Can you blow the engines?

[Gunfreak]

Last time I played flying circus I used normal realism, but I'm now playing on expert. Which is fine for ww2 as I know how to control the engines. But I'm unsure about WW1?

In one fight my engine died, and I'm unsure if I killed the engine by running it on full throttle most of the time or if one of the hits hit I got killed it?

This was in the camel. The next fight I tried to keep the RPM at 10-12 instead of the full 14. And the engine was fine, but I don't know if it was actually necessary. 

[SYN_Ricky]

You will definitely blow the engines when over-revving them.

[=IRFC=Gascan]

There is a max RPM for all of the engines, but it varies for each of the engines. For the German inline planes, its easy: don't let the RPM gage reach the max reading and it'll be fine. For the BMW engine on the Fokker D7F and the Pfalz D.XII, you can raise the altitude throttle until you hear the engine start ticking, then back off a bit. For the Central rotaries and for the Entente planes, each plane has its own max number. Some planes are more tolerant of over-revving, while others will break instantly. You can find the max RPM on the Pilots Notes for the WW1 planes (along with spin recovery)

 

 

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

You'll get a techno chat message and some gis on your goggles if you blow too hard.

[RNAS10_Mitchell]

3 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

Last time I played flying circus I used normal realism, but I'm now playing on expert. Which is fine for ww2 as I know how to control the engines. But I'm unsure about WW1?

In one fight my engine died, and I'm unsure if I killed the engine by running it on full throttle most of the time or if one of the hits hit I got killed it?

This was in the camel. The next fight I tried to keep the RPM at 10-12 instead of the full 14. And the engine was fine, but I don't know if it was actually necessary. 

Not sure if the camel engine is more fragile than the wings, or the other way around..  Either way though, it is necessary to go easy on the RPMs . You can also use blip to temp cut the engine.  Even a slight nose down at full revs can result in engine damage if not watching the RPM.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

14 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

Last time I played flying circus I used normal realism, but I'm now playing on expert. Which is fine for ww2 as I know how to control the engines. But I'm unsure about WW1?

In one fight my engine died, and I'm unsure if I killed the engine by running it on full throttle most of the time or if one of the hits hit I got killed it?

This was in the camel. The next fight I tried to keep the RPM at 10-12 instead of the full 14. And the engine was fine, but I don't know if it was actually necessary. 

The Camels is prob one of the lesser tolerant aircraft that Gascan mentions. But having the throttle wide open and 14 on the tachometer should be fine for continuous use. But as my squad-mate Mitchell mentions watch out when your nose is beneath the horizon. Does not take much to get the dial on the tachometer increasing to 1550-1600 which is where the damage comes. The engine limitation is apparently further reduced if your engine has become overcooled during your decent also.

Edited December 15, 2021 by RNAS10_Oliver

[US41_Winslow]

As others have mentioned, the Camel’s engine is prone to overrevving in a dive.  It can also be damaged by running it above 1400 R.P.M.s for prolonged periods of time but this is only an issue below a few thousand feet or in a shallow dive.  You should never exceed 1600 R.P.M.s and try to limit the time spent above 1400 R.P.M.s and your engine should be okay.

[J2_Trupobaw]

WW1 engines all use fixed pitch props, so your RPM depends on speed and throttle/mixture. Go to fast with engine set to high, you will blow the engine. All planes need to be throttled down in dive, and in planes like Camel or D.VIII you'd better reduce throttle or blip when at bottom of the loop, too. 

My rule of thumb for Camel is to fly at 80% of power unless climbing or fighting, and always blip a little in fight when nosing down in fight. She has enough energy retention to still be ahead of Central planes. Diving the D.VIII without blowing or overcooling the engine is the ultimate challenge .