Armored cowl flaps

[TAIPAN_]

Does anyone know which aircraft have armored cowl inlet flaps? i.e. you can close the inlet cowls when attacking bombers or ground targets to protect the engine?

 

I know IL-2 oil radiator is armored when closed, but I heard some radials also have armored flaps (inlet I think). Not sure which aircraft and how well it's modeled?

 

Attacking bombers I get shot in the nose by the AI gunners alot it would be cool to know which ones are worth closing down inlets etc temporarily to protect the engine

[FTC_DerSheriff]

I never have heard that. It might give you some protection but the inlet flaps sre so thin. I cant imagine that this really plays a major role

[THERION]

2 hours ago, Dan_Taipan said:

Does anyone know which aircraft have armored cowl inlet flaps? i.e. you can close the inlet cowls when attacking bombers or ground targets to protect the engine?

 

I know IL-2 oil radiator is armored when closed, but I heard some radials also have armored flaps (inlet I think). Not sure which aircraft and how well it's modeled?

 

Attacking bombers I get shot in the nose by the AI gunners alot it would be cool to know which ones are worth closing down inlets etc temporarily to protect the engine

 

The only airplane I remember having armored cowl flaps is the FW190, but I don't remember the model of the series (real life not game). I've got a book about a restoration

project of the FW190 with lots of details and there was a section about protection. Here they showed in detail some armor plate of the back on the pilot's seat and
those armored cowl flaps (outlet flaps), although not as thick as the pilot's back plate. I talk about these:

 

 

 

[TAIPAN_]

Thanks guys, my memory may be bad it might have been only the IL-2 that was mentioned but I think I saw it on reddit a while ago I just couldn't find it again.

 

However one other thing that makes me curious of this - the original IL-2 controls menu called them "cowl/armor flaps". I guess if they did do anything being so thin the protection was probably very light eg shrapnel and small arms fire from ground troops and if that's the case it's probably not important.

 

If it's documented for the IL-2 then it would probably have been documented for any others.

[Jaegermeister]

The FW 190-A8 also had thicker armor covering the metal oil cooler ring around the engine cowling and more windscreen and cockpit armor. The A8 was up-armored to increase resistance to defensive fire from bomber formations.  

[Blutaar]

3 hours ago, -=-THERION said:

The only airplane I remember having armored cowl flaps is the FW190, but I don't remember the model of the series (real life not game).

 

And what would these flaps protect? These are behind the engine and are just tiny slits covered with slim movable metal sheets. Cant imagine any protection from these but who knows.

[THERION]

10 minutes ago, Blutaar said:

 

And what would these flaps protect? These are behind the engine and are just tiny slits covered with slim movable metal sheets. Cant imagine any protection from these but who knows.

 

These weren't actually movable metal sheets, these were movable steel plates. This might have been a weak spot protecting the pilot, because he was protected by the

radial engine from the front, yes, but actually less from narrow front angles. Anyway I didn't design this bird, but for sure there were parts behind the engine worth being

protected, plus the pilot.

[JtD]

The Fw190 had an armoured oil ring/cooler/tank, not armoured cowl flaps. The only aircraft to qualify in some way as having armoured radiator flaps is the Il-2, which had two armour grade steel outlet flaps of 5mm thickness.

 

Any other radiator flap used in WW2 I can think of wouldn't even protect against rifle calibre bullets.

 

Complete list of armour on the A-8 subversions:

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by JtD

[[DBS]Browning]

The I-16's engine inlet covers are armoured I believe.

[JtD]

Yeah, it's protected by impenetrable 1mm aluminium armour. And I've heard it shoots lasers, too.