Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
rjw

achieving max altitude in a Camel

Recommended Posts

I know the boys in the RFC were able to take their Camels well above 15,000 but I can't seem to coax my Camel above 10,000 even when I lean out the mixture.

Is this a limitation in OFF or am I doing something wrong here?

 

Regards to all

 

OOPS! I meant to post this in the Help section!

Edited by rjw

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Have you tried adjusting your max ceiling in workshops to 18,000 ft.?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Have you tried adjusting your max ceiling in workshops to 18,000 ft.?

 

Shiloh;

 

Thanks for the tip. I just never thought to look at that. Do you know if the workshop settings will apply equally to all aircraft or will each aircraft have it's own limits?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's a good question rjw. I would think as long as a particular craft can manage to get to 18,000 feet the sim will allow it to go to that height.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok Shiloh;

 

I tried setting the the altitude to "High" in the workshop and then went to quick combat with a Camel setting the altitude to 15000 at startup. As soon as the sim started I experienced engine cut out so I cut back the mixture about 20 clicks with "CTRL -" key combinations to no avail. The engine continued to cut out until I reached 10,000. I was able to coach it back up to 10,600 before I lost all forward speed and could not maintain any forward motion even in level flight.

 

Can anyone shed any light on what I need to do to gain the altitude above 10,600. I have tried working the mixture up to richer settings and also reducing to no significant effect. The best I could achieve in altitude was with the 20 clicks reduction in normal mixture settings at ground level.

 

Best Regards;

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Robert and Shiloh, I believe the max ceiling setting is only for your campaigns and missions. It will not affect your ability to climb above those settings but only keeps the AI at or below them. Robert, to you question about getting the Camel to it's max ceiling, it is honestly all about finessing the beast. The Camel abhors a ham-fisted pilot and will slap him down in short order. Her traits only get worse at high altitudes. If you fly with manual throttle control, at take-off click back slowly until you hear your RPMs just start to drop, then come back up 2 or 3 clicks. Adjust again at around 6,000', again at around 9,000', and once more at around 13,000'. The rate of climb up to 10,000' is quite good, after that it becomes tedious, and at 16,000' it is downright unbearable. Figure about 40 minutes and 20% of your fuel to hit 18,500'. And, if you have lots of time you can eke out about 19,700'. But you will need the patience of Job to do it.

 

 

OFF_Camel_Climb_Test_001.jpg

 

 

Best of luck, Sir.

 

Lou

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Lou, Thanks for your response. I am going to experiment with your suggestions to see what Ican achieve. Do you know if this was typical of the real aircraft, or just a modeling issue in OFF?

 

All the Best! Cheerio!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Robert, if memory serves, (and it is serving less reliably than it used to), the 140hp Clerget Camel could climb to 10,000' in about 10 minutes and 15,000' in about 20 minutes. After that it was a slow crawl to its service ceiling of 19,000'. I seem to recall reading in one of the contemporary pilot diaries of how it took 45 to 60 minutes to reach the absolute height his machine could go, in this case around 20,000'. So, I would say the OFF Camel is fairly close in its climb performance to that of the real kite.

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Camel was no high altitude fighter. It was at its best at lower altitudes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Absolutely Hasse Wind. However, WWI Camel pilots would often work at higher altitudes in their attempts to intercept enemy B/R planes, or to try and be above enemy fighters when they ran across them.

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Robert and Shiloh, I believe the max ceiling setting is only for your campaigns and missions. It will not affect your ability to climb above those settings but only keeps the AI at or below them. Robert, to you question about getting the Camel to it's max ceiling, it is honestly all about finessing the beast. The Camel abhors a ham-fisted pilot and will slap him down in short order. Her traits only get worse at high altitudes. If you fly with manual throttle control, at take-off click back slowly until you hear your RPMs just start to drop, then come back up 2 or 3 clicks. Adjust again at around 6,000', again at around 9,000', and once more at around 13,000'. The rate of climb up to 10,000' is quite good, after that it becomes tedious, and at 16,000' it is downright unbearable. Figure about 40 minutes and 20% of your fuel to hit 18,500'. And, if you have lots of time you can eke out about 19,700'. But you will need the patience of Job to do it.

 

 

 

Hi Lou;

 

I tried out your suggestion today and made some headway (or should I say altitude!).

 

I followed your instructions as best I could since I used my force feedback for throttle and not manual keypad. I didn't notice so much of an effect in throttle cut back as I did by reducing mixture as I made altitude in order to smooth out the engine.

From 10,000 ft to 12,300 feet my rate of climb was 100ft per 16 seconds wrist watch time at airspeed of 50 with pitch of approx 9.50 to 9.70

From 12,300 ft to 13,000 feet my rate of climb was 100ft per 20 to 25 seconds wrist watch time at airspeed of 70 with pitch of approx 9.25 to 9.40

 

At this point I had to terminate the exercise due to personal time constraints but I was still climbing, albeit very slowly. I can't imagine trying this during a mission or I would be there all day.

 

I think I'll restrict my AI to 10,000 as was suggested.

 

As you said, it's very tedious and handling is very touchy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Semi related question, so then what does the "average altitude" setting actually do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Semi related question, so then what does the "average altitude" setting actually do.

 

 

Hi Redpiano;

 

I'm not sure I understand your term "average altitude". There are three radial buttons in the workshop screen under the heading "Player Flight Altitude"

These buttons are as follows:

 

High up to 18,000

Medium up to 10,000

Low up to 3000

 

If you are not referring to the above, then please elaborate.

 

Best Regards;

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Robert, my apologies, I meant to say mixture control not throttle control, you want to keep throttle at full the whole time you are climbing. But you've sorted it out so good on you Sir.

 

RP, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I believe the alt setting in the control panel affects your campaign and mission heights and not your actual ability to climb higher if you so choose.

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Redpiano, the "Player Flight Altitude" seems to set the alt. you will reach, when you press "Warp".

Of course you could still go higher, if your craft can do that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe that the altitude settings also dictate the target altitudes for missions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..