Fuel Consumption Rate? NonExistant?

[rv6]

Hi All..
A question that's bugged me, for? for? ForEVER?
Fuel consumption rate in AH planes?  HT seems to pride the AH FM on being as "real" as possible.

One HUGE thing is being able to "lean" out fuel consumption rate, and power back for max. efficiency, in order to stretch a gallon of gas as far as possible.

This is important in real planes, and equally important in AH, when returning from an overseas attack with several kills and 1/8th tank to get back to base.

I've tried reducing RPM, coasting on idle, and even tried shutting down engine to extend the fuel..  but that needle just keeps going down as tho there was 2 holes in the tank, and engine dies, regardless, every single time.

Is this how it works in AH?

If so, then of all the things we moan about on these boards to be fixed, I would think that this should be tops.. IMHO.

Thanks for any info on how to beat the gas cutoff valve thing..

RV6~

[Shane]

yes, virginia, there are fuel saving measures.

to conserve fuel, you need to reduce both manifold, and more importantly, rpm settings.

and not just a wee bit...  i hope you're not confusing manifold and rpm settings?

never bothered to analyze whether using the same settings at high/low alts results in the same savings, tho'.

[Xjazz]

S!

AH dont have a mixture adjustment at all so forget lean&rich stuff.

Best way for the fuel saving is reduse manifold presure 1/4 - 1/3 for cruising. Prop rpm maybe give litle edge in P51&F6F (?). If you are gliding then allways put rpm to the lowest to reduse drag.

Its sad that AH dont have RL kind engine managment. Just hit throtle to the firewall and give some extra boost with WEP. No problemo!

BTW
AH have a fuelburnmultiplier in Arena Settings (for host) and in MA it is 2.. or was it 1.5?

[Xjazz]

Hi Shane,

I once make a small test  with Hurri 2c(? dunno sure).

Offline mode with default arena setting. 25% fuel, AFT-tank selected.  

Mil power auto takeoff. Auto level flight until engine stop. Check flight distance from map.
 
RPM/Boost   =  mails  
2k / 80           =          10
3k / 80           =          11
2k / 40           =          11,5
3k / 40           =         13

Maybe its possible gain some advantage with different rpm settings too with certain planes, who knows?

[ccvi]

Better milage at higher RPM. LOLOLOL!!

AH is a funny game

[bozon]

from some tests I did a lllooonngg time ago I'm pretty sure RPM does not changes the consumption rate at a given throttle settings. Reducing RPM MAY help getting max distance (like it's better to glide with lower RPM).

reducing the throttle by 1/3 (2/3 of max setting) gives you an increase of about 40% in flight time (not distance), but this value seems to change from plane to plane a little.

Bozon

[J_A_B]

Reducing MAP by some arbitrary amount is good, but finding the optimum cruise setting for the engine of your plane is even better.  In most aircraft, using the proper cruise settings can greatly increase the DISTANCE you can fly on a certain amount of gas.

J_A_B

[Batz]

ccvi thats not better milage, it a longer distance traveled on 25% gas.

Higher rpm means your flying faster (in ah) and can cover a greater distance in less time. MP is the same.

Maybe you should read it again.

[Soulyss]

Better milage at higher RPM. LOLOLOL!!

Didn't Charles Lindberg spend all that time in the south pacific teaching the army pilots better cruise methods.... and didn't he advocate cruising at high RPM and low manifold pressure?....

[Golfer]

Oy, I had a feeling when i stumbled on the very first posting the idea of a complex aircraft would confuse the masses.  I think you'll have to ask "the man" himself on this one, Are Vee.  Engine and Fuel management isn't important in this game, unfortunately, as it is for an estute aircraft owner such as yourself as they don't foot the bills for an annual on their computer-generated high performance fighter plane.  I hope AH2 has the option to adjust mixture settings (try explaining engine leaning to some of these folks who play the game.  I understand the process and because of the technical mumbo jumbo had to re-read an article in Flyingmag just about running lean of peak...i think it was JMac that wrote the article) as i know for a fact it was a problem specifically with P-38 pilots who had minimal twin time before going into combat.  Once pounced by some German "twittlers" they would have to move fuel selectors to internal tanks, jettison drop tanks, adjust prop/power/mixture settings to combat settings all while being shot at and trying to evade.  A LOT of lightning pilots died because they simply hadn't the experience in twins (as few as 20 hours before being sent into combat) and didn't know how to handle the additional complexity of multi-engined aircraft.

A great addition to add realism to gameplay...absolutely!  How many guys takeoff from a sea level base and climb to 20k without giving mixture settings a thought?  Imagine cruising along at 20k fat dumb and happy ready to roll in on a target and have your engine conk out because you didn't advance the mixture with the thickening atmosphere on your way down in your 45 degree dive...even worse you dont glance at your EGT gauge and you blow your engine leaving you no way home.  Bring the Mixture control to Aces High, and watch the masses fall from the sky around your base...rated PG-13.

[ccvi]

Originally posted by Batz
ccvi thats not better milage, it a longer distance traveled on 25% gas.

IHMO milage is distance travelled per certain amount of gas. (e.g. miles per gallon, or miles per 25% maximum tank). YMMV.

Originally posted by Soulyss
Didn't Charles Lindberg spend all that time in the south pacific teaching the army pilots better cruise methods.... and didn't he advocate cruising at high RPM and low manifold pressure?....

Sure, high loads at very low engine speeds are incredibly bad for the life time of the engine.

[funkedup]

The RPM effect varies from airplane to airplane in AH.  Don't count on it unless you have done controlled testing to measure fuel consumption at different settings.

The thing that does work is FLYING SLOWER.  For most of these planes you get best range flying between 175 and 200 mph, and best endurance flying between 150 and 175 mph.  Slow down (via throttle or RPM or both, depending on the airplane) and you will fly farther and longer.

[Midnight]

http://www.brauncomustangs.org/412th_trn_avionics.htm

[Batz]

I know what you meant but you travel a whopping 1.5 miles further at 3000rpm then at 2000.

The difference between the fuel you burned and the speed increase easily makes that up.

Mil power auto takeoff. Auto level flight until engine stop. Check flight distance from map.

RPM/Boost = mails
2k / 80 = 10
3k / 80 = 11
2k / 40 = 11,5
3k / 40 = 13

So you may run out fuel faster but you cover more ground.

[F4UDOA]

Soulyss,

You got it backwards.

Lindberg used high MAP low RPM. Not the other way around;)