Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
#4099457 - 03/31/15 01:48 AM Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots.  
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 483
Aullido Offline
Member
Aullido  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 483
Or any other twin-engine fighter.

I am doing a profile for the Warthog and I plan to release it to the community. Why I need to know is if you use separated power settings as a combat tactic (I am not an expert pilot on anything.)

Right now I plan to use both levers to control the engines at land to facilitate taxi turning (for bombers) and then use the right lever to control both engines in fly while I use the left to control propeller pitch, but maybe I am restricting some tricks that separated engine management could allow.

I can made the profile to change both modes on the fly, I just need to know if it is worth the trouble.

Thanks.

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4099828 - 03/31/15 07:38 PM Re: Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots. [Re: Aullido]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,522
Wklink Offline
Permanent Latrine Orderly
Wklink  Offline
Permanent Latrine Orderly
Hotshot

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,522
Olympia, Washington
If I remember right from my Aces High days you could really get a better turn radius with the P-38 by using engine management like you describe. I would cut either the right or left engine in a turn and 'snap' the plane around faster. It was tricky, I ended up in flat spins more often than I would like to admit but it was effective. I had a buddy that was expert at this.

The Bf110 wasn't as good. The P-38's engines counter rotated against each other so the torque effect would be negated in level flight. It also meant that cutting and engine would produce a torque steer effect in both directions. If I remember right the Bf110's DB601a engines were identical meaning the torque effect would only go one way. It was modeled in Aces High but I can't guarantee all WW2 flight simulators modeled this.

Hope it helps.


The artist formerly known as SimHq Tom Cofield
#4156527 - 08/12/15 04:33 AM Re: Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots. [Re: Aullido]  
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5,555
VF9_Longbow Offline
Hotshot
VF9_Longbow  Offline
Hotshot

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5,555
Tokyo, Japan
(P-38 guy here, flew it nearly exclusively in every sim from the beginning of time..!!)

In my experience asymmetrical thrust does not help much in turns. Think about the thrust line of the engines, when you reduce the thrust of one engine, all you're doing is causing the plane to yaw into the weaker side. You could just as easily achieve the same effect by pressing the rudder pedal.

As an unintended negative consequence you'll actually make your energy situation worse because an uncoordinated / slipping turn is draggy, and also because the full thrust of both engines is not being used to propel the aircraft, your turn rate will actually decrease.


If you want fast turns in the P-38 I recommend staying at the best rate of turn speed, with combat flaps as necessary.

I found that the P-38 can often outmaneuver almost every other fighter while you're both still going fast, and especially in the first 1-3 turns, but the moment the speeds drop below 230ish MPH you will be in big trouble when fighting a smaller aircraft.

If you're positive you can kill him in the first few turns, turnfighting is ok (Just point the nose ahead of where he's going to be and fire the 50's and cannon, then lead the shot once he enters the stream of fire.)

But if you know he's a good fighter or your energy state is already poor, you should consider booming and zooming from the beginning.

As the above poster mentioned, if you dip the throttle of one engine lower for a moment, you can get a snappier roll out of the P-38, but I would advise that the speeds where this happen would be in my "low energy" area, I would avoid doing it unless you're already in trouble. I would use combat or takeoff flaps while doing this too. If you're too fast for takeoff flaps, you're too fast for the roll trick to work anyway.

#4156699 - 08/12/15 02:17 PM Re: Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots. [Re: Aullido]  
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,611
KRT_Bong Offline
It's KRT not Kurt
KRT_Bong  Offline
It's KRT not Kurt
Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,611
Sarasota, Florida
The 110 has poor rudder authority and can't make up the loss of speed in a hurry I wouldn't try to turn fight in it at all. The P-38, by lowering prop pitch to 85% you can get around 330 mph out of it (in IL-2) making it hard to catch if you use energy management boom and zoom tactics. Also IL-2 always seems to make you shed the booms or empennage on most hits so I try not to get into a turning fight where they can latch on to my tail.


Windows 10 Pro
Gigabyte 970A DS3P FX
AMD FX6300 Vishera 3.5 Ghz
ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 970 Overclocked 4 GB DDR5
16Gb Patriot Viper 3 RAM DDR3 1866Mhz
Onikuma Gaming Headset (has annoying blue lights I don't use)
#4156903 - 08/13/15 12:41 AM Re: Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots. [Re: Aullido]  
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
jenrick Offline
Member
jenrick  Offline
Member

Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
I really don't know of twin engine fighter from that era that is a turning fighter overall. As noted a P-38 can do it in the right arena for a while, but eventually it will loose too much E and it's downhill from there. I would treat it just like a modern fighter, sure it's got 2 engines, and you use them both all the time unless you can't.

-Jenrick

#4157771 - 08/15/15 12:01 PM Re: Help from P-38 or Bf-110 expert pilots. [Re: VF9_Longbow]  
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,204
DrZebra Offline
crash-professional
DrZebra  Offline
crash-professional
Member

Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,204
steppe
Originally Posted By: VF9_Longbow
asymmetrical thrust does not help much in turns. Think about the thrust line of the engines, when you reduce the thrust of one engine, all you're doing is causing the plane to yaw into the weaker side. You could just as easily achieve the same effect by pressing the rudder pedal.

As an unintended negative consequence you'll actually make your energy situation worse because an uncoordinated / slipping turn is draggy


This..


Moderated by  Andy Bush, RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
10 years after 3/8/2014
by NoFlyBoy. 03/17/24 10:25 AM
Hans Zimmer North American concert tour 2024
by NoFlyBoy. 03/16/24 10:54 PM
Steam Spring Sale.
by RedToo. 03/15/24 09:09 PM
Starship Attempt Three
by F4UDash4. 03/14/24 12:06 PM
This is one cool turbofan model
by Zamzow. 03/14/24 02:41 AM
Map Errors
by F4UDash4. 03/13/24 11:25 AM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0