Radiator settings without Tech Chat

[RedKestrel]

I've played around with turning technochat off in the game and find I really enjoy the game more when I do this - I find it a bit more immersive. I have a throttle quadrant which helps immensely in terms of mixture, RPM and turbo. The only issue I have with it is the radiator settings on some planes. For example, the Yaks all have fully manual radiators and just have unmarked wheels for moving them, there is no indicator in the cockpit for what the radiators are set to. 

For people who do not use tech chat - what do you do to mentally keep track of what your radiators are doing? Do you just watch the temperature and adjust accordingly, or do you have rules of thumbs such as 'so many turns of the wheel from closed for cruise, so many more for combat'.

[Hartigan]

In most Soviet fighters trims and radiator wheels turn 2and½ rounds from 0-100%. So i set both oil and coolant radiator 1,25 round open = 50% before takeoff. Then i just watch temps and make adjustments during flight. Same apply for trims. Rudder trim first -or+ 100% and then 1,25 round in the middle before takeoff.

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

What I did to learn the Yak radiators was to go into a QMB solo flight with the tech chat ON.  Note the 'cross' in the center of the radiator wheels and the pitch trimmer wheel.  Use that to measure out 1/2 turn for each wheel and see what % it opens the radiator or adjusts the trim.  IIRC.  1/2 turn of the trimmer gives +/- 20% of adjustment and the radiator wheels give +/- 10% of adjustment.  

 

17 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

I've played around with turning technochat off in the game and find I really enjoy the game more when I do this - I find it a bit more immersive. I have a throttle quadrant which helps immensely in terms of mixture, RPM and turbo. The only issue I have with it is the radiator settings on some planes. For example, the Yaks all have fully manual radiators and just have unmarked wheels for moving them, there is no indicator in the cockpit for what the radiators are set to. 

For people who do not use tech chat - what do you do to mentally keep track of what your radiators are doing? Do you just watch the temperature and adjust accordingly, or do you have rules of thumbs such as 'so many turns of the wheel from closed for cruise, so many more for combat'.

 

[Pict]

4 hours ago, Mobile_BBQ said:

Note the 'cross' in the center of the radiator wheels and the pitch trimmer wheel

 

Golden tip from an excellent observation 

 

22 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

For people who do not use tech chat - what do you do to mentally keep track of what your radiators are doing? Do you just watch the temperature and adjust accordingly, or do you have rules of thumbs such as 'so many turns of the wheel from closed for cruise, so many more for combat

 

While Mobile_BBQ's comment above answers your question superbly, being a long time advocate of a technochat free IL2 experience I would like to add a little to that. Edit: ok it turned out to be more than a little  

 

I've found that flying without the tc on has (after a period of time) the effect of increasing your awareness in a way that I feel more connected to the aircraft I'm flying. Checking the gauges becomes second nature and not just the oil & water temps, but everything that keeps you in the air.

 

Many people tend to fly the Yak flat out in both RPM & manifold pressure and then try to keep it cool by opening the radiators. This is counter productive I think as high engine settings, RPM in particular, cause high heat and to counter this with radiators also causes increased drag. So there is a point where a lower RPM setting is more beneficial than a higher one. This point varies greatly depending on altitude, air temperature and generally what your attempting to do with the aeroplane, so there is no hard and fast rule for setting it.

 

A nice little alarm feature that can be seen while checking your six is a vapor trail letting you know the engine is starting to cook   Not often encountered by the technochat flier as he will have had the literal heads up and avoided reaching that situation by then.

 

So my tip is get plenty of time in on type, but do so on summer, winter & fall maps at a variety of altitudes, all the while pushing it till it breaks in every direction. Then get into the habit of backing of the RPM & the MP and note the difference.

 

Soon enough you will be setting the radiator flaps partially open, then controlling the engine temps with your RPM lever. And this is pretty much how I fly, presetting the radiator flaps and MP, then flying her on the RPM, only tweaking the other settings until all is settled nicely.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Pict
Update

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

3 hours ago, Pict said:

 

 1).  Many people tend to fly the Yak flat out in both RPM & manifold pressure and then try to keep it cool by opening the radiators. This is counter productive I think as high engine settings, RPM in particular, cause high heat and to counter this with radiators also causes increased drag. So there is a point where a lower RPM setting is more beneficial than a higher one. This point varies greatly depending on altitude, air temperature and generally what your attempting to do with the aeroplane, so there is no hard and fast rule for setting it.

 

2). A nice little alarm feature that can be seen while checking your six is a vapor trail letting you know the engine is starting to cook   Not often encountered by the technochat flier as he will have had the literal heads up and avoided reaching that situation by then.

 

1). Very true. Even though you can run like a bat out of hell or at "max continuous" with the rads wide open, you often don't achieve any better speed than flying reduced settings efficiently.  You're also robbing yourself of the potential to throw on the extra power in-reserve for 1 or 2 "how the hell did he do that?' moves or a minute or two of "unofficial combat mode."  Don't be afraid to 100% it, but be very careful in deciding when you have to.  

 

Mind you, I don't run all that much reduced with Yaks.  I usually keep the between 2450 and 2550 and the RPM around 8 -10 on the manifold dial with a happy medium at 9.  It seems in most environments it's enough to set the water radiator so it is open as far as it will go without sticking into the wind.   The oil radiator sticks into the wind regardless, so I adjust as needed.

 

2). A nice thing about the Russian oil and water temp gauges is that they are easy to read and even marked in such a way that the optimal temperature range is easy to see.  Technochat doesn't even keep track of that until it's already critical.    

[Barnacles]

On 2/6/2020 at 3:10 PM, RedKestrel said:

I've played around with turning technochat off in the game and find I really enjoy the game more when I do this - I find it a bit more immersive. I have a throttle quadrant which helps immensely in terms of mixture, RPM and turbo. The only issue I have with it is the radiator settings on some planes. For example, the Yaks all have fully manual radiators and just have unmarked wheels for moving them, there is no indicator in the cockpit for what the radiators are set to. 

For people who do not use tech chat - what do you do to mentally keep track of what your radiators are doing? Do you just watch the temperature and adjust accordingly, or do you have rules of thumbs such as 'so many turns of the wheel from closed for cruise, so many more for combat'.

Firstly, there are four spokes on the yak's radiator wheels. Wen you move to the next spoke, that's 10%. I would just remember what they were set at, then add/subtract 10% as appropriate. That's how I did it for quite a bit.

 

I then realised that I wasn't so bothered about where the wheels were actually set, it was more important to monitor the trend in temperature on the gauges, then adjust the rads as appropriate in 10% increments, so I don't even bother remembering now. You go pretty much the same speed as everyone else.

 

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

I just thought this might be relevant too: 

 

Multiple up/down changes in throttle settings and/or RPM settings in rapid succession will increase the oil temperature.  Obviously cutting power will add to cooling, but cutting then adding, cutting then adding, over and over again won't.  

 

Stay smooth with your adjustments and if you expect a prolonged turn fight, you might want to open the rads a bit more asap, or throw them wide open and deal with the extra drag.