Twin Engine

[nrshida]

Is it possible to map controls or keys to immediately turn off / on one engine or another in a twin engine aircraft without having to select it first?

[MrKrabs]

Is it possible to map controls or keys to immediately turn off / on one engine or another in a twin engine aircraft without having to select it first?

You should be able to macro with your joystick buttons.

[Delirium]

I wish there was, I could use my Warthog throttle switches as magnetos without having to use that horrid Targetware software to program it.

+1

[muzik]

Is it possible to map controls or keys to immediately turn off / on one engine or another in a twin engine aircraft without having to select it first?

Sounds cheesey. And I don't think it will work any better than when someone turns off the engine on their spitfire.

[Ack-Ack]

Is it possible to map controls or keys to immediately turn off / on one engine or another in a twin engine aircraft without having to select it first?

Not with the default AH mapping you can't, however, if you have a programmable joystick you can.

ack-ack

[nrshida]

Sounds cheesey. And I don't think it will work any better than when someone turns off the engine on their spitfire.

Why not, can be done directly in a real aircraft.

So you would have a macro to first select and then toggle the on / off Ack-Ack?

[Ack-Ack]

Why not, can be done directly in a real aircraft.

So you would have a macro to first select and then toggle the on / off Ack-Ack?

Yes.  On my Pro Throttle I have two buttons programmed, one button I have a macro to select engine #1 when I press the button and when I release the button the macro turns off the engine.  The other button is programmed the same way but for engine #2. 

ack-ack

[muzik]

Why not, can be done directly in a real aircraft.

Because of the restart time. I don't know how the thrust is modeled, but it seems there is a delay before the thrust reaches the power the throttle is set to. This seems to be why it never seems to work when I see others doing it on single engine ships.

If you use a dual throttle, the delay is only limited by throttle movement so it may provide a slight advantage at times. I would love to try that myself, but never got around to getting a dual throttle set-up.

[nrshida]

Yes.  On my Pro Throttle I have two buttons programmed, one button I have a macro to select engine #1 when I press the button and when I release the button the macro turns off the engine.  The other button is programmed the same way but for engine #2. 

ack-ack

Aha! Merci Ack-Ack, that will suffice but I think it's still a reasonable Wishlist request.  
 

Because of the restart time. I don't know how the thrust is modeled, but it seems there is a delay before the thrust reaches the power the throttle is set to. This seems to be why it never seems to work when I see others doing it on single engine ships.

If you use a dual throttle, the delay is only limited by throttle movement so it may provide a slight advantage at times. I would love to try that myself, but never got around to getting a dual throttle set-up.

That sounds reasonable. I think it was Mr. HT himself that said the instant restart was faithful to real life, but I can't find the quote because of the search thingy.

Regarding dual throttles, let me know when you are back in the game Muzik.  

[muzik]

That sounds reasonable. I think it was Mr. HT himself that said the instant restart was faithful to real life, but I can't find the quote because of the search thingy.

Regarding dual throttles, let me know when you are back in the game Muzik.  

That's good to know. Not exactly sure what that means though. Pilots did this in combat? An engine is instantly at full power the moment it cranks over? That doesnt sound plausible. Engines don't "instantly" go to full power on start and even the AH engine sounds suggest you're not at full power the instant you restart. But obviously the digital realm has its own rules.

In real life, the time from off to full power may be reduced because the prop is still in motion requiring less effort restart. I never timed an aircraft engine going from off to full power, but having heard them start many times I believe that it is a good two seconds before the best running engine is at full idle. Never the less, it would likely be an insignificant delay.

At this point, it will be a while before I stop by again sir, but I will surely look you up.  <S>

[nrshida]

No no, he was only discussing switching them off and then back on when running, if memory serves. I got the impression that switching off magnetos was somewhat similar to the behaviour of rev limiters.

I doubt pilots did much of what we do in combat. I'd surely be grounded for wreckless risk taking, flying so low I have to stand up to see over the trees and using my issued copy of the Dicta Boelcke for toilet paper 

At this point, it will be a while before I stop by again sir, but I will surely look you up.  <S>

Hmmm, sounds like you are up to something interesting / constructive. I went back to school since the last time we flew together 

 

[Ack-Ack]

Because of the restart time. I don't know how the thrust is modeled, but it seems there is a delay before the thrust reaches the power the throttle is set to. This seems to be why it never seems to work when I see others doing it on single engine ships.

If you use a dual throttle, the delay is only limited by throttle movement so it may provide a slight advantage at times. I would love to try that myself, but never got around to getting a dual throttle set-up.

It's a good way to recover from certain spins in the P-38, that's the sole reason I have those macros set up. 

ack-ack

[hitech]

The way you would normally kill an engine in flight is to shut off fuel with the mixture control.Note feathered prop planes like the 38 are different. The spark plugs are still firing. The same amount of air is going thew the engine, only no fuel mixed in. The prop continues to turn the same speed. The oil continues to pump threw the engine. When fuel is returned power return is instantaneous.

Note , the above description assumes constant speed props, not fixed pitch.

With the 38 for spin recovery, I would think engine select, followed by throttle cut would create more of a thrust differential do to prop drag on the idle engine to assist the spin recover.

P.S. I have had a real life fuel starved engine twice. Once while inverted, once when loosing a mechanical fuel pump.

HiTech

[muzik]

The way you would normally kill an engine in flight is to shut off fuel with the mixture control.Note feathered prop planes like the 38 are different. The spark plugs are still firing. The same amount of air is going thew the engine, only no fuel mixed in. The prop continues to turn the same speed. The oil continues to pump threw the engine. When fuel is returned power return is instantaneous.

Note , the above description assumes constant speed props, not fixed pitch.

With the 38 for spin recovery, I would think engine select, followed by throttle cut would create more of a thrust differential do to prop drag on the idle engine to assist the spin recover.

P.S. I have had a real life fuel starved engine twice. Once while inverted, once when loosing a mechanical fuel pump.

HiTech

How does a prop continue at the same speed with no firing going on? I've seen it happen and the prop still spins pretty fast for a few seconds, but the same speed?

[Delirium]

With the 38 for spin recovery, I would think engine select, followed by throttle cut would create more of a thrust differential do to prop drag on the idle engine to assist the spin recover.

It does... having individual throttle control is far more precise. I've seen people that have the engine selection macro'd or programmed to a single button on the joystick; they tend to take longer to recover and lose E and/or alt.

That said, is there any plans to having engine selection programmable to a single button/switch inside Aces High control panel?