P-51B

[MADe]

So,
I did a escort mission with the 49th tonight. P-51B at 30K. I could not get the dern thing to fly faster than 200-225. WEP included.

The speed chart says I should have been able to get up around 400+/-.

What am I missing here. Was pretty much reduced to a look out, could not keep with the bombers or help defend them as I would have liked too, why please?

ps: Happy Holidays AH'ers

[Lusche]

So,
I did a escort mission with the 49th tonight. P-51B at 30K. I could not get the dern thing to fly faster than 200-225.

Indicated or true airspeed? 225 IAS is about 360 TAS at that altitude. But even then the 51B is indeed faster at 30k, though it takes a long time to get to speed and not much to lose it again quickly at that altitude. I never had any problems to reach the charted speeds at any alt in the 51B, so it might have been a different issue (RPM?)

[MADe]

Indicated or true airspeed? 225 IAS is about 360 TAS at that altitude. But even then the 51B is indeed faster at 30k, though it takes a long time to get to speed and not much to lose it again quickly at that altitude. I never had any problems to reach the charted speeds at any alt in the 51B, so it might have been a different issue (RPM?)

tanx for reply.
I believe I was stating IAS. Either way I was just too slow and could not get the speed up to be of use as an escort.
What do the speed charts indicate, IAS or TAS?
Besides the throttle and RPM choices, what affects an aircrafts speed that I can adjust? I fly with combat trim mostly.

I'm not a real pilot, just a video jock. Many things are beyond my mind set went it comes to flying AH. I also do not fly AH as much others seem too. I cannot sit in a chair for hours on end. Get bored and frustrated after a couple of hours, sometimes even sooner. I just happen to love airplanes and ww2 combat tactics.

What is the fastest fighter at 30k?

[Lusche]

What do the speed charts indicate, IAS or TAS?

TAS

Besides the throttle and RPM choices, what affects an aircrafts speed that I can adjust? I fly with combat trim mostly.

Not much. Combat trim has no impact on that. By the way, you can test it without investing much time in the TA, there's a 30K base (I think rook) you can take off from. Fly straight & level at WEP or MIL and see where you end up

What is the fastest fighter at 30k?

Prop fighter: P-47M/N, Ta 152H-1, Spitfire 14, F4U-4.   The Ta 152H has a considerable advantage of having a very generous 10/5(cooldown) min WEP cycle (F4U & P-47s 5/10, Spit XIV 5/15).

[BaldEagl]

It sounds to me like you either left the gear down or dropped a notch of flaps.  I've done both before, most recently just a couple of weeks ago (flaps down trying to RTB). 

If the plane's not doing what it's supposed to run through the checklist; flight attitude, throttle, rpm, gear, flaps, trailing smoke (if yes losing oil, losing fuel, engine overheating), missing parts, trim, calibration.  It's always one of these.

[Vraciu]

It sounds to me like you either left the gear down or dropped a notch of flaps.  I've done both before, most recently just a couple of weeks ago (flaps down trying to RTB). 

If the plane's not doing what it's supposed to run through the checklist; flight attitude, throttle, rpm, gear, flaps, trailing smoke (if yes losing oil, losing fuel, engine overheating), missing parts, trim, calibration.  It's always one of these.

Drop tanks?

[MADe]

Nope, I'm afraid it was none of the listed items. Believe me I checked.
No biggie, I will just have to work on it and test it a bit.
tanx

[FLS]

Keep in mind that angle of attack affects speed. At high altitude it's easy to increase AOA and reduce speed without seeing much increase in climb rate.

[pembquist]

In case you didn't know, the red indicator on the airspeed indicator indicates TAS.