How do all ya'll fly prop driven aircraft?

VooDoo_daVinci

I'm under the impression that most folks in FlightGear, when flying Warbirds or actually any prop driven aircraft, tend to not touch things like mixture, prop pitch and boost and tend to let everything be handled by the throttle.

I'm one who always plays with the settings for all the engine controls. How do you folks do it?

VooDoo

OrbitalMartian

I am pretty much a noob when it comes to flying, so I currently just use throttle, I have been meaning to take a look at mixture, prop pitch, etc.

But as I said, I’m a noob.

stuartc

I avoid it when I can by flying a turbo prop

Avionyx

I tend to try and do it "properly" but there are very few aircraft in FG that are configured to be flown properly in this way. In most prop aircraft you wouldn't touch the mixture/pitch at anything like the altitudes I fly in general flights (sub 8,000ft)

I think the Cessna 172P does it well IIRC. It's something I want to do 'right' for the Aero Commander

eagle

I'm also playing around with all the motor controls. If the plane supports it.

Cyber_Gamer

I also like to fly 'em like they're supposed to be flown, it's more fun that way. You lean the mixture at high altitudes, you change the prop pitch to get better performance etc., that's stuff is real fun.

Oswald

Same for me: I try to make the best of it by using prop pitch and mixture. Quite often you wouldn't get the performance required without optimizing the settings.

Problem is, as far as I can see, in FG piston aircraft I change mixture settings only by guessing as there are no EGT gauges with reliable values. How do you regulate engine control?

VooDoo_daVinci

For mixture? I usually find the sweet spots in testing the aircraft and see if I can hit the same position on the mixture control. Then I'll count how many increments gets me there by counting multiple shift -M instances.

VooDoo

Porcius

Badly.

That's all I can say for me.

I set the buttons up on my HOTAS 1 so I can use them but....... I don't. :(

EnRogue

I stick to a 'keep it in the greens' rule, although failure modes aren't well modelled in FG

Start & takeoff with fine pitch/max rpm, rich mixture, adjust throttle then pitch/rpm after takeoff, lean out with altitude

The reality of warbirds is that they all differed in reality - later spitfires (IX) & mustangs (later D) had auto mixture control, and German warbirds had auto mixture & prop auto governors, so were operated entirely by throttle

In FG we don't have to worry about prop overspeed or overheating - at least not in the ones I've flown