To those of us who have decried the "unbalancing" impact of the Ostwind, N1K2, CHOG, G10, 190, SpitIX, StratoFort laser-guided bombing, and most other planes at one time or another...
AH is a fantastic sim, given the scope of what it is attempting to model. Sure, there may be some idiosyncracies here and there and minor problems that need to be (and likely will be) addressed. AH is still growing, as are we pilots, and the development team grows with us.
But consider for a moment the typical pilot of these splendid simulated machines.
How many of you firewall the throttle and keep it there until you dive in on your prey?
If Hitech or Superfly could snap their fingers and make everything 100% realistic, I'm will to bet that 90% of AH pilots would be swimming with the sheep before reaching 10K'on their first sortie of the evening.
90% of you... I include myself in this number... maybe even 95% or 99%... firewall the throttle at takeoff. We climb to 10 or 15 or 20 thousand feet and accelerate to max level speed at well above redline MP and prop RPM on our way to the fight. MAYBE we occasionally increase the prop pitch to shift into overdrive and save fuel. I usually do power back a bit at cruise.
I remember watching an F4U training film once. The F4U used some incredibly low power setting at cruise, like 25" MP and 1200 RPM. CHOG is my ride, so I better watch the film again and check.
But my point is this. We fly these birds, however well modelled, well above their normal capability. For the most part, we pilots are uber, not the planes.
The fact is, you simply CAN'T run a turbocharged engine at full MP anywhere within 2 or 3 miles of sea level for an extended period, especially when leaned for best power (which AH does automatically or not at all) without leaving cylinders as souvenirs for the children watching the dogfights from below. CHT and EGT (cylinder head temp and exhaust gas temp) climb far too high too fast and stress critical engine components. You literally burn up the engine from the inside out until metal melts or cracks under the stress and things go BOOM and stop in a hurry.
We all want realism, to one degree or another. I certainly do. But let's not put the entire burden on HTC. We make these planes do things they were never designed to do anyway.
Of course, it would sure be boring to cruise around at 150 KIAS in my C-HOG.
Frankly,I wouldn't mind seeing at least a slightly more dynamic modeling of engines and power settings. We really should be able to at least overheat and damage the engine if we climb for too long at full power and low airpseed.
Just my $.02. Nothing earth shaking at all!
PS if you want to see how these planes were REALY flown, you can watch WWII training videos on line at
www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com Great stuff, I higly recommend them.
American planes only though.
BigBen
[This message has been edited by BigBen (edited 10-23-2000).]
