A while back, I was playing a lot with the P-51 using manual engine controls. I hadn’t had to manage the mixture before. But today, I noticed the engine stalls at maximum mixture at high altitude. Has something changed in the settings of this aircraft? Where can I read about how to properly control its engine in the game now?
I don’t recall it having mixture control in MEC and it’s listed as "not controllable’ in the old wiki so I assume it’s a new-ish addition.
I haven’t seen anything about the P-51 specifically as they don’t have an MEC section on the new wiki.
They did copy over the general section on it though:
Spoiler
Mixture and throttle management
A piston engine works by combusting fuel with air in its pistons and requires an optimal ratio of the two to function properly. This applies to all piston-engined aircraft in War Thunder. However, there are many aircraft that do not give their pilots an option for mixture control, as some aircraft were built with automatic systems for this. It is worth learning how to manage the fuel mixture since the automatic management of mixture in War Thunder by the AI isn’t perfect and does not always correspond to a pilot’s intentions. A mixture setting with a high fuel-air mixture is considered “rich” while a low fuel-air mixture is considered “lean”.
As the altitude changes, the optimal mixture changes too; the greater the altitude, the lower the presence of oxygen and density of the air (as such, the air intake decreases). This means that the pilot will need to increase the air in the mixture (making it “lean”). In War Thunder, fuel mixture is displayed as a percentage - to have a more fuel-rich mixture, useful for top performance at lower altitudes, the pilot sets the mixture to a number close to 100%, whilst to achieve a mixture with more air in it a much lower mixture is used (however, setting it at 0% little more than starve the engine and cut it). When at high altitudes, such as 8,500 m, a pilot may be using a mixture setting close to 40%. It is possible for some planes to achieve a mixture of up to 120%. This should only be used at altitudes of less than 1,000 m, as it was designed mostly for difficult takeoffs and landings, as well as a “WEP” in certain scenarios.
Most aircraft in the game can be left at the default 60% mixture and will fly without consequence. However, some such as the Ki-44-I and the P-47 require micromanagement of mixture to provide maximum thrust. Most German and Italian fighters use a completely automated mixture control which does not require or allow player input. Turbine engines in jets also have automatic mixture control, thus no manual control in game. Liquid rocket reaction engines are locked to a fixed ratio between fuel and oxidizer.
Mixture defaults at 60% when MEC is enabled. The last set manual setting is saved when toggling back to auto mode and will be set to that when toggling to manual mode.
This contradicts the documentation, which states that the mid-range mixture control position enables automatic mixture control. How do I communicate this to the flight model developers?
the bug reporting site is here:
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/new_issue
Just remember that you need to provide sources such as flight manuals for the report.
I dug this up incase you don’t have anything:
You can find a bunch of manuals here if you need them:
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