Temperature Guide

[RPS69]

Originally Posted by Furio

If I understand what Pursuivant is saying, it makes sense to me. The same engine in different airframes can overheat in a shorter or longer time, depending on many variables, and can take shorter or longer time to cool off. Just think at the same M105 in the Yak or LaGG. But the critical temperature the pilot reads on the dial should be the same, I think.

True, on the point that the pilot will get the same reading, not true that they will overheat at the same reading.

Again, you will be reading the engines oil temperature, not the cylinders head temperature. The engine could be overheating before the oil reaches x temperature, depending on the airframe.
It could be simplyfied on the game, but not on the logic afore mentioned.
They coud make as a common assumption for the overheat to happen always at the same position of the needle, but change the times it takes to reach there on different airframes.
On reality, with the same engine, and different airframes, you should have different critical readings.
Reality will be reasonably well represented, simming won't.

[Furio]

Originally Posted by RPS69

True, on the point that the pilot will get the same reading, not true that they will overheat at the same reading.

Again, you will be reading the engines oil temperature, not the cylinders head temperature. The engine could be overheating before the oil reaches x temperature, depending on the airframe.
It could be simplyfied on the game, but not on the logic afore mentioned.
They coud make as a common assumption for the overheat to happen always at the same position of the needle, but change the times it takes to reach there on different airframes.
On reality, with the same engine, and different airframes, you should have different critical readings.
Reality will be reasonably well represented, simming won't.

You need to make a decision about the level you want to push realism to. To completely monitor an engine, CHT is not enough. You need EGT (exhaust gas temperature) also. Then you need to factor low quality instruments typical of the era. Then again you need to consider that liquid cooled engines have less temperature difference between cylinders, while air cooled engines often have a critical cylinder, not to mention their vulnerability to cooling shock. The list could go on. I think that once the time-to-overheat and time-to-cool off is correctly modelled, realism is acceptable.
In my opinion, of course.

[RPS69]

I agreee, time to overheat once established it's fine to do it with the only temperatura indicator we sport on almost all planes.

I was just explaining that using the same engine as a rule to establish time to overheat, could be inaccurate, and not representative at all.

Specially for air cooled radial engines

[Pursuivant]

Good points all.

I was assuming that engine temperature sensors actually measured something like cylinder head temperature.

Measurements for oil temperature, coolant temperature, carburetor temperature a specific to the particular aircraft and don't translate between different types (sometimes not even different models of the same airplane).

And, God only knows where those sensors were placed. The same thermocouple placed at different locations within a cooling system might record very different temperatures.