Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Forever, Britain's most cherished Crown Jewel
new reply
User avatar
afcraig2010
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 333
Joined: 12 Sep 2012, 09:46
Location: KPDX

Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by afcraig2010 »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R1t70Qqauk

Mainly wanted to make a video capturing the rough idling engine (which I'm assuming is the result of the lower compressions). I think early on I pushed it too hard and now I have this engine which runs rough at idle. This was something that was actually made to feel much more realistic after the T-6 update. Now it really coughs and sputters instead of just dying too easily. Very much impressed by how realistic A2A can make a simulation.

The rest of the video is a nice little demo of the beautiful Spitfire.
Craig
CFI, ATP (Q400)

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

Very nice.
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Jacques
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2376
Joined: 26 Jun 2011, 17:54
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Jacques »

Really fun to watch! It IS fun to run them ragged just to see how their performance and character change!

And you are right on about the level of detail. Yesterday I flew the P-51 from Flagstaff to Watsonvill, Ca and was completely mesmerized by the propeller animation. The end of the flight was very near sunset, the slow turning prop at idle was creating almost a strobe effect with the sun...just very, very cool to watch.

And....I've enjoyed all your videos. Thanks for posting them!

User avatar
afcraig2010
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 333
Joined: 12 Sep 2012, 09:46
Location: KPDX

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by afcraig2010 »

Killratio wrote:Very nice.
Figured you'd like it ;)

I knew the engine was going to struggle on the landing rollout, but I wanted to make sure I showed that, but the engine quit sooner than I expected. My question is, do you know why the battery quit so fast?

And thanks, Jacques! Glad you're enjoying my videos. If there's anything specific you want to see, just let me know.
Craig
CFI, ATP (Q400)

User avatar
Dominique
Technical Sergeant
Posts: 503
Joined: 05 Mar 2005, 04:49
Location: French riviera

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Dominique »

A good and intersting demo of the Spitfire !

I don't have the Spit' so I am allowed two naive questions :mrgreen: :

- about the battery, isn't here a generator on this aircraft ?

- and about your difficulty to start her up again, didn't priming a hot engine kind of flooded it (at the 12:10 mark) ?
Dominique
i7-4770 /Nvidia 1080 and MSFS
Proud ownerin FS9 of the P-47 and P-51, in FSX/P3D of the Piper Cub, Cherokee, Comanche, P-40, P-51 civ., Texan, Boeing Stratocruiser, Cessna Skylane and in MSFS of the Comanche

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

afcraig2010 wrote:
Killratio wrote:Very nice.
My question is, do you know why the battery quit so fast?

There's a fault in the system somewhere (your aircraft, not accusim ;) )... Once the revs came down on approach the genny stopped working (Amps gauge zeros) which is correct but the volts dropped straight away and fluctuated. The Accumulator was in trouble which would indicate it was failing or a failing generator (if still at higher revs). I doubt it was the generator as you were reading 12/13 whilst the engine was running.

To die that quickly BEFORE you attempted re-start (watch the volts gauge as you drift to a stop) would suggest to me that you had high amps consumers switched on..but the main culprit there is the Pitot Heat, which you had turned off.

So faulty Accumulator which, unfortunately you won't see directly because in maintenance it is automatically charged up!

In any case, you MAY get a single attempt at restart on the Spit I on internal power, particularly with a hot engine. From cold, almost zero chance..that's why they had a hand crank.

I liked your really low rev taxi at below engine open up temps....you'll get away with that with the Watts but might get some engine wear with a DeH 2 position airscrew. Remember 70C for "opening up" in the Spit I (due to different coolant). A nice solution anyway for big airfields and long taxis!

I also loved your reversal to slow down for landing...we actually did that in the Tiger Moth one morning when the wind changed right as we took off. Pretty hard to restrict a wingover to 30 degree bank ;) but, officially, we managed to. :) :)
and I greased the 3 point landing, just to sweeten the deal.

regards


Darryl
Last edited by Killratio on 11 Jun 2016, 01:26, edited 3 times in total.
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

Dominique wrote:A good and intersting demo of the Spitfire !

- about the battery, isn't here a generator on this aircraft ?

- and about your difficulty to start her up again, didn't priming a hot engine kind of flooded it (at the 12:10 mark) ?
Dominique,

Generators usually only cut in at a certain level of RPM, IIRC it is 1500-1600 in the Spitfire I....the way to tell whether it is online or not is to look at the AMPS gauge.

Priming..yes, correct and in fact I am surprised it restarted at all!

Darryl
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

Oh..and the reason the accumulator is automatically charged on maintenance? The accumulators were removed upon landing and put on huge chargers...so if there was a fault in it, the aircraft would just automatically get a new one, so it is sort of a "consumable".
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
afcraig2010
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 333
Joined: 12 Sep 2012, 09:46
Location: KPDX

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by afcraig2010 »

Thanks for the replies.

Yea it kind of goes against what I know to prime that much after an immediate shutdown, but my Spit in the sim at least likes a little extra fuel to start. Sometimes it feels like an engine fire waiting to happen lol. I think my compressions are to blame there as well.
Craig
CFI, ATP (Q400)

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

Image

:) :) :)
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Dominique
Technical Sergeant
Posts: 503
Joined: 05 Mar 2005, 04:49
Location: French riviera

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Dominique »

Thanks Darryl for the refreshing course on electricals, another interesting thread at A2A's ! And, mind you, with a guy from California, another in Australia and the third in the South of France, we couidn't be (geographically) more far apart 8) !
Dominique
i7-4770 /Nvidia 1080 and MSFS
Proud ownerin FS9 of the P-47 and P-51, in FSX/P3D of the Piper Cub, Cherokee, Comanche, P-40, P-51 civ., Texan, Boeing Stratocruiser, Cessna Skylane and in MSFS of the Comanche

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Killratio »

Fantastic, isn't it!!
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Dominique
Technical Sergeant
Posts: 503
Joined: 05 Mar 2005, 04:49
Location: French riviera

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by Dominique »

Raising my glass to it (its 12:45 here :) time to drink something to open the appetite) !
Dominique
i7-4770 /Nvidia 1080 and MSFS
Proud ownerin FS9 of the P-47 and P-51, in FSX/P3D of the Piper Cub, Cherokee, Comanche, P-40, P-51 civ., Texan, Boeing Stratocruiser, Cessna Skylane and in MSFS of the Comanche

User avatar
whiic
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 405
Joined: 12 Nov 2011, 10:48
Location: Finland

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by whiic »

Yeah, the new update really brought back the feeling of brutal power to the warbirds. I remember that Spitfire used to be like this before (vibration during high torque) but with one update it was made to vibrate only at low rpm or detonation condition. At flying rpms it felt very "clinical", like you had an electric fan pulling it. I remember even pleading them to combine the old vibration modeling with the new to add vibration when engine is loaded because the new (now: "old") vibration modeling didn't make any difference between low torque and high torque operation, only the rpm. And it has improved ever since, and with the latest updates, it's bringing the original vibrations back again, this time even better than they used to be. And the sounds have improved a lot over the years as well: prop rpm, prop turbulence during rpm change, wind created by the prop, engine sound when loaded and engine exhaust ... all making noise simultaneously and blending. It's pretty impossible to notice separate sound samples when they always play together - only prominence of each component changes.

Also, there used to be a "step" on the running between "promising" and "steady idle", and before the update, my Spitfire (clocked 300 hours without overhaul - only consumables like filters, brakes, radiators, fixed leaks) struggled to get over the step and into smooth idle. I needed to open the throttle quite a bit to get smooth running, then close the throttle again to reduce rpm. Since early Spitfires are carburetted, you shouldn't advance the throttle as much as with fuel injected planes, IIRC. Now the start-up is more seamless continuum rather than a separate "limp-mode" and smooth idle, which is promising because I want to get to 1000 hours before overhauling and starting used to be the most problematic part.

How did you torture your Spit to get it into that shape in just 13 hours? The last time I took my compressions and wrote them down was at 270h: 65 69 75 71 77 77 76 66 73 61 74 69
That is, all cylinders between 65-77 psi. Still going strong.

User avatar
afcraig2010
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 333
Joined: 12 Sep 2012, 09:46
Location: KPDX

Re: Spitfire Demo, Rough Engine

Post by afcraig2010 »

I can't remember how I flew it since I keep switching planes I fly, but I was probably just having fun without a care in the world, and now I like having it in this shape. It's like having an old, worn engine and it feels more "authentic" for lack of better words. On my T-6 Texan, I'm flying it from zero hours and really trying to take care of it. I'm just about at 50 hours with the T-6 and I'm getting blue smoke at takeoff power, but when I reduce to climb it's ok. I must admit there were some flights where it was pushed a bit, sometimes trying to keep up with Lewis in the Comanche, other times pushing aerobatics too long and letting the temps climb. I really love accusim and how it makes it feel like your own plane/engine.
Craig
CFI, ATP (Q400)

new reply

Return to “Spitfire MkI/II”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests