Is there any way to increase an aircraft's range? Help please.

With all this discussion about maxing range, there's been no mention at all about drag factoring, one of the most critical factors involved in the equation. Question is, can you absolutely, positively trust the drag values of any finished air file in virtual world? Are we working with fine tuned numbers or just going along with some default generic number pulled out of the air that may seem "about right"?

Keep your corrected engine, prop and fuel data as is and try tweaking the parasite drag factor in the aircraft.cfg to lower values...;)

parasite_drag_scalar = 1.0 ---> lower to .80 or .70

This value determines the amount of aerodynamic drag generated by the airframe itself as it pushes through the airstream throughout the entire speed range. After each drop, you should see some increase in max range. The downside is that it will also increase your top speed incrementally outside of any historical top speed specs you may be married to. Don't bother with the induced_drag_scalar -- it mostly tells the sim how much drag to load in maneuvering
 
Number of Prop Blades

Isn't the number of blades a CFS3 air file entry, I do not recall CFS2 having one and I think AirWrench is defaulting to 2 because it is not finding it in the CFS2 air file. Would this be an accurate assumption, or is there an actual blade number entry for CFS2 somewhere in the airfile? Has anyone been able to change it from 2 for CFS2 and noticed any performance changes?
:mixedsmi:
 
Oglivie said:
Isn't the number of blades a CFS3 air file entry, I do not recall CFS2 having one and I think AirWrench is defaulting to 2 because it is not finding it in the CFS2 air file. Would this be an accurate assumption, or is there an actual blade number entry for CFS2 somewhere in the airfile? Has anyone been able to change it from 2 for CFS2 and noticed any performance changes?
:mixedsmi:
Click to expand...

I'm trying to simulate this effect at the thrust_scalar entry at aircraft.cfg.

Cheers

Pepe
 
Oglivie said:
...Isn't the number of blades a CFS3 air file entry, I do not recall CFS2 having one and I think AirWrench is defaulting to 2 because it is not finding it in the CFS2 air file. Would this be an accurate assumption, or is there an actual blade number entry for CFS2 somewhere in the airfile? Has anyone been able to change it from 2 for CFS2 and noticed any performance changes?...
Click to expand...

In my experiments with the newest version of AirWrench, changing from 2 blades, to three, to four makes a SIGNIFICANT difference in performance and top speed.

I adjust the overall drag coefficient and horsepower base to sustain "historical" performance values... but the biggest challenge I'm having is with WWI Vs WWII specifications in the "Tuning" section - when you switch from WWII to WWI preferences, all the parameters shift enormously.

It's a learning curve, but I'm getting there.
SC
:kilroy:
 
Just updated to AirWrench 1.01.88!:jump: Had four blades on the Superfort, but it didn't seem to make much difference before - more experimentation!
 
Solved it!

I just did a hop from Darwin to Lingayen in warp with 2 hops. :jump:

I lowered the fuselage drag AND the fuselage drag factor, plus added 308 gallon drop tanks instead of the 150 gallon default tanks in the air file. I can now make a flight of about 2000 miles which is historically accurate. By the way, the plane is no longer a ground hugger on take off which is a nice by-product.

So now back to mission building. I only have another 5 or 6 missions to complete covering the last 4 months of the war against Japan and the 9th Fighter Squadron campaign will be ready to start final tweaking and packaging.

It is a comprehensive campaign package that covers as closely as possible the top scoring USAAF Pacific theater squadron history from Darwin early 1942 all the way through to Okinawa at the end in August 1945.

It will be right around 100 missions all told, flying P-40s, P-47s and P-38s. I'm going to have to figure out how to break it up because with that many missions, even flying very conservatively, CFS2 will probably end the campaign early for "too many" losses.

Unless someone knows how to disable that "feature" in the game?

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and ideas!
 
Ghostrider,

No, she actually flies better. I wouldn't dogfight with the tanks on though. In a tight turn, she feels like she is porpoising on the edge of some high speed stalls with them attached (same thing that killed McGuire).

Before she would stall anytime I got into a moderate G situation, but doesn't now. I can turn in a fight and not have to be exclusively boom and zoom as before.
 
Good. I wish you success. The B-29 was all about long range, doesn't seem right without it.

The plane has always held an interest for me. When I was a young guy I was an airframe inspector at Boeing Wichita and worked in the same hangars that the B-29s were produced in. If you have ever seen photos of a 29 being assembled in a hangar, that's the place. Even though we were working on KC-135s and B-52s coming back from Nam tours, it always had a kind of a feeling being back in time there, like you could actually feel the history.
 
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