Hi everyone,
Does anyone know if there’s a resource that lists the altitudes where supercharger gears should be changed? I’d like to avoid relying on WTRI every time. Or is there another way to check this directly in-game?
Have you come across something like that?
EDIT: there used to be a google spreadsheet called War Thunder Climb and MEC chart. Luckily, I made an offline copy in June 2024 (not maintained):
Thanks!
WanouMars
WTAPC is a good first approximation:
Generally, you want to gear switch around the altitudes it starts rising again.
In-game, your go-to reference is cockpit view and keeping an eye on your manifold pressure (in german planes this is given in absolute “ata”, in soviet planes it’s given in Absolute Hgmm, in british planes it’s ± lbs boost. In japanese planes it’s ± boost (think Hgmm again). American planes it’s usually inches of mercury (whether it’s absolute or relative seems to vary with manufacturer.)
You will see that in MEC, your manifold pressure drops as you go higher and maintain a specific engine setting. When you swap back to AEC, manifold pressure will remain the same or suddenly spike. If it does suddenly spike, that means you’re above the supercharger gear switch altitude.
One thing to note is that supercharger gearswitch can and will depend on RPM and throttle and mixture. Mixture we can ignore as it’s usually not modelled accurately but the rest? It can add a few hundred meters or take away some.
For soviet normandy-era western allied aircraft, you can consult the Il2 specifications/reference pages to get supercharger altitude switches. IL-2: Sturmovik Great Battles: Vehicle Specifications | il2
For pacific aircraft, you can /usually/ check pilot operating manuals (for U.S).
For instance,
for the P&W R-2800-8w/F4U-1. This does seem to disagree with some in-game tests, which I attribute to “we don’t care about damaging the engine long-term.”
For japan, WTAPC/WTRTI/cockpit guesstimation is your best bet if applicable. This guide can be a decent starting point: Air RB - Performance Guide - User guide & Main Page
Thanks! I found my own backup of the said spreadsheet, I’m adding a link to the first post.
As an example with Yak-1 in il2::
Take off with 100% RPM/prop pitch and 100% throttle gives you 1050 Hg mm.
As you climb, it drops down to like 800 Hg Mm by 2000 m at 250 IAS climb. I click supercharge up and… it goes back to nearly sea level 1050 or so Hg mm.
If I switch too early, manifold pressure stays at 1050 but I generate a ton of heat. If I switch too late, it’s like I’m flying at 80% or so throttle. As such, the tell is “did manifold pressure jump up to sea level values or at least tried to get near them?”
An example with Yak-1B in WT (our yak-1 is a diff model, going with later variant as it doesnt have WEP either):
sea level boost is ~1050 Hgmm at gear 1
Gear 1 at 2300
Gear 2 at 2300
This is a good guide.
