine, the only limiters are engine temperature and fuel.
Which leaves me a little confused, definitively speaking which is it?
As the war progressed, the U.S. radials (Corsairs, Jugs, etc.) were equipped with water tanks to supply the cooling water used when a certain power range was entered. In the Jug, for example, water was needed above 54" of manifold pressure. Higher pressures are always available, but the higher cylinder head temperatures that are created can cause the fuel entering to detonate, or combust prematurely which causes severe stresses on connecting rods and the crankshaft. So, when run at those higher pressures, cooling water was introduced into the fuel mixture to cool the cylinder heads while running at those manifold pressures. So, in real life, it was a limited system. You could run it until you ran out of water. After that, you could still enter into those higher manifold pressures, you just wouldn't be able to cool the cylinders, and therefore, ran the risk of detonation. The Wiki definition is functional, but contains some generalities that could be confusing. P-47's started out with 15 gallon water tanks, but later versions carried 30 gallons, as an example. There was also the added bonus of decreased fuel consumption as an equivalent amount of gas was replaced by the water. You can see this effect in the game when flying the P-47N and F4U-4. You'll notice, with your E6B open, that fuel consumption
drops when using WEP.
But, I'm assuming that in the interest of simplicity, HTC decided to model the WEP the way it is to provide a standard, which is basically limited to 5 minutes in the U.S. rides and 10 minutes in most of the German rides. Historically, the P-47N's 30 gallon water tank was capable of providing water injection for 15 minutes, meaning the pilot could theoretically run 72" of manifold pressure for 15 minutes. The 47N POH still limits the use of that setting at 5 minutes of duration in order to limit wear and tear on the engine. But, that's not to say the pilot couldn't use 5 minutes at a time, 3 different occasions.
The concept is still used today by the Unlimited class at the Reno Air Races. If you ever watch film of them racing, you'll see a thin stream of vapor coming out of the back of the plane. This is the excess trailing off. They also have much bigger tanks
Hope I didn't confuse the issue.
