How about a simple Challenge Flight for us Niners?

[JSMR]

2 hours ago, defaid said:

 

That looks like a gauntlet that you just dropped; would you like me to pick it up? I'm praying for better weather on the run over to Ft. Madison.

 

 

But this is too much to hope for!

The P-51 has the 15 min limit at 61 mp. It actually has a 5 min limit at 67 called War Emergency power. We aren’t at war and this isnt an emergence nor which is modelled. So I cant use that much anyway. 
 

I figured I can lighten the fuel a little more, based on the last run and this a little shorter leg. Max power, climb to 26000ft as quick as possible, and use the remaining mins at the max setting. Then throttle back to Max Continuous. 46 mp. 
The power drops away as I climb so it doesn’t hold 61. By 18000 it’s maybe mid 40’s. I think this is where the 2nd stage supercharger (?) kicks in? And back to 61 climbing like hell to cruise height. Doesn’t take long. 
 

Speed at that height and power setting is about 380kts. Seems to pretty accurate to the real thing at that height. 15 mins up, back to 46. And cruise at 343-345 kts. But I’ve made good ground, and also have the descent to pick the speed up. 
 

So it was a good time recorded. So I’m in with a slight chance of a podium finish! 

[JSMR]

19 minutes ago, taoftedal said:

 

Fantastic Team Scotland!  May the weather gods continue to be with you ... and with us all. 

Indeed! 
 

Good run also by VP2! 

[taoftedal]

19 minutes ago, JSMR said:

 

The P-51 has the 15 min limit at 61 mp. It actually has a 5 min limit at 67 ... and use the remaining mins at the max setting. Then throttle back to Max Continuous. 46 mp. The power drops away as I climb so it doesn’t hold 61. By 18000 it’s maybe mid 40’s. I think this is where the 2nd stage supercharger (?) kicks in? And back to 61 climbing like hell to cruise height. Doesn’t take long.  Speed at that height and power setting is about 380kts. Seems to pretty accurate to the real thing at that height. 15 mins up, back to 46. And cruise at 343-345 kts. But I’ve made good ...

 

 

Super power management JSMR!  I considered the same with the Fury but decided that finding another Bristol Centaurus (18) was beyond my cash reserves ...

[ViperPilot2]

Oooh! Looks like the Competition is heating up a bit! Yee Haw!! 

 

A question for everyone; I presume you folks are adjusting the Mixture and leaning out above 10K, right? 

 

I'll post an Updated Tally after my 2nd Leg this evening.

[JSMR]

1 hour ago, taoftedal said:

 

Super power management JSMR!  I considered the same with the Fury but decided that finding another Bristol Centaurus (18) was beyond my cash reserves ...

The Fury is a raging animal waiting to be unleashed. 
I reckon you’d had the best time also with a non-stop run. 
 

Always carry a spare Bristol Centaurus with you..a good motto to live by.

[jgf]

Was hoping to enter this little jewel - the prototype made three test flights before the end of the war - but after getting all specs dialed in her max range is only 530 mi;  at racing speeds I doubt she'd go 450 mi.  (Plane has near mythic status in Japan and often appears in media;  this paint job is from a mid-nineties manga "Ah My Goddess".)

 

 

[jgf]

My time for the first leg is 1:36.  Flew at 20k ft, 48mp, 3000rpm (after reading a couple of articles on performance testing the P-38 during the war);  showing 257KIAS, landed with 4% fuel remaining.

 

[ScottishMike]

JGF that link is shown as broken when I try it.

[jgf]

what link?

 

[jgf]

3 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

I presume you folks are adjusting the Mixture

P-38 has auto-mixture, I just use the levers as fuel shutoff.

[ViperPilot2]

Just now, jgf said:

P-38 has auto-mixture, I just use the levers as fuel shutoff.

 

That's interesting! I didn't know Copley's Model had that feature built into it. I have Auto Mixture turned 'off' in the Sim...

 

I really leaned out the Mixture during my first Flight and got another 2# of Manifold Pressure out of her! Of course, IRL this F-5 would he ready for the Scrap heap after this Flight! 

[jgf]

I have auto-mixture disabled for the sim in general, so get to play with mixture constantly in some planes, but the P-38 cfg for mine shows "fuel_air_auto_mixture= 1",  and Wiki lists the Allison V-12 as "Fuel system: 1 x Stromberg PD-12K8 2-barrel injection downdraught carburetor with automatic mixture control", a massive, complex, device (aka a "pressure carburetor") also used on some radials.

 

A cutaway shot of one-

 

[ViperPilot2]

1 hour ago, jgf said:

My time for the first leg is 1:36.  Flew at 20k ft, 48mp, 3000rpm (after reading a couple of articles on performance testing the P-38 during the war);  showing 257KIAS, landed with 4% fuel remaining.

 

 

Nice Flight, jgf! We're pretty close, considering you're waxing my fanny by six minutes! 

[taoftedal]

Any updates from the B-29 or Tigercat crews?

[jgf]

You might find this article on P-38 performance interesting.

 

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/p-38/p-38-wayne.html

[ScottishMike]

JGF

Your link to the JPG mt st. helen shinden:

 

 

I think it should show a jpg (or more than one picture) but just shows the string above.

[jgf]

?

[ViperPilot2]

Second Competition Leg complete!

Aircraft: F-5E Photo Lightning (Copley P-38J)

Takeoff from KCEZ: 0715 MDT

Wheels Stop @ KHLC: 0940 CDT

Elapsed Time: 1:25

Distance: 433 nm

Altitude: 15,500' (FL150)

Power Settings:

 

Climb to Altitude: 41# MP/2900 RPM

Cruise: 41# MP/2900 RPM

 

Fuel Remaining: 38%

 

Looks like I'm camping out at the Airport tonight. No worries.

 

[defaid]

19 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

A question for everyone; I presume you folks are adjusting the Mixture and leaning out above 10K, right? 

 

Mixture adjustment starts as soon as I've cleaned up in the climb out. It's a carry-over from the early piston driven days of my Air Hauler company. I usually try for max EGT and then a couple of clicks rich but in the case of this Mossie, there are some very odd curves to some airfile parameters

 

My race flying is not true to life: I've gone down the path of permanent max throttle & full fine because a test flight showed altering either simply slowed me down. Over boost? Nah. I took the bulbs out of the warning lights. The plane is indestructible. Here's the table drawn up from a long test flight across the Pacific. I didn't finish down to sea level: at 6000 feet I flew into some midnight island.

 

340.6 kt is my best TAS so if yours goes faster or you have better winds then I'll be bringing up the rear.

 

[Dangerousdave26]

It is time to start the early morning run.

 

LIned up on the runway - Check

Weather set to real world weather - Check

Visibility crappy - Check

AI traffic delayed by sitting on runway making forum post - Check

Duenna set and slightly confused - Check

Flaps down - Check

GPS set - Check

Fuel - 60% - Check

Cargo limted to 4 Crew members and 12 Ham Samiches, and 180 lbs of coffee - Check

 

Powering up and taking off.

 

 

[Dangerousdave26]

In level flight @ 25,000 and cruising.

 

Note this plain has mixture levers, my sim has mixture levers but the engines are setup to use auto mixture which is historically correct. Gnoopy was pretty good at achieving accuracy. 

 

I have a range of 2211 nm and 1649 to go.

 

Plenty for a go around. LOL

 

No pictures until I land. i have to convert the PNG to JPG for the forum software. 

[Dangerousdave26]

ETE of around 5hrs but since we are not halfway there that could go up or down.

 

Its like downloading a large file. You can ignore the early numbers.

[ScottishMike]

“Good performance team, excellent time.” we gathered at the motel that John said the Defaid team had recommended.

“Next time let Suzanne choose the hotel. I'm not too happy about staying somewhere where people pee in the ice machine.”

“Anyway, as I said, good time, but I'm just a little perplexed by the figures. You left Cortez at 14:02 GMT passing over Pueblo at 14:37 GMT some 35 mins later, with an almost perfect tail wind 34 to 48 kts, but it took you a further 38 minutes to cover the Pueblo to Hill City section with a tail wind of 48 to 53 kts. Arriving at 15:15 GMT. Your average speed on the first half was 391 kts, yet with an even more favourable wind over the second half the average speed dropped to 360 kts. What happened?”

Suzanne and John had discussed his encounter with the Comet and his subsequent decision to not thrash the engine. Neither had told Mike. Suzanne had almost decided to delete the half way time and tell Mike John had forgotten to record it, but it was not in her nature to be devious.

John replied: “The engine was beginning to sound rough, you can only run at maximum for so long, I had to get below the red lines.”

“On the next legs don't worry about the engine; Golden Age Aviation Supplies have not one, but two refurbished Griffon engines ready crated to go. Golden freight forwarding have been forward booking space on CargoLux to Denver and Burlington in case we need them.”

“That's all very well for you to say, you're not sitting on top of an engine at 20,000' expecting it to seize up any second.”

“John you're a worry wart, the Griffon was famous for taking punishment. The only red line you need to worry your pretty little grey head with is the one on the GPS”.

“So never mind all that, lets' post our official time for Leg two:” Suzanne did not want John upset.

 

ScottishMike Spitfire XIV Start time (Cortez) 8:02:24 Local (14:02:24 GMT)

Arrival Time (Hill City) 10:15:26 Local (15:15:26 GMT)

Total time: 1 hour 13 mins. 2 secs. Average speed 374 kts.

Start fuel 95% fuel left 44%

 

“Just had a message from Viper, he's arrived but is stuck at the airport.” Suzanne added.

“Suzanne, be an angel and go pick him up. Plenty of rooms here.

I'll just go and remove the notice from the ice machine "

 

[taoftedal]

1 hour ago, ScottishMike said:

 

“That's all very well for you to say, you're not sitting on top of an engine at 20,000' expecting it to seize up any second.”

“John you're a worry wart, the Griffon was famous for taking punishment. The only red line you need to worry your pretty little grey head with is the one on the GPS”.

 

 

Don't listen to him John ... you're the PIC ...  save that engine ... save that Spitfire ... save yourself!

[defaid]

32 minutes ago, taoftedal said:

 

Don't listen to him John ... you're the PIC ...  save that engine ... save that Spitfire ... save yourself!

 

John... mate... Don't listen to them. Thrash that thing! Death or glory, with an emphasis on the latter.

 

(I can say that because I've just checked the winds for my next leg. I doubt I'll even beat either of your economy cruises...)