1.0 fuel burn in main arena

[Yossarian]

I say the number of Spitfire 16s, La7s, etc etc really does not matter, and that we should have a 1.5 fuel burn as a compromise.

[Bronk]

Having the actual historic range would imply your missions ran the actual historic ranges. Most airfields are 1 sector apart. Sectors are only 25 miles square.

You want historic fuel, make it so you have to fly 2 hours before seeing the enemy. Oh, wait, people won't pay to do that in an MMO flight sim.

If you're interested in historic ranges try historic throttle settings (read: not FFS).

I regularly take 100% and DTs in 190s of all types, and I usually can fly around (assuming I'm not killed early on!) for 40-mins and more on internal fuel only, including multiple engagements that require WEP. This is in the MAs with 2x fuel burn.

If your mission ran 2-3 hours long, it's your own fault for not getting to the point faster. If you ran out of gas in under 30 minutes with 100%+DT you didn't take full fuel in any 190 variant. Even if you ran full WEP as much as you could as long as you could, the 190s with DTs will still give you over half an hour of full throttle. This increases GREATLY by easing back off the throttles by the smallest margins.

I think hell is freezing over... or something.
 

[Anaxogoras]

I say the number of Spitfire 16s, La7s, etc etc really does not matter, and that we should have a 1.5 fuel burn as a compromise.

I would be happy with that.  I'm really not scared of La-7s or Spit XVIs.

[Helm]

I say the number of Spitfire 16s, La7s, etc etc really does not matter, and that we should have a 1.5 fuel burn as a compromise.

An Excellent idea



Helm ...out

[Oleg]

I like x2 multiplier.

[Saxman]

Cruise settings are your friend.

[Spikes]

What about a burn of 1.7 or so. This way it gives planes that deserve it a little more range, but not completely letting Ponies fly the whole map on 25%

[B4Buster]

I don't like the idea because the lack of range of some planes is what keeps people out of planes like the lala and slpit

[Babalonian]

I've never had a fuel problem doing bomber escorts, but I also enjoy the challenge of flying a mission where my biggest enemy is myself (the plane I'm flying, how I fly it and especialy how much fuel I burn while doing it all) followed by the guys trying to shoot my bombers.

First, as a fighter, you can safely take off 10-15 minutes after the bombers have, or much later from a closer airfield and then rondevou with them.  This isn't hard but it does typicaly take more coordination than you'll find on the MA (bombers take off a A1, escort takes off at A11 at T+20, escort waits for bombers to arrive at A22, everyone heads to target A33 after the rondevou).

The main thing though as a fighter is to get above the bombers and then cut back your fuel consumption to often less than maximum cruise.  You want to match the bombers speed as closely as you can (communication between the escorts and the bombers for matching speeds and headings makes this a lot easier).  Not only do you save fuel by burning it at a much lower rate, but you save time/distance by not having to waste fuel for circling around the bombers (as you fly ahead of them when going faster).  When enemy contacts show up, throttle up and drop down to the bomber's alt as needed.

Something I've recently experienced with most of my sorties in the BoB '08 scenario (flying 109s, we had maybe one sortie where we weren't escorting JU88s or JU87s), the thing that struck me the most this scenario wasn't that we were burnning so little fuel while escorting (just matching our escort's speed and heading, 5k above them as they cruised and climbed to target), but that we would burn up so much fuel when we weren't cruising above our buffs and had to engage the enemy.  WEP or no WEP, more than 10 -15 minutes at full throttle and I would have to calculate breaking formation early for fuel while escorting the bombers back home (ontop of whatever fuel I would need to rejoin and catch-up with the formation flying ahead to it's target, since our combat engagements with the RAF rarely if never continued to follow our escort (and often this was a much larger waste of fuel than the brief combat engagements we had to chase the RAF away from our bombers)).

[SouthLanda]

I have been switching to flying the Spitfire Mk14 and even on cruise settings, its extreemly difficult to have enough fuel to climb to combat altitude for an extended mission.

Several times, I have tried escorting bombers and have not been able to engage the intercepting fighters due to critical fuel shortage.

The Mk14 needs to be flown at 18,000 feet or above 23,000 feet for maximum effectivness. A full power in a climb that is 5 minutes to 18k and another 2 to 23k. To acheive 400 mph requires full power. Fuel burn at x2 is around 270 GPH

The spitfire's small belly tank at x2 multiplyer is nealy exhausted by 18000 feet.


May I suggest that perk planes be given a 1x multiplyer?

[Saxman]

That would work if all the perk planes had tiny gas tanks. But you're forgetting the F4U-4 which has good range on internal fuel as it is, and also carries too LARGE 150-gallon external tanks.

Try reducing power on your climb.

[Karnak]

Reducing power on climb out generally results in an aircraft consuming more fuel by the time it reaches the desired altitude.

[LLogann]

I'm going to be rude and not read past page 1...............

Second. The fighter cover of the MoM missions often has to turn back (even the ponies!) due to fuel.

But...  As in the "real" war, is what we have.  The same fighter squadron never went a full mission.  In the Pacific you had Ponies bring the bombers up to alt and then go home.  Jugs, from a separate base now meet the bombers at drop alt and follow along with them.  Same Jugs never escorted them all the way home.

On long missions, another group of Jugs may be needed.

2.0 keeps the game close to the truth.

[Puck]

Cruise settings are your friend.

Heretic.  All aircraft in WWII were flown balls-out full throttle all the time (even when starting the engine).  Lindbergh was in the PTO teaching fuel management only in so far as the throttle was safety-wired to the firewall.

I used to fly virtual long range jets; did an around-the-world tour in a Lear once (X-Plane) over the course of two weeks.  I'd take off, get on course, set the auto-pilot, then go do something less boring (like watching grass clippings decompose).  I still do that in bombers...take off, set the auto-pilot...back to the compost heap until it's time to line up for the bombing run.  Why on earth would anyone want to fly two hours to get shot down in a fighter?

I can see the log books.  Total flight time: 2:15:02.  Total combat time: 00:00:02.  Result: Popped by a BnZ cherry picker immediatly after contact with the enema.

[MotleyCH]

For a P-51D, you can fly for about two hours at Max Cruise Settings.

In real life, they didn't fly around with the throttle at full.