Increasing aircraft range

[Blagard]

Ignoring the variables of real world aircraft, is there any way to increase an aircrafts range in Aces High for a fixed quantity of fuel?

On occassions, I have tried reducing RPM to minimum and lower throttle to maintain around 160knots straight and level instead of flying maxed out at close to 300 knots straight and level. I have not really noticed any improvement in range. At higher altitudes your true airspeed will increase but I don't know if the fuel burn rate remains the same as low altitude. - It all comes down to the way the code is done, so unless anyone knows already, I suspect HT will have the answer.

[ink]

Ignoring the variables of real world aircraft, is there any way to increase an aircrafts range in Aces High for a fixed quantity of fuel?

On occassions, I have tried reducing RPM to minimum and lower throttle to maintain around 160knots straight and level instead of flying maxed out at close to 300 knots straight and level. I have not really noticed any improvement in range. At higher altitudes your true airspeed will increase but I don't know if the fuel burn rate remains the same as low altitude. - It all comes down to the way the code is done, so unless anyone knows already, I suspect HT will have the answer.

don't know how you didn't notice a difference with the RPM's reduced gives me a lot more range

[MK-84]

Have you bothered to look at your e6b?  that pretty much tells you straight up the answer to your question.

[Puma44]

Ditto. Reducing manifold pressure and RPM equals increased range; in game and real world. 

[Blagard]

Have you bothered to look at your e6b?  that pretty much tells you straight up the answer to your question.

I had quite forgotten about that on the clipboard in flight - So bothering about it did not come to mind.

Ink,
It is quite possible that when on a 1/4 tank and trying to scrape home I didn't notice. Hence the question.

I will give it a try and measure the effects. Thanks.

Edit: Did a low level run in a Spit 16 Got 2 1/2 sectors on 0 Boost around 1200RPM at 160 MPH 1.6k Alt
                                                Got 1 3/4 sectors on Full Boost and Max RPM at around 315 MPH 1.6k Alt
                                  Hi level     Got 3 + sectors on 0 Boost around 1600RPM at 160MPH (indicated) and 20K Alt
So yes, makes a significant difference. I ended flights on 7 gallons remaining after a 1/4 tank start (drop tank to get to 20k).

[icepac]

flying at your plane's best altitude for fuel mileage and usage of "cruise" throttle settings is what I do.

Your mileage varys greatly with altitude.

[Dream Child]

High altitude (less resistance on the plane) and lower RPM's (prop takes a bigger bite of air each revolution) are primary. Might also have to lower throttle setting to reach max cruise setting of any individual plane. Might not have enough gas to do much climbing if you're low, as climbing takes lots of energy to accomplish.

[Blagard]

After carry out the exercises edited into my earlier post I have come to the conclusion that if low on Gas, level off, chop throttle and reduce RPM to min.  When at 160 MPH, go to full throttle, increase RPM to keep speed at 160 (indicated). Do not climb - the benefit of altitude is not worth it because you burn too much fuel climbing (stay high if you are there already!). Interesting that I was on Full throttle in all three tests. On both lower RPM tests at high and low level the throttle was max, boost at 0 at the same indicated speed of 160 (True - 164 low lvl 220 high lvl)

OK I appreciate this is probably not the best setting, for the Spit 16, but I do know what to expect of it.

160 is a safe low speed for the aircraft and keeps drag low.

It all goes out the window if you have an engagement to worry about.

[W7LPNRICK]

Get to cruising speed, then decrease throttle/Manifold Pressure and what speed when it drops 1-2 Knots increase throttle slightly. Usually 30 lbs is pretty close for most AC I fly.

[icepac]

30 inches

[Krusty]

You can reduce fuel consumption so much you slow down too much to cover any real ground.

The real secret is to find the lowest amount of fuel burn that still gets you rtb.


Really, though... just take more fuel! You have no excuse to complain about lack of fuel when you start with 1/4 a tank. In a spitfire, for example, it's a rare instance you should take ANYthing less than a full tank.

[Bruv119]

some planes glide much better than others,  (trial and error  )

If i'm in a heap you have to go for maintaining speed.   Something that glides well, try and retain as much height as possible then when you know your on your last drops gun it. 

Everything else max cruise on E6B.

[zack1234]

Is it true switching off combat trim helps when gliding?

[Blagard]

Really, though... just take more fuel! You have no excuse to complain about lack of fuel when you start with 1/4 a tank. In a spitfire, for example, it's a rare instance you should take ANYthing less than a full tank.

It's a near a quarter tank when I head for  home base (on those times when its around a couple of sectors between bases). Anyway the answer to the question was already given early on thanks.

The results on my testing suprised me until last night that I noticed the Burn Multi in the MA is 2 as opposed to 1 off line. So the range will probably be half of what I found out offline. I would imagine it is always 2 in the MA.

Is it true switching off combat trim helps when gliding?

It should not really make any difference but, I have found that using auto speed(climb) gives an excellent glide coupled with setting RPM to Min which makes a huge difference. You can see the change RPM makes if you glide with  auto speed(climb) because it trims the plane to around 160 MPH and you can actually see the difference in the glide angle when you alter the RPM

Edit: I should have said 160 MPH for the spit - It varies from plane to plane and in any event you can tweek the actual speed using the  .speed XXX command where the XXX is the speed you want. The low RPM setting gives a course prop pitch and is as near to feathering a prop as you will get in AH

[MachFly]

It should not really make any difference but, I have found that using auto speed(climb) gives an excellent glide coupled with setting RPM to Min which makes a huge difference. You can see the change RPM makes if you glide with  auto speed(climb) because it trims the plane to around 160 MPH and you can actually see the difference in the glide angle when you alter the RPM

Edit: I should have said 160 MPH for the spit - It varies from plane to plane and in any event you can tweek the actual speed using the  .speed XXX command where the XXX is the speed you want. The low RPM setting gives a course prop pitch and is as near to feathering a prop as you will get in AH

The best glide for the Spitfire is around 130 (the actual number depends on the model, Spit14 has it at 135). As a matter effect the best glide is lower than auto climb in most airplanes.
What you are saying about the prop RPMs is correct, but if you manage to stop the prop completely (by increasing your RPMs and slowing down to almost stall) your glide distance will significantly improve.

See this thread: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,308176.msg3976745.html#msg3976745