Why is my Spitfire engine always dying?

[Ursyne]

Pardon the probably very beginner question, but everytime I fly the Spitfire, I always lose my engine before even making it to the conflict line. 

Ive tried everything but it seems my oil refuses to cool down. I've tried flying at 2600RPM with 60% throttle and the oil temp still just gradually climbs and never comes back down. 

I have been using the same dial hotkeys for oil and water radiator on all the planes I fly, but for some reason in this plane they seem to be doing nothing (I see no gears being moved in cockpit and with HUD on I see no indication of my dials doing anything). 

If I try to go at a higher altitude faster, and do something like 2800RPM with 75% throttle for a bit of a faster climb, by the time Im above the clouds my oil temps are near critical and if I cut my engine and just let myself glide, the temps never go back down, and I just lose my engine within a minute afterwards. 

How exactly am I supposed to be flying this thing? 

Bonus Question: I have no hotkeys for prop pitch, does this plane need it?
 

[xThrottle_Geek]

Must.. Find... Prop...  Pitch....  Key....      

 

Yep. Prop pitch will solve some of your problems.

 

P.S. Been flying German mostly eh?

Edited August 4, 2017 by =CAF=xThrottle_Geek

[Cybermat47]

Must.. Find... Prop...  Pitch....  Key....      

Read his post, he's been monitoring his RPM and keeping it well regulated.

[TP_Silk]

If you are using tech tips you will find that 2650 and boost 7 works out at around 74% of throttle and of prop pitch.. That is the setting for maximum continuous. Climb and/or combat settings are a bit more. Climb is a maximum of around 2850 with boost 9 for a limited time.

 

Having said which, you will get way more out of the sim by learning to watch cockpit gauges instead of tech tips.

[xThrottle_Geek]

Read his post, he's been monitoring his RPM and keeping it well regulated.

The bonus question would beg to differ

[54th_Glitter_]

i think your problem is water radiator key. In spitfire is a different key, the 110 water radiator key at key mapping menu.

 

Water radiator 40% open works fine the most of the time, peaking to 60% when needed.

 

BTW a good post on engine management here:

 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/29968-spitfire-engine-control-management/

[Jizzo]

You must map the keys for 110 water radiator, that should solve your problem.

Edited August 4, 2017 by [TWB]Jizzo

[TP_Silk]

You must map the keys for 110 water radiator, that should solve your problem.

 

To a degree. If his Boost/RPM is still too high then he'll still run into problems eventually. Get the Boost, RPM and cooling all right and she's as happy as a bird.

[6./ZG26_5tuka]

The oil radiator is automated on the Spitfire. It can only overheat when your water does.

 

Nornal radiator opening is 40%, for climb at high power settings you might use 60%.

[Herne]

most likely the radiator. its a 5 step radiator, like others have said, same as the BF110. you'll see something that looks a bit like a handbrake down where your legs should be on the left hand side. it moves forward as you open the radiator

[TP_Silk]

I read somewhere that the Mk Vb had a reputation for quickly overheating on the ground if the engine was left running too long, so one of the very first things I try and do is to open the water radiator fully for taxi-ing and take-off then close it a little once airborne. Of course local weather condition will influence whether you need it open at all or how far you need it open, but I tend to practice on a map set to summer.

 

Slightly OT - I'm sure there are many things I do wrong when flying this beauty in game, but as long as it works and doesn't mess me up then all's fine. I tend to taxi at 0% RPM for instance as that allows me to steer with pretty much just rudder authority. Knocking the throttle up to around 20% to get moving then back down to about 7-8% to taxi along and she's gentle as a lamb and eager to go where you want her. Doing all this with the water rads fully open just means that I can take my time and not have to rush.

[ZachariasX]

You best map prop rpm on an axis!

 

When you say "it refuses to cool down", what did you do to get temps up? Just normal flight?

 

40% position is actually the intended radiator position for flight. It is the minimum drag position. Check that the lever moves and is in the correct position. Most important: stay fast! accellerate > 200 mph. The Spit is a fast plane (even if other planes might be faster) and it is designed to fly fast. More speed will give you better cooling than opening the rads. If necessary, dive for speed, using low power. Lean mixture means hotter engine.

 

Opening the rads is for ground operations mostly. All ground operations require the rad to be fully open. Be airborne in less than 10 minutes, else the engine will cook. In the air, adjust as necessary, but again, if the "40% position" is not enough, you are probably doing something you shouldn't. Even when flying the pattern, you leave rads in the least drag position. You only open it should ground control prolong your flight at that stage.

 

About closing the shutter to the first ratchet position after "fully closed": I'm not sure about the Mk.V, but in the Mk.II it then divertes hot air to the guns to warm them up at high altitude. So, it is not just "half as open".

Edit: also with the Mk.V the "20% position" divertes hot air to the guns also in the Mk.V

 

Moving the lever forward of the 3rd position of the ratchet ("40%") will progressively open the radiatior, requiring more power for the same airspeed. You can cool your engine by reducing power, opening the rads and descend such to maintain reasonable airspeed. Telling from the Mk.II, do not start a climb before you reached 140 mph. Never climb using lean mixture.

 

It is a problem that only maximum values for engine opeations are listed here:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/25993-aircraft-flight-and-technical-specifications-and-operational/?do=findComment&comment=468905

 

Normal flight regime for flight is significantly below these stated maximums. Those are good for take-off.

 

[Edit: removed settings recommendations, see Pilots Manual below]

I'm not on my gaming rig right now, but off the top of my head these are values that might work for the Merlin 46. I need to doublecheck. But usually, people have deeply unsound engine settings when they are cooking their engines. And just because you're not exceeding max power output doesn't mean you can't cook your engine. Like in your car, sitting idle in traffic stresses your engine much more than highway driving. In the old days, you could cook your Alfa Romeo very easily like that on a hot day. Yes, turning on the heater when it's 35 degrees centigrades, so much for comfort in classic cars.

 

Edit: Here the pages from the Pilots Booklet.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by ZachariasX