Nations:
USA - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Germany - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
USSR - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
British - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Japan - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Italy - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Jets - All Nations (6.0 - 9.3) - Air RB - Performance Guide:
Jets - All Nations (6.0 - 9.3) - Air RB - Performance Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Air RB - Map Temperature Guide:
Air RB - Map Temperature Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Air RB - Game Mechanics Guide:
Air RB - Game Mechanics Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Manual Engine Control / MEC - Guide:
Manual Engine Control / MEC - Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
Air RB Performance Guide - Master Thread:
Air RB Performance Guide - Master Thread: - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
– Maps:
This is the most impactful variable to performance in the game. The reasons for this are it not only affects your plane but the enemy plane also. This will determine Top speed, WEP duration before engine damage, radiator settings and just about every other performance aspect equally applicable to both AEC and MEC. Some planes are much more affected by air temperature than others.
There are 3 environmental temperatures in game. Cold, Moderate and Hot. One easy way to identify the temperature is if there is snow on the ground its Cold, green vegetation its Moderate and if the ground is Sand or desert its Hot. (A few maps can look one way but actually be another temperature)
I’ve created a map temperature chart to take the guess work out of the equation that is color coded. Light blue for cold, green for moderate and orange for hot. I have made a Map temperature guide color coded with a link here and at the top of this guide:
Air RB - Map Temperature Guide - Game Discussion / Realistic Battle - War Thunder — official forum
*Air temperature does not change as you climb, its actually the horsepower of the engine increasing or decreasing changing the temperature. See hp drop chart at bottom and you’ll notice that aircraft engine temperatures drop at the exact same altitude. Engine temperatures also drop just before super charger shifts up, and then engine temperatures rise again after the shift. This applies to both AEC and MEC.
– Airspeed:
I’ve generally found that 280kph is where most planes can be cooled without an exponential increase in radiator, in short, 280Kph ended up being a general “sweet spot” for climb/cooling. It’s also where drag is minimal and cooling is rather effective especially in sustained climbs. In many cases when AEC gets overwhelmed cooling a plane traveling under 280kph often times it can stay cool if traveling 300-330kph instead, this is equally applicable to both AEC and MEC once again.
Japanese planes are a unique exception in that those planes cooling is mostly unaffected by airspeed and actually get slightly warmer with acceleration such as a sustained high-speed dive. There are a handful of others that have this characteristic and it is a rather obvious phenomenon when you see it.
Auto is better!!! MEC is better!!! Well, it falls under personal choice, but that personal choice should be an informed one as to the pros and cons and what it actually does. With that out of the way, here we go:
– AEC (Auto Engine Control):
AEC will usually wait until you are close to overheating to apply any kind of radiator, it is usually set a couple of degrees too high or too low resulting in a loss of performance or just downright overheating at 100% throttle for no good reason. There are few planes in RB where AEC sets it properly but not many.
The real problem is when you activate WEP (almost universally), the plane will fully close the radiator to 0/0% (oil/water) causing a near instantaneous heat spike into yellow, orange or red. This causes instant engine wear and degradation (kills your engine). To cool the engine logically the pilot disengages WEP, this causes AEC to fully open the radiator to 100/100% having the same effect as an airbrake.
Using a Bf109 F-4 as an example. The way this plays in game is as follows let’s say you’re being chased and you start to WEP in a shallow dive your engine starts to turn orange then red because your radiator didn’t open. Your engine starts flashing red, you now have to decide, do I kill my engine or deactivate WEP and have that airbrake effect happen, letting the enemy catch you rather easily. Neither are good options.
Pros:
*The single best thing AEC does well is that it manages supercharger gear shifts with flawless precision letting the pilot focus that much more on situation awareness or other things.
*It’s also great for new players making Air RB that much more accessible to learn and grow into.
Cons:
*Overheating, erratic performance which can be lethal in certain situations.
*Equally or more distracting than managing MEC settings depending on aircraft
– MEC (Manual Engine Control):
These settings are usually set and forget at the start of the match, take about 5 seconds to set and you’re off enjoying the benefits of improved cooling, better/consistent performance.
If just getting started using MEC I recommend using a plane that only needs radiator adjustments. Once comfortable with that then try a plane with supercharger gears.
P51-C/D’s, Fw-190s, and Bf 109s are all super easy set and forget planes that benefit with Infi-WEP for P51s, +30kph top speed and no overheating for Fw-190s and elimination of the airbrake effect of WEP for the Bf 109s.
Pros:
*Better / consistent performance and cooling.
Cons:
*Requires some attention usually only on takeoff unless there is a super charger.
Here is the link, if you are interested to the Manual Engine Control Guide / MEC - Guide:
For lack of a better term, this is the altitude where there is a sharp drop in horsepower generated by the engine. Going 500M above this generally results in a significant drop in performance that is similar to lowering throttle by 15%. Most pilots won’t notice the drop in performance until about 1000M above this which is even worse. As an example, it’s pretty obvious that a Yak3 with a hp drop off of 3100M flying at 4000M is not going to be nearly as much of a threat. This is applicable to both AEC and MEC. See example chart below:
