Stupid Question...Am I running out of fuel??

[Shodansown]

Okay, I only installed this sim on my mother-in-law's computer because I was too eager to play to wait till I get home next week. I dont have a joystick here, and the computer is only passable as far as graphics. Either way, I had to start playing. Just using the keyboard, flying around, buzzing factories and whatnot...generally, just playing. (absofreakingloutly awesome, btw)

But very often (I think pretty much any flight where I lasted more than 5 or 10 minutes), everything would shut down. The engines would stop (when I switch to outside view there is no glow, I cant hear them, etc), and the entire cockpit display goes blank. Basically, its like all power whatsoever has been cut from the jet. Maybe this is a common micro-managing issue that I will learn about later in training, or something like that, but for now, is there any simple explaination for whats happening? It seems to happen when I'm just flying straight and level at several thousand feet, with an entirely undamaged jet.

thanks for any help.

[Slammer]

Well if you only have power for 5 or 10 minutes then you are probably flying with full afterburner on. With the afterburner on you will burn fuel at an amazing rate so just decrease the power to like 90% and only use afterburner when doing extreme manuvers or high G turns.

Slammer

[Shodansown]

Originally Posted by Slammer

Well if you only have power for 5 or 10 minutes then you are probably flying with full afterburner on. Slammer

Hahaha, yeah...that would be it. Full power for me so far. I started loading up with no weapons and 3 fuel tanks for my touch-and-go landing practice, so that they would last long enough for more than one or two runs. Lol, good to know.

[kdittyr]

Hehe, it gets a ton easier when you can use a joystick with throttle control. Just a test for ya, when in 2d view push to full throttle and watch the fuel flow guage. If it is well into the tens of thousands of pounds of fuel, you might want to lower the throttle a bit. Sounds fun, though.

[Slammer]

Also the higher you fly the better your fuel consumption. If you want to fly supersonic you want to be above angles 36 for the best results.

[Pavehawk]

Yep. The thinner the air, the less fuel required. Keep in mind that the thinner air also affects aircraft performance and handling characteristics.