Siemens Schuckert D.IV first impressions!

[JGr2/J5_Hotlead]

I got a look at the new Siemens Schuckert D.IV last night. A very intriguing aircraft! I'm in love with its climb rate; not so much its fickle engine (apparently there is a bug where it will fail on its own above 3000 meters if it reaches 250 km/h). It has INSANE acceleration and climb, making it a one-of-a-kind option for Central flyers. Because of this exceptional acceleration, it's incredibly easy to wreck the engine in combat, where the absolute redline is 2,000 RPMs. If you look behind you and see thick black smoke puffing from both exhausts, you'd better RTB soon. The engine doesn't last forever in a damaged state.

 

Overall, I will definitely be flying this plane in multiplayer, but she's going to take a bit to learn. I do love a good challenge!

 

• Part 1: Singleplayer testing: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1804108872 
• Part 2: Multiplayer testing: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1804109466 

Edited April 26, 2023 by J5_Hotlead

[ZachariasX]

Made some flights with it as well now. It's definitely the high performance plane that it should be, up high leaving evertything but the D.VIIF in the dust. This not just due to power but also notably due to aerodynamics.

 

It seems obvious to me that the devs used the pwer curve from the British post war test that lets the engine power top out at 207 hp,  at 1700 rpm, then dropping to some 204 hp at 1800 rpm when the test had to be aborted as the engine wouldn't run anymore at higher revs. The 1700 rpm max power is conveniently indicated on the tachimeter.

 

It is a bit of a shame that what we have now hardly reflects the how the engine actually behaves. The engine is overcompressed such that at sea level, full throttle is not a permissible setting. This means, it would work more like the Fokker D.VIIF with the Höhengas. It is just that the "overcompressed part" of the throttle range is not separated in a different lever. There is however a provision in the real aircraft to lock the last part of the throttle range with a bolt, limiting the power to about 160 hp, the acutal rated power of the engine. That (in the game) the engine tends to fall apart if you are racing and diving with the throttle fully open seems plausible. It shouldn't be possible to tap these 207 hp. The Germans themselves stated 160 to 180 hp for that type of engine.

 

What seems a bit off to me is how easy it is to get to 1900 rpm and fly there at level speed (e.g. at 2000 m), when actually I get less power there than at 1800 rpm.

 

Also, the 3D artists neatly put in the ignition delay switch/lever to make it throttle down (you cannot really regulate these rotaries via a manifold regulator), but it is not functional and the engine behaves on the throttle like an inline engine.

 

Also, ground revs up to ~1800 rpm seems a tad high to me. Normally, a prop should yield some 80% of its max rpm when stationary on the ground. Maybe @Holtzauge knows the ground revs Mikael Carlson gets with the limiter in place? Here, I get 1800 rpm on the ground and 1900 in level flight.

 

Anyway... in the game with a little care, the Snipe is just a victim now.

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Not Siemens related but I think there is a bug with overcompresed engine, you can fly Halberstadt CL.II at sea level at max throttle without damaging the engine. You hear engine cracking but that's it , no damage .

[Holtzauge]

12 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

Made some flights with it as well now. It's definitely the high performance plane that it should be, up high leaving evertything but the D.VIIF in the dust. This not just due to power but also notably due to aerodynamics.

 

It seems obvious to me that the devs used the pwer curve from the British post war test that lets the engine power top out at 207 hp,  at 1700 rpm, then dropping to some 204 hp at 1800 rpm when the test had to be aborted as the engine wouldn't run anymore at higher revs. The 1700 rpm max power is conveniently indicated on the tachimeter.

 

It is a bit of a shame that what we have now hardly reflects the how the engine actually behaves. The engine is overcompressed such that at sea level, full throttle is not a permissible setting. This means, it would work more like the Fokker D.VIIF with the Höhengas. It is just that the "overcompressed part" of the throttle range is not separated in a different lever. There is however a provision in the real aircraft to lock the last part of the throttle range with a bolt, limiting the power to about 160 hp, the acutal rated power of the engine. That (in the game) the engine tends to fall apart if you are racing and diving with the throttle fully open seems plausible. It shouldn't be possible to tap these 207 hp. The Germans themselves stated 160 to 180 hp for that type of engine.

 

What seems a bit off to me is how easy it is to get to 1900 rpm and fly there at level speed (e.g. at 2000 m), when actually I get less power there than at 1800 rpm.

 

Also, the 3D artists neatly put in the ignition delay switch/lever to make it throttle down (you cannot really regulate these rotaries via a manifold regulator), but it is not functional and the engine behaves on the throttle like an inline engine.

 

Also, ground revs up to ~1800 rpm seems a tad high to me. Normally, a prop should yield some 80% of its max rpm when stationary on the ground. Maybe @Holtzauge knows the ground revs Mikael Carlson gets with the limiter in place? Here, I get 1800 rpm on the ground and 1900 in level flight.

 

Anyway... in the game with a little care, the Snipe is just a victim now.

 

If you extent the engine power line in a German WW1 era altitude versus power chart you end up at 240 hp for the Siemens Halske Sh.IIIa engine which they also referred to as the "Spitzenleistung”. But like you say, I don't think they pushed it that far in the field but it's difficult to know exactly. Mikael Carlson said to me there is a "160 PS" marking on the engine control linkage on his engine and he does not go above that. However, IIRC correct he read off almost 900 rpm (i.e. 1800 effective rpm) static when I was there so a bit of a mystery since he has quite a hefty prop on it and does not push it past the "160 PS" mark.

[ZachariasX]

58 minutes ago, Holtzauge said:

If you extent the engine power line in a German WW1 era altitude versus power chart you end up at 240 hp for the Siemens Halske Sh.IIIa engine which they also referred to as the "Spitzenleistung”. But like you say, I don't think they pushed it that far in the field but it's difficult to know exactly. Mikael Carlson said to me there is a "160 PS" marking on the engine control linkage on his engine and he does not go above that. However, IIRC correct he read off almost 900 rpm (i.e. 1800 effective rpm) static when I was there so a bit of a mystery since he has quite a hefty prop on it and does not push it past the "160 PS" mark.

Thanks for that! In that light, the revs we see in game are more plausible then. That's good! Also performance figures seem quite in line with your publication. But this just as a first impression, haven't done any exact tests yet. But for the next two weeks I will not be near my sim rig, so that will have to wait.

[FeuerFliegen]

On 4/26/2023 at 11:25 AM, J5_Hotlead said:

apparently there is a bug where it will fail on its own above 3000 meters if it reaches 250 km/h

 

Isn't this just because you're overrevving the engine, even at closed throttle?  I tried it myself and even when turning off the engine with the blip switch, the air simply moves the prop too fast to not push it past 2000rpm

Edited April 28, 2023 by SCG_FeuerFliegen

[JGr2/J5_Hotlead]

On 4/28/2023 at 5:32 AM, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

 

Isn't this just because you're overrevving the engine, even at closed throttle?  I tried it myself and even when turning off the engine with the blip switch, the air simply moves the prop too fast to not push it past 2000rpm

Might be the case. ?‍♂️ I got that info from the beta testers, so they might be able to elaborate on it better than I can.

[FeuerFliegen]

On 4/26/2023 at 3:41 PM, 1PL-Husar-1Esk said:

Not Siemens related but I think there is a bug with overcompresed engine, you can fly Halberstadt CL.II at sea level at max throttle without damaging the engine. You hear engine cracking but that's it , no damage .

 

I recall reading on the forums a couple years ago that the Mercedes engines are stronger than the BMW in the sense that they are able to handle the knocking from being over-compressed at low altitude.