FW 190 and the Kommandogerät

[LLv34_Camouflage]

This just occurred to me this morning, while thinking about fuel economy at the arena: The FW had a device, the "Kommandogerät", which automaticly adjusted the prop RPM and other engine parameters according to the throttle lever position.  

In other words, the pilot only had to worry about the throttle, the Kommandogerät took care of the rest.

I was wondering how the device worked, and how it affected fuel consumption and overall performance? Is the Kommandogerät modelled in AH at the moment?

Camo



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XO, Lentolaivue 34
 www.muodos.fi/LLv34

"The really good pilots use their superior judgement to keep them out of situations
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[juzz]

Every plane in AH effectively has the Kommandgerät...

[LLv34_Camouflage]

Presently, the prop RPM is set to the maximum value, regardless of throttle (MAN pressure) setting. But with the Kommandogerät, the RPM would change.  

I think the device also took the current air speed into account when adjusting the prop RPM?  And all this gave better fuel economy.

Or am I mistaken here?  Does someone know better?

Camo

[funked]

Camo you are correct.

Moving the power lever in the Fw 190 changed (via the Kommandogerät) manifold pressure, mixture, and prop RPM setting.  I think the supercharger speed control (two speed unit on the BMW 801) was also part of this.

Currently all the Aces High planes have automatic mixture control and supercharger speed control, but manifold pressure (MAP) and RPM are controlled seperately.

On planes with the BMW 801 (including Fw 190A) the RPM and Manifold Pressure should not be independently controllable.

The US Navy tested an Fw 190A-5 alongside an F4U-1 and an F6F-3.  They noted that the Kommandogerät did reduce pilot workload but that it made formation flying harder and didn't allow the optimization of fuel economy which could be achieved using the fully manual controls of the F4U.

"Kurt Tank:  Focke-Wulf's Designer and Test Pilot" by Wolfgang Wagner contains a list of RPM/Manifold Pressure combinations and the resulting power output and fuel consumption rates.  I believe these are copied from BMW or RLM publications.

[LLv34_Camouflage]

Excellent Funked!  Now we just need to get those figures to HTC and hopefully they fix the 190  

[funked]

Oh I'm sure they have them, they have loads of 190 data I think.  RAF, USAAF, and USN all tested the crap out of those planes.  And several aircraft manufacturers tested them as well.

[juzz]

Did they ever "finish" the comparisons between the Fw190A and Typhoon, P-38F etc?

I think they had to stop when the engine broke...  

[funked]

Huh?