OMG is that P51 touchy. The engine in the game cant be used at all or it will blow up

[Dura_Ace]

I "nursed" the engine, more like babied it, on a mission to sink some boats. No more than 45 manifold and no more than 2500 RPM. Warmed the engine up even when starting. Kept the pressure in the green for most of the flight and rarely went outside the green and never went above the 45. Same with RPM.

As soon as i get near the airport the engine fails. I have tried 5 times now. So this is about 2.5 hours in real time.

This 51 is not fun to fly at all.

I am surprised the allied won the war if they had to fly this thing. It is nearly useless against the K4 as well.

[fikmeinshizer]

Something you're doing is obviously wrong. After a rather bumpy start to my P-51 time I rarely lose an engine anymore. Max Continuous use is quoted at 46" manifold and ~2700 RPM (not got exact figures with me) but that's at the top end of what is safe. Is the failure an overheat or something else? You can tell by checking the oil and radiator temps at the point of failure.

Cruising like this will use a lot of fuel.Most of my engine failures in the Mustang were not overheats, they were fuel loss. Remember there are two fuel modes in the Mustang. I found that following the start up tutorial puts the fuel mix to rich which makes fuel consumption go through the roof, like can't fly to France and back on Normandy.

I suspect you are actually running out of fuel

I would recommend:
1, Cruise to the target using the quoted cruise settings at reasonable altitude (Above supercharger altitude) to preserve fuel
2, Run max continuous only while you engage the target remembering to go back to cruise for the flight home
3, Double check you are not using rich fuel mix

Lastly it isn't useless against the K4 when used correctly. All Axis fighters dominate the fight at lower altitudes. The Mustang and Spitfire were designed to fight at higher altitudes. Fight to your aircraft strengths and you should fare better

[Dura_Ace]

Thanks. Ill check

[Troll Norris]

Cruising mode is the most economic mode. This one saves the fuel. In cruise mode the fuel combustion is around 70 gal/hr. But you have to switch fuel tanks time to time to keep fuel tanks balanced. Only when you have full tail tank, you shoul'd use it first. Still you shou'ld mix it time to time with the left wing fuel tank because there is fuel return line. So if you won't use it time to time, the left wing fuel tank may overfill. Only one tank is feeding the aircraft. You have to switch fuel tank selector manually.

About fuel mods: You shoul'd use only the automatic fuel mixture mode (middle position). Anything else than automatic mode is only for emergency cases when the automatic fuel mixture system fails. If you will use the max mixture in high altitude, you will overflood your engine. The automatic system keeps the best fuel/air ratio and depends on selected RPM and MP it automatically changes from lean mixture for cruising to rich mixture for climbing or fight to keep engine cooler in high power output. Just read the manual. It is everything written there.

Important rule:
When decreasing power:
Set lower MP first, then you can set lower RPM.

When increasing power:
Set higher RPM first, then you can set higher MP.

If you won't do that this way, you are risking the detonation combustion -> (engine knocking) and later the early self-ignition. Both is very dangerous for engine because it causes huge vibrations and early self-ingition can destroy the engine in a second.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking

[Vanhala]

Originally posted by fikmeinshizer:

Lastly it isn't useless against the K4 when used correctly. All Axis fighters dominate the fight at lower altitudes. The Mustang and Spitfire were designed to fight at higher altitudes. Fight to your aircraft strengths and you should fare better

Just to note the Mustang was designed to fight high, not Spitfire. Spitfire was generally a turnfighter (especially Mk.IX and previous), and it outperformed most Bf 109's below 5500 meters. Note though that Kurfürst has some pretty powerful engine and MW50, so try maneuvers which are not so dependent on engine power. If fighting against Fw 190, do exact opposite, since it has bad-ish climbrate etc. Long story short fight in Mustang utilizing your (likely) altitude advantage and energy conserving maneuvres. You'll do just fine, I'm sure.

[Troll Norris]

And it is reasonable. Fighters were mostly used as the bomber escort. Because the A-G rules the war. You don't need low-altitude dogfights. You need high-altitude bomb escort.

[Dura_Ace]

I am not running out of fuel and as far as i can tell i cant change the mixture. The button does not go to the little notches. So for me its either idile cutoff or run,afaik

[Troll Norris]

Originally posted by Sugarloaf MTN:

I am not running out of fuel and as far as i can tell i cant change the mixture. The button does not go to the little notches. So for me its either idile cutoff or run,afaik

Yes. There is only Cutoff, run, emergency. Only 3 positions. In later P-51D models the auto-rich and auto-lean was removed and exchanged by the one "RUN" position.

Manual - page 83 says:

MIXTURE CONTROL LEVER. The Mixture Control lever is used to set the fuel/air mixture. On earlier aircraft, the lever has four possible positions: IDLE CUTOFF, AUTO LEAN, AUTO RICH, and FULL RICH. On later aircraft, the AUTO LEAN and AUTO RICH positions have been replaced by a single RUN position.

IDLE CUTOFF. The IDLE CUTOFF position is used when starting and stopping the engine. This position should be set after the engine is stopped to ensure that no fuel is allowed to enter the carburetor while the engine is not running.

RUN. The RUN position is the standard operating setting for the engine and is normally used for takeoff, climb, landing, and combat.

FULL RICH. The FULL RICH position is an emergency setting to be used only in case of carburetor failure to ensure a sufficient fuel supply to the engine."

[Vanhala]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

And it is reasonable. Fighters were mostly used as the bomber escort. Because the A-G rules the war. You don't need low-altitude dogfights. You need high-altitude bomb escort.

That's correct. Spitfire was designed as interceptor / air superiority fighter. It was just meant to keep British airspace British. Bf 109 was similar. Bf 110 was air superiority / escort fighter-bomber. P-51D (note; I mean specifically D) was designed to fullfill bomber escort role while retaining dogfighting capabilities sufficient to bring down Bf 109. It's role was widened as time passed, since in late war Europe there was little to no effective Axis airpower. In Korea it was used solely as CAS provider.

[Huitzilopochtli]

p51 is able to maintain 46 manifold pressure and 2850 rpm continuously without problems. I've never blown an engine before.

[dan]

Key differences between p51 and t51? Ive never blown out the latter. Did ram my propellers into the tarmac trying to brake on landing XD

[Troll Norris]

TF-51 is a bit lighter because it does not have weapons. So it has same power, but better T/W ratio. Engine is possible to overheat even under MCP condition. If you will fly too slow, there won't be enough air to cool the engine. From my experience in basic conditions you shoul'd not fly slower than 145 MPH IAS.

[Dura_Ace]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

Originally posted by Sugarloaf MTN:

I am not running out of fuel and as far as i can tell i cant change the mixture. The button does not go to the little notches. So for me its either idile cutoff or run,afaik

Yes. There is only Cutoff, run, emergency. Only 3 positions. In later P-51D models the auto-rich and auto-lean was removed and exchanged by the one "RUN" position.

Manual - page 83 says:

MIXTURE CONTROL LEVER. The Mixture Control lever is used to set the fuel/air mixture. On earlier aircraft, the lever has four possible positions: IDLE CUTOFF, AUTO LEAN, AUTO RICH, and FULL RICH. On later aircraft, the AUTO LEAN and AUTO RICH positions have been replaced by a single RUN position.

IDLE CUTOFF. The IDLE CUTOFF position is used when starting and stopping the engine. This position should be set after the engine is stopped to ensure that no fuel is allowed to enter the carburetor while the engine is not running.

RUN. The RUN position is the standard operating setting for the engine and is normally used for takeoff, climb, landing, and combat.

FULL RICH. The FULL RICH position is an emergency setting to be used only in case of carburetor failure to ensure a sufficient fuel supply to the engine."

I may have run out of fuel. I thought the fuel pressure gauge was the fuel gauge.

[Troll Norris]

The fuel gauges are on the floor. Over the left shoulder is the rear fuel tank gauge.