109 F2 & F4 water radiator questions

[DaveLang2907]

Hi - hope this is the right place for these questions:

 

I'm flying SP career in BoM bouncing back and forth between the 109 F2 and F4. I don't "need" to manage the water rads but I want to slowly get used to the concept of taking a more active role in that type of thing so I've been experimenting with it.

 

I noticed that in the F2, when I switch to manual control using RCntl+R, the water rads remain at the same setting they were at when I changed from auto. Then, if I use RCtl + Equals and RCtl + Minus I can change the percentage open.

 

But in the F4, when I switch to manual using the same keystrokes, the water rads open up to 100% and stay there - I can't change that.

 

I've tried using different key bindings to make sure I didn't have a conflict somewhere and the behaviour remained the same.

 

Is this the way it's supposed to work?

 

Second question - does it help manage the engine at all if I manually cool it down by taking control of the rads or am I wasting my time? Will cooling it down manually give me more time at Combat / Emergency power if I've been using / overusing those power settings already? I know that the oil rads, which I'm guessing are actually more important, aren't manually controllable in either the F2 or F4.

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by DaveLang2907

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, DaveLang2907 said:

I noticed that in the F2, when I switch to manual control using RCntl+R, the water rads remain at the same setting they were at when I changed from auto. Then, if I use RCtl + Equals and RCtl + Minus I can change the percentage open.

 

But in the F4, when I switch to manual using the same keystrokes, the water rads open up to 100% and stay there - I can't change that.

 

I've tried using different key bindings to make sure I didn't have a conflict somewhere and the behaviour remained the same.

 

Is this the way it's supposed to work?

 

Yes, in one of the two F-series 109s the radiators just open all the way when set to manual mode. It's correct.

 

2 hours ago, DaveLang2907 said:

Second question - does it help manage the engine at all if I manually cool it down by taking control of the rads or am I wasting my time? Will cooling it down manually give me more time at Combat / Emergency power if I've been using / overusing those power settings already? I know that the oil rads, which I'm guessing are actually more important, aren't manually controllable in either the F2 or F4.

 

It's pretty much a waste of time if your radiators aren't leaking coolant, since they are configured in automatic mode to give the most optimum cooling with the least amount of drag. In the real world, manual mode was meant primarily for when the plane was running on the ground or when the automatic system failed. 

[DaveLang2907]

Thanks, Luke, for the quick reply.

[Yogiflight]

2 hours ago, DaveLang2907 said:

I'm flying SP career in BoM bouncing back and forth between the 109 F2 and F4. I don't "need" to manage the water rads but I want to slowly get used to the concept of taking a more active role in that type of thing so I've been experimenting with it.

 

I noticed that in the F2, when I switch to manual control using RCntl+R, the water rads remain at the same setting they were at when I changed from auto. Then, if I use RCtl + Equals and RCtl + Minus I can change the percentage open.

 

But in the F4, when I switch to manual using the same keystrokes, the water rads open up to 100% and stay there - I can't change that.

Are you sure, it is not the other way round? From what I remember, it was the F2 with the rads at 100% and the F4 and later, the radiator flaps could be opened and closed by the pilot.

It definitely worked that way years ago, when I used the manual flaps system with the G2 and F4 in BOS. I stopped doing so, after the system was overworked and the flaps didn't open that far anymore on auto. Then the advantage of using the manual system was gone.

[DaveLang2907]

Hi Yogiflight, thanks for the reply.

 

It might have changed since you used it last. I'm pretty new to the game so I don't know.

 

These days, as confirmed by LukeFF, on manual the F2's water rads can be adjusted but the F4's water rads go to 100% open and stay there.

 

EDIT: I was wrong - Yogiflight's post is correct - see below.

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by DaveLang2907

[Yogiflight]

2 hours ago, DaveLang2907 said:

These days, as confirmed by LukeFF, on manual the F2's water rads can be adjusted but the F4's water rads go to 100% open and stay there.

Sorry, but I have to correct you. I just gave it a try in QMB and it is as I remembered it. It is the F4, which has the adjustable water radiator flaps. The F2's open completely. This absolutely makes sense anyway, because adjustable radiator flaps are a clear advantage over fully opened, so why should they downgrade them.

[DaveLang2907]

Well that's embarrassing - I just checked myself you're absolutely correct. I got them reversed.

 

109 F2 - opens 100% when not on auto control

109 F4 - controllable percentage open when not on auto control

 

And when I read what LukeFF said more closely, he didn't confirm that the F2 / F4 behaved how I had described them, only that the F models did behave differently.

 

Thanks Yogiflight!

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by DaveLang2907

[Yogiflight]

@DaveLang2907 your welcome. Believe me, I confused things more than one time, that was the reason why I rechecked it yesterday.