Deadsticking the pony

[Baine]

Anyone got any suggestions for deadstick landing the pony. While I can easily do it on other planes, a powerless pony seems to have the glide characteristics of a wet brick. I've tried flaps and no flaps, but I always seem to stall out and do a gear-shattering, plane-breaking helicopter landing everytime.

[Soda]

Do you reduce rpms on the engine to improve your glide?  It's really important to do so and when I've done it on the P-51 it becomes probably the best glider in the game.  It's almost insane and can be tough to control your speed because it wants to keep going forever.

-Soda
AH Trainer Corps
The Assassins.

[Tarmac]

What soda said.  No flaps, either, unless you're trying to bleed speed.  Don't fight to keep her level, go a bit nose down and keep the speed up (250 or maybe more).

I was amazed the first time I tried gliding in a P51... went over a whole sector and landed deadstick off of about 7k altitude IIRC.

[SlapShot]

Am I confused ... he said "deadstick" "powerless" pony. Is adjusting engine rpm not a consideration on an engine that is not running ?

[Soulyss]

I dunno if you can adjust the rpm's once the engine stops running... but if you do it right before the engine conks out on ya it will improve your glide performance.

[Soda]

I power off my engine sometimes when I'm low on gas and want to save my last little bit for landing.  I adjust the rpms all the time without the engine running.  I tend to have to do it in the Typhoon though which glides like a stone.

-Soda
AH Trainer Corps
The Assassins.

[BenDover]

you can change the angle of the blades IF the prop is windmilling (No power from engine, spinning do to wind).

But if the prop shaft is nackered and the prop isn't spining, you can't reduce RMPs. At least i don't think you can.

Wander if we'll get real feathering in AH2

[Baine]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've never tried adjusting the RPMs (which I take to mean reducing the throttle right before the engine conks) because I didn't think variable prop pitch was modeled in AH. Cool. I'd like to say I can't wait to try it next time I find myself with a bone dry gas tank

[BenDover]

No, thats the throttle.

You adjust RPMs with the + & - key on the num pad (far right)

[gofaster]

No, you adjust RPMs with keys (I remapped mine and can't remember what keys they are).  The throttle controls the manifold pressure, which increases/decreases engine RPMs to accellerate/decellerate.  But, you can go full throttle and still control your engine RPMs using the keys to change propeller pitch (the angle of the blade that catches the wind).  By decreasing RPMs, you're changing the angle of the blade so that it grabs more wind but keeps the same speed.  In the case of a dying engine, the increased pitch of the blade puts a smaller "face" to the wind so that the wind will pass cleaner through the propeller arc, reducing drag.

[RTR]

Yep no flaps..
I have found that  at  a rate of decent of 1000ft/min the pony will go quite a distance (although slowly). Increasing speed means increasing sink rate which means shorter glide distance before the trees get real big. Use the best glide to get back to an airfield, however at such a slow speed, landing is next to impossible. Once I am in range and I know I will make the field with altitude to spare, I increase my rate of sink giving me a higher airspeed to set up for landing. Flaps will only slow you down. I generally slide the pony on between 150 and 200mph, when I am deadstick. No flaps, and don't put gear down until you are established on short final (very short..IE about to cross the threshold).
Also, holding a "known" sink rate, and knowing your altitude and airspeed, and the elevation of the field you are trying to make, allows you to do the "math" and figure out what your glide distance. Once you know how far you can go, you can figure out if you will make the field or not. ( I have balled up more than one pony on uneven terrain, cause I screwed up and didnt have the glide distance).
Hope this helps, and was somewhat clear. (Sometimes I think I invent my own language and grammar rules hehe).
Cheers
RTR

[Blue Mako]

Best glide speed (for covering distance) for the pony is about 200mph.  Set engine RPM to min (to minimise drag due to the prop windmilling) and set auto speed to 200 and you can travel a loooooooong way.

Also, to answer and earlier question, most single engine aircraft do not have a prop feathering feature.  This is usually only found on multi engine a/c.

[Kweassa]

I  distinctly remeber learning from these boards, in the past, that a plane's best glide speed is usually the same as it's climb speed.

 I also specifically remember a chart Pyro(was it Pyro?) showed me, that the best glide speed for an unpowered P-51D, was 175mph.

 So I guess it can be said that usually about 175~200mph speed is optimum glide speed for almost all planes in AH.

 The best glider is of course, the Me163, which the airframe itself, is made as a glider in the first place, in 1942. That thing flies forever at about 150mph glide speed.

 The second best, from what I've experienced, was the Ta152H-1. I remember running out of fuel at mere 5000ft altitude - nearest base was more than 17miles away. I landed it safely at the base.

 Some planes, seem quite fishy - La-7s for instance, while it has been said it's glide was corrected, it still glides insanely well.

 Reducing the RPM does seem to have a positive effect, although it could be that in some cases it might be placebo.

[BenDover]

LA7, with stubby little wing like that?
Would've thought it would drop like a brick tbh.

Speaking bricks....how well does the p47 glide?

[Flyboy]

a squadie of mine glided a P47d-11 when he was out of fuel for 3 sectors

we started at about 25k