Realistic/Varied Afterburner Flames

[Tzimtzum]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

We need realistic jet afterburner flames (shape, animations etc) and flame colours comparing to what we have in the game right now. Currently we have a texture file with 4 different flames variations that rapidly change, it looks boring, unrealistic, its nearly the same for every jet fighter in the game that has afterburner and it doesn’t change its transparency, visibility and brightness depending on weather conditions and time of the day.

Jet afterburner flames colours depend on the construction of the engine, emissions, chemical reactions, fuel type, weather conditions and it also depends on how long an engine has been used in service.

For comparison this is what standard jet afterburner flames look like in the game:

Spoiler

MiG-29

F-16

Su-27

F-15

vs what it actually looks like…

Spoiler

MiG-29

F-15

F-16

Su-27SM

Su-27

Here are some videos that show afterburner appearance on different jets

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/m06uWM_tABM?si=FC7CDNdgHs6Qj97Z
https://youtu.be/TBi3sUvmOd4?si=5w56WOkK8vhU7UrV
https://youtu.be/ZVhS3oIjhGo?si=ht_CdKHc1KqkZCqR

As you can see, jet flames are almost completely transparent during daylight, flames are mostly visible during night time, at dawn or during sunset. You can also see that jet flames can be red, orange, purple, pink, light blue and blue. You may notice, that flames are mostly visible inside the afterburner chamber and as it goes outside it creates a gradient of different colours:

Modern Russian fighters and bombers have mostly saturated blue flames - Sukhoi Su-30, Su-35, Tu-160, Tu-22:

Spoiler

Su-30

Tu-22M3

Su-35

Tu-160M

While US fighters and bombers have mostly red-orange jet flames:

Spoiler

F-22

F-22

F-35

F-35

B-1 Lancer

B-1 Lancer

Now some videos that show afterburners for modern fighters and bombers:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/9shjIQH-seE?si=lX2zJpTOElP4D24W
https://youtu.be/dXaYpwGoVn8?si=Sl6ZeQoiqadwIvIt
https://youtu.be/opE6u6Fj5Wo?si=hwShW7odYsYy7OPU
https://youtu.be/TJ7omfmnEcc?si=1p9Bo_CQpLAjZy2b
https://youtu.be/HZ_HwIGtvvo?si=jVzsa2EXYz-wEouH

I’ve been researching as to why some afterburners appear to look red-orange, and some look mostly blue-purple and this is what I found:

• Blue or non-luminious flame are produced when there is complete combustion. Orange or luminious flames are produced when there are incomplete combustion as there are still carbon around. As far as I know, it could be due to the amount of oxygen feeding the flames. And yes, the blue flame is much hotter then the orange flame.

• The blue color is given by the characteristic EM radiation of C-H bond breaking, C- and H- radicals forming and recombining with O- radicals to form CO2 and H2O. This is independent of temperature and is the reason why a new gas oven’s flames are blue.

• "OK, I’ve spoken to some guys from one of the ex-Soviet design bureaus. One of them said the blue color is the result of cold afterburner and Sukhoi afterburner design, the fuel being dumped at acute angles into the center of the cylinder using a few big injectors."

I believe that this change will make afterburners look great, realistic and will draw more attention to player’s eyes, just like a few years ago water surface has been totally changed.

Sources:
https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=756665
https://mull-overthing.com/why-do-russian-jets-have-blue-afterburners/

Why do Western fighters' afterburner glow is reddish orange while Eastern Bloc fighters' is blue?

[AlvisWisla]

While I support this idea I do want to add clarifications.
In daylight conditions the sky will obscure “white” and “blue” flames making them effectively invisible leaving only red hues available in the visible spectrum ESPECIALLY if their backdrop is a cloud or similarly white backdrop.
As shown in your image 092819 the Mig-29’s blue and white colors are dissipated leaving primarily red hues; it’s of course in front of clouds when the photos are taken.
Whereas the image of the F-16 starting with d6a31 you can see a hint of violet top and bottom of the primary red jet despite the sun’s position.

F-22 at night for example shows its violet-blue-white colors vibrantly:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/gOkn3Sd3mW8

I of course support this suggestion.
There is more nuance behind the colors witnessed.

[Armen_Lozone]

i for one absolutely despise the current afterburner flames.
it makes me sick and hence i support this suggestion 10000000%.

[VikernesVarg]

+1, this would be a great cosmetic change. Another problem with afterburners in game is that aircraft introduced a couple years back (typically in rank 6) use the very shitty and low-res “jet flame” effect from the earliest days of the game back when all jets had a flame coming out the exhaust. You can see this by test-flying something like the Shenyang F-5 or the MiG-19 variants

[Wilbertheaverage]

Also the subsonic afterburner effect looks soo ass, it looks like a gif of a candle

[Tzimtzum]

Good point, thank you for clarification. This proves just how complicated things are regarding afterburner flames. I appreciate that you attached a video to show Raptor’s afterburner flames during night time, hopefully this will be useful for devs to have a look at.

[Misty_wt]

+1 we entered a stage in the game where effects like these have to be added.

[NinjaCze]

Bro same opinion, I want gaijin to upgrade this because current afterburners in game look like a trash

[markrus45]

I agree, we need better afterburners, the base effect in game is so UGLY
Especially on planes like mig-19

[Nostalgistic]

Looks like we are getting afterburner flames update.