Nursing a damaged aircraft to safety?

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by TinyTim

Then it appears you've never been in a race for your life with an enemy AC of very similar top speed chasing you. Like running away in a Fw 190 D from a La-7. Opening and closing rads is a matter of life and death in such a scenario.

In my humble experience, the difference in top speed between open and closed radiators amount to somewhere between 25-30 kph top speed difference.

Actually, I have experienced that, more times than I can recall - but I can't say I saw any measureable effect from the radiator doors.
Perhaps the enemy were doing the same thing with their rads