Is there Icing in DCS 1.5?

I just wanted to ask if there is Icing in DCS 1.5 as I just noticed that on multiple occasions the Carb heat gauge on the P51D has read negative 50oC and at that temp it should stop the engine from working, this happens between 15 and 40k feet no matter what i have the Carb cold and hot air controls at, I also noticed that the P51D and Mig 21 Do not get canopy icing.

I have tested this at different heights and air temperatures to about negative 20 degrees.

The only time i had a noticeable issue with the aircraft that may relate to the carburetor is after i came out from a dive from 40k Feet into snow when the temp was negative 20.

I also checked the after crash report where the failures are to see no carburetor failures or issues.

So is Icing apart of the game?

If so, what areas or aircraft?

It happens with the Mig-15 quite often. Unfortunately, it'll even happen with low temperature in clear air too :/

The airspeed indicator stops giving accurate readings, and kinda becomes an altimeter. (i.e. If frozen at 600kmh @ 3,000 meters, the airspeed will increase when you descend, and decrease when you climb) This will happen until your pitot heat can catch up with the amount of icing. It seems to get overpowered quite easily.

I've also noticed the airspeed indicator dropping to zero. That would be indicative of just the front port of the pitot tube icing up, but the drainage hole remaining open

Actually carb temps can go very low on any aircraft and it won't be an issue. The only time when carburator icing can occur is at low altitude with low power setting. Hence why pilots turn on carb heat only before landing. The rest of the time, it's useless and will only reduce available engine power.

DCS has limited icing for now. Icing can happen to the pitot tube in all aircraft (except FC3) and I think some of the helicopters (if not all) also have rotor icing. Canopy icing with visual effects is planned for the MiG-21 at least.

About carb icing in the P-51 see here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=159029

I should also quote this. Very interesting

The short answer is: The temperature sensor comes before the section where the air gets warmed up.

 

The sensor is near the air intake and measures the temperature of the incoming air. Cold air in general is absolutely no problem for the engine.

In normal conditions you should use the combination "RAM Air, Normal", the "HOT Air" option only works if used with "Unrammed, filtered Air". You won't need to activate this manually because the "HOT Air" activates by itself if needed.

 

 

Carburetor air is needed for the combustion in the engine and the effects of the levers are the following:

 

RAM Air:

The air flows directly in the scoop (it gets "rammed" into the scoop, imagine the aircraft grabbing all the air by flying into it), this is used in almost all cases.

 

Unrammed, filtered Air:

The front intake is somewhat closed and the air comes through intakes in the side, it also gets filtered. The air flow then obviously is much slower but the filters can stop ice or dust particles from entering the engine.

You would use this on ground (or in some special other conditions) to prevent dust and dirt from entering, once ready for takeoff you would use RAM AIR again. Because the air flow is slower the engine is less powerful in this setting as with RAM Air.

 

Normal Air (Temperature):

The normal setting for the temperature control, the air enters the desired intake with its normal outside temperature. In general the engine has no problem with cold air.

 

Hot Air:

This setting only works if Unrammed, filtered Air was set. It also automatically activates if the aircraft detects icing in the scoop. If activated hot air from the engine enters the scoop and warms the incoming air from outside up before it passes to the engine. The primary use is to melt ice particles in the air before they enter the engine. Note that the higher you are the lower is the chance of icing because of the low air density. Icing is possible between -15°C and +5°C, for other temperatures it is extremely unlikely that icing occurs. Do not use this setting if flying above 12,000ft since it may result in an overly lean fuel mixture. In general you won't need this control, only if flying low in a snowstorm maybe :D

 

 

 

Last a note on DCS:

The heating is modeled correctly but AFAIK icing is currently not modeled so by using the heat you currently only give up power for nothing.