A2A release Albatros D.III (Oeffag) (Payware)

You mean how the plane was started ?
I am not sure about priming this engine (I read from some memoirs that unexperienced ground crews were pouring fuel through the exhaust pipes, lol). Once the priming was done, the pilot had to provide air pressure in the fuel tank to "push" the fuel through the lines and the prop was rotated. Inside the cockpit, the pilot had magneto switch and a hand starter. When the prop was being moved, he had to rotate the handle to start the ignition.

In general - the Central Powers planes had many "custom" installations. Many cockpit instruments were placed in a different locations. Some were equipped with additional gauges, some not.
During the WW1 you did not have cylinder heat temperature or oil temperature gauges. Instead of it you had water temperature gauge connected to the radiator line. If the water temp was cool, you had to change your engine management or close the radiator shutters to increase it. Low water temp meant the cold engine and the risk of overcooling. Most of the WW1 engines had pretty low compression ratio - something between 4,5:1 or 5,0:1. High compression engines, reaching about 200HP had a ratio of 5,5:1 or even more. The high compression, altitude engine, the BMW D.IIIa which used high octane fuel mixed with benzoleum had a compression about 7,5:1. In that times that was a lot! It was installed mostly in the famous Fokker D.VIIF

Lucas
 
RyanJames170 said:
I'm referring to how did they crank the engine over ie a starter?
Click to expand...

Usually by hand...
(Video of vintage planes being hand propped at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome)

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EVJO5hwcqak?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

The Tailwheeler's Journal video on Hand Propping....

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28453677" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" width="500"></iframe> Hand Propping from Tailwheel Town on Vimeo.
 
Picked it up tonight, Friday evening. Very well done model, flies great, well done cockpit.

Thanks Lucasz!

My fave paint scheme is the raw wood version with the detailed camo fabric on the wings and top of the fuselage. Very well done.


Now to find an airfield for it...




Bill
LHC
 
My dad and his friend were going flying (long ago) and the battery was dead in the plane. His friend had him go out and prop start it. Well, his friend had the throttle up, and when dad got it running, the vacum from the revved up engine tried to pull him in via the vacum. He hit the prop spinner (which of course was spinning) as hard as he could with the palm of his hand and it bounced him out of the vacum trap of the prop, which would have killed him.

His friend was laughing so hard inside the plane. That tells you something.

So close to death.



Bill
 
No disrespect to you or your dad's story, but no prop at any speed creates a vacuum. And if it did create a vacuum, which it can't (the laws of physics don't allow vacuums in open systems), popping a spinner with your hand wouldn't break it.

What engine was he propping? I hand prop an A-75 every time I fly. I've propped it when the throttle is set pretty high to catch the engine in a flooded situation and I've never experienced any "pull" from the moving prop. It is, of course, pulling air through the prop, but it's a much stronger force on the back side of the prop than on the front side (again, those laws of physics at work). I realize that hand-propping is pretty much uncommon for most GA pilots, so these kinds of scare stories tend to spread. But hand propping, while potentially dangerous (since, of course, you are near a fast moving blade with a fair amount of horsepower behind it) is a fully safe operation if done correctly. Now trying to prop an engine that isn't built to hand-prop, without impulse coupling, for instance, isn't fun, and could be dangerous for the engine and attached equipment, not to mention the person doing it. But the danger there is kickback and not clearing the path of the blades, which is always the main danger.
 
Some good fun flying this baby around.

Ive been lucky on my landings, slowing down in time for the end of the runway.




Bill
 
Great shots, Bill, and I am very happy that you are enjoying the plane :)
As for the landings (just to make them a bit shorter), you can turn the mags off before the touchdown. This is how the pilots from Kosciuszko Squadron were landing to minimise the risk of fire (and the plane will stop much faster, too)

Lucas

PS: I hope to post two repaints today in the evening.
 
Thanks Lucas, downloading now:ernae:


In Dx10:

dx10-2012-14.jpg
 
stiz said:
just a little WIP :) flown by Godwin Brumowski at Flik 41J.

2012-9-6_9-37-17-489copy.jpg
Click to expand...

Upload it Stiz,
We know it's not 100% accurate for this model but it's nice scheme and I'm sure a number of us would like to have it.
 
Agree! I do not care about that as well. We have so many skins for the A2A Spit where some are for PR or Mk.V versions... Since the 153 series was very similar to 253, I think that it would be great to have some, including your beautiful scheme, Stiz!

Something from me:

201299235526.jpg


Personal plane of Merian C. Cooper, VCO of 'Kosciuszko Squadron' where American voulunteer pilots were flying during the Polish-Soviet conflict between 1919-20.
It is worth reading the note about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merian_C._Cooper as well as his fantastic biography "Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong" by Mark Cotta Vaz.
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Danger...000APIEZS_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1347230771&sr=1-14
and this one is very interesting as well: http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Eagles-Kosciuszko-Polish-Russian-1919-1920/dp/0884980227/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Lucas
 
My piloting has some sloppy moments, but what a fun plane to put through its paces;

 
Thanks for posting the movie, John! :)
I spent hours and hours testing the aerobatics just to be sure that the main combat maneouvers are doable. Some may say that the rudder is too sensitive, but it played an important role during the sharp turns and others. The ailerons were not so effective those days and had to be supported by the rudder. Again, personally I am very happy about the fan videos :applause:

Lucas
 
djwaglik said:
Thanks for posting the movie, John! :)
I spent hours and hours testing the aerobatics just to be sure that the main combat maneouvers are doable. Some may say that the rudder is too sensitive, but it played an important role during the sharp turns and others. The ailerons were not so effective those days and had to be supported by the rudder. Again, personally I am very happy about the fan videos :applause:

Lucas
Click to expand...

yeah it dose make for a neat way to fly though,
 
Great movie, John, I enjoyed it!

Lucas, I personally love that you put as much rudder authority into it as you did, since, as you mention, turns (especially typical pattern turns) are usually done mostly with the rudder, and watching these types of aircraft fly (most all of those of the same period), pilots are able to execute very tight, mostly yawing turns using very little bank. I tend to find myself usually adding some more rudder authority when these era aircraft come out for FS (like Robert Bruce's "Brisfit"), to be more accurate in that regard, but I didn't have to do that here. When it comes to maneuvers, most of these era aircraft would have never been able to complete a roll without the rudder having enough effect to get the aircraft rolled around - I think aileron rolls were out of the question for most if not all of the aircraft of that era.
 
Great screenshots, John!
Since Stiz released him red skin of Godwin Brumowski and I released schemes of 7 and 13 Fighter sqns of the PAF, I am going to create some Austrian ones (+ one extra on personal request) :)

Lucas
 
This fabric work is incredible. Looks very real.

You cant see it in the photos, but the fabric wings and tail have such a nice grain and alot of weathering done to them. The bottom view was brilliant in the sim, but the screenshot just doesnt show how rich it is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top