Here's an idea that's a nice compromise between game play and realism. Most a/c in WWII had variable pitch propellors. In the event of engine failure, particularly with multiengine a/c, you wanted to feather the prop ASAP, else the drag would cause you no end of problems (can you say "boat anchor?"). Unfortunately some a/c, such as the Boeing B-17, used manifold pressure to operate the feathering mechanism. So, when an engine failed in a Fort, you had scant seconds to feather it before the manifold pressure fell below that necessary to feather the prop for that engine. Well, we probably don't need to further clutter our minds with added engine control key-strokes (arguable, I know; some want to monitor and control every aspect of engine management). So what's the compromise?
Make it so that if the engine is shut down manually by the pilot, it automatically feathers. If it dies on its own (out of gas, battle damage), it stops with prop unfeathered. No more running the engine full out until it dies. If it begins smoking, better think seriously about shutting it down; else you pay a huge drag price when it stops on it's own. The longer you hold out, the greater the risk the engine will seize, with the prop doing it's best impression of a barn door in a Kansas tornado. What do you think?
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Sabre, a.k.a. Rojo
(S-2, The Buccaneers)
