Engine fuel starving effect + tailwheel lock handle

[sparow]

As there were no gages for the external fuel tanks the unique way to determine a tank is about to run dry was to time fuel consumption.
As per training manual tanks were to switch when:time is ripe ,fuel pressure is dropping (fuel pressure needle oscillates) or engine is starving on fuel (the engine becomes exceedingly rough,emits black smoke,and propeller tends to run away trying to maintain rpm)
Would be nice if you can implement some of those effects since there is no other mean than timing the fuel consumption in this sim.
Next is small correction for tail wheel lock handle in VC.Lock position of handle is forward and unlock backwards.

sparow

[WND]

The one thing about "timing" your fuel is that you have to know what your fuel burn is at the power settings your using.

I would suspect the best way was to watch your fuel pressure guage for fluctuation and whatever was left in that particular tank - oh well!!

On the 51 I crewed, we had 45 gallon "wet tips" which actually fed into the mains and we also knew what our "burn" was so when our main tank got down low enough, we just pumped the tip dry into the main. Of course, that's modern day stuff - I actually don't know how they handled it during the war.. I don't know if the "drops" where fed directly individually or they went thru the mains..

Regarding the tail wheel lock handle - I again don't know if they actually had one in a 47 however again in the 51 I crewed there wasn't any! The tail wheel would automatically lock if the stick (elevator) was in a neutral or up position. If you wanted to make a turn, you pushed the stick forward a certain amount and it would unlock the tail wheel.

[sparow]

Indeed one never supposed to let fuel tank completely dry before switching.Anytime the fuel pressure gage indicates a drop,switch tanks at once.Its best to time your consumption and change tanks before pressure drops off. :
Pilot Flight Operating Instructions for Army Models p47D-25 up to-35 AN 01-65BC-1A dated 25 Jan 1945 contains tables of fuel consumption at following given data :Gross Wt. ,Altitude,Mixture settings,and Power settings.
Unfortunately we can't used them precisely because FS9 doesn't support auto mixture functions as they were implemented on P47 ,Full rich ,Auto rich ,Auto lean and Idle-cut- off.This is advised by Shockwave team too.
The best way is to use these tables as reference and the rest to figure out by ourselfs .
Drop tanks were pressurized by instruments vacuum pump discharge line.They fed directly to main engine fuel pump without passing thru mains-no fuel transfer. Pilot had to take care not to drop empty tank before empting another one otherwise would completely depressurize
drop tanks fuel line.(There is still suction from main fuel pump but it could cause pump cavitation)
Main and Aux fuel tanks had their respective buster pumps which automatically started to run as soon as fuel selector valve positioned to proper tank.Buster pumps pressure rheostat was provided to increase pumps rpm (thus maintain pressure) at high altitudes above 15000 ft.
This rheostat is present in our sim too.
About tailwheel lock look to your RH side floor in VC.To lock tailwheel the handle has to go forward and to steer pos. has to go backwards. In this sim is viceversa-just a small correction

[SD_Research]

Wow!

The attention to realism is appreciated, but would it not be just as easy to hit alt/A/F/F (fuel/payloads) and just take a look at how much fuel is left in your drop tank/tanks? Or turn on the "copilot" function in FS9, and it'll give you a warning popup when the tank is low.

If you think this is "cheating" just use the fuel consumption charts provided in the manual and checklist. These are extremely accurate for no-wind conditions. Take off on the main tanks, and switch to your drop tanks above 3,000 feet and start timing. Give yourself a margin for error and anticipate the time when the tank/s will run out. If the engine dies, just switch tanks and it will restart just fine as long as the prop is windmilling, which it will definitely be doing.

[sparow]

Thanks SD_Research this would be the simple and effective solution .If somebody is meticolous then you are on the top of the list and this is why you are so good in building flight sims.
All this discussion is about giving an idea about introducing some new cool effects for this and your future projects.
I didn't suspect at any time you are "cheating" your customers about fuel consumption .I simply related to a note in a mixture control topic of your manual relating to fuel consumption at higher power setings.
Cheers

sparow

[SD_Research]

Thanks SD_Research this would be the simple and effective solution .If somebody is meticolous then you are on the top of the list and this is why you are so good in building flight sims.
All this discussion is about giving an idea about introducing some new cool effects for this and your future projects.
I didn't suspect at any time you are "cheating" your customers about fuel consumption .I simply related to a note in a mixture control topic of your manual relating to fuel consumption at higher power setings.
Cheers

sparow

Some folks like to have complete continuity from takeoff to landing, without resorting to using the dropdown menus, pausing, or anything else. This does give a more "realistic" experience, and those folks sort of consider using these external tools to be "cheating" because the real aircraft doesn't give you that information. You can most assuredly fly our P-47 with complete continuity just using the checklist information and instrumentation in the cockpit. Make some notes about your flight plan and adhere to those, keep correct time, and you can have a challenging and realistic flight!