War Thunder

War Thunder

170 ratings
Optimal Climb Speed for American Props
By wastoid
Climbing at the specified Indicated Air Speed will allow you to reach 6 kilometers in the least amount of time.

Make sure to enable indicated air speed in the options before using information in this guide.

The chart contains most propeller airplanes, some jets, and most bombers.

For those of you who use Manual Engine Controls:
  • Set all available radiator flaps to 100% (open).
  • Set mixture to rich as appropriate.
  • Set propeller pitch to 100%.
  • Adjust mixture accordingly throughout flight to maintain maximum engine RPM and optimal horsepower, subject to altitude.
  • Change supercharger gears at recorded horsepower output/elevation.

Refer to these for individual airplane quirks.

* <100% mixture not modeled.
** Auto Prop Pitch restrains RPM at 100% throttle to 2600. Manual Prop Pitch at 100% gives 3000RPM.
*** Aggressive throttle control can result in over-revving the engine.
**** No WEP on supercharger stage 3.
***** Landing gear can be extended as airbrakes. Rips off at speeds above 730km/h.
****** Recommend using auto prop pitch to avoid over revving the engine. Otherwise, there is no prop governor to prevent over revving.

Based on chart made by The_Kiwi and information from data sheets available on War Thunder forums.

https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/forum/464-united-states/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hgHbWlSjefFhCqOUeGpoKQntdQDPG32X7XQo9EqDF00/

Support the original chart creator here:

Email: jlwarthunder@gmail.com
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKiwi
Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/The_Kiwi

Some additional contributions made by:
ZadaNotZaida

If you find any mistakes or have additional information contact me and I will add it to the chart.
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USAAF
Change your speed indicator to IAS in the options before using this chart.
For some airplanes the speed varies when WEP is active.

Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
P-26A
210
210
P-36A Hawk
200
200
P-36C Hawk
200
200
P-36G Hawk
200
200
P-40E-1
210
210
P-40F-10
210
210
P-400
220
220
P-39N-0 *
220
220
P-39Q-5 *
220
230
P-38E **
240
250
P-38G-1
260
270
P-51
230
240
P-51C-10
290
P-47D-25
240
240
P-47D-28
240
250
P-63A-5 *
220
220
P-63A-10 *,***
220
240
P-63C-5 *
220
250
P-63C-1 *
230
240
P-61C-1
266
266
P-38J-15
240
270
P-38L-5-LO
250
260
P-47N-15
240
260
P-51D-5
250
250
P-51D-30
250
250
F-82E *
270
280
P-51H-5NA
260
300
F-80A-5
560
F-80C-10
467
F-84B-26
550
F-86A-5
720
F-86F-25
720
F-86F-2
750
F-100D
350
F-4C Phantom II
944
1050
F-4E Phantom II
944
1050
US Navy
Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
Super Charger Stage 2 [m]
Super Charger Stage 3 [m]
Super Charger Stage 2 [hp]
Super Charger Stage 3 [hp]
F3F-2 *
160
160
100%: 2800
WEP: 2500
100%: 711
WEP: 794
F2A-1 *
180
180
100%: 2950
WEP: 2600
100%: 722
WEP: 807
F2A-3 *
220
220
100%: 1950
WEP: 1550
100%: 913
WEP: 1091
F4F-3 *,****
220
220
100%: 1850
WEP: 1450
100%: 4200
WEP: 4350
100%: 980
WEP: 1065
100%: 932
WEP: 942
F4F-4 *,****
220
220
100%: 1850
WEP: 1450
100%: 4200
WEP: 4350
100%: 980
WEP: 1065
100%: 932
WEP: 942
F4U-1a *,*****
250
250
100%: 1150
WEP: 100
100%: 5500
WEP: 4700
100%: 1800
WEP: 2095
100%: 1650
WEP: 1920
F4U-1a USMC *,*****
250
250
100%: 1150
WEP: 100
100%: 5500
WEP: 4700
100%: 1800
WEP: 2095
100%: 1650
WEP: 1920
F4U-1d *,*****
250
250
100%: 1150
WEP: 100
100%: 5500
WEP: 4700
100%: 1800
WEP: 2095
100%: 1650
WEP: 1920
F4U-1c *,*****
250
250
100%: 1150
WEP: 100
100%: 5500
WEP: 4700
100%: 1800
WEP: 2095
100%: 1650
WEP: 1920
F4U-4 *,*****
250
250
100%: 2050
WEP: 1500
100%: 6750
WEP: 6250
100%: 1760
WEP: 2030
100%: 1670
WEP: 1930
F4U-4B
250
250
100%: 3650
WEP: 2350
100%: 1945
WEP: 2324
F6F-5
240
250
100%: 1600
WEP: 800
100%: 5600
WEP: 4850
100%: 1780
WEP: 1990
100%: 1645
WEP: 1850
F6F-5N
240
240
100%: 1600
WEP: 800
100%: 5600
WEP: 4850
100%: 1780
WEP: 1990
100%: 1645
WEP: 1850
F8F-1
240
100%: 3250
100%: 1690
F8F-1B
250
250
100%: 3250
WEP: 1300
100%: 1687
WEP: 2213
F7F-1 *
250
250
100%: 3200
WEP: 2350
100%: 1572
WEP: 1833
F2H-2
575
F9F-2
580
F9F-5
700
F9F-8
710
Ground Attack
Airplanes in this section retrieved from data sheets available on War Thunder forums.
Not all airplanes are available, no super charger gear information is provided.
Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
SB2U-3
230
A-36
250
250
A-20G-25
250
SB2C-1c
209
SB2C-4
222
A-26B-10
265
A-26B-50
265
AM-1
300
AD-2
250
AD-4
260
F3D-1
630
A-4B
610
FJ-4B
778
USA Premium
Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
Super Charger Stage 2 [m]
Super Charger Stage 3 [m]
Super Charger Stage 2 [hp]
Super Charger Stage 3 [hp]
Thach's F2A-1 Buffalo *
180
180
100%: 2950
WEP: 2600
100%: 722
WEP: 807
Galer's F3F-2 *
160
160
100%: 2800
WEP: 2500
100%: 711
WEP: 794
B-10B
177
177
P-26A-34
210
210
XP-38G
260
280
XP-55 *
240
240
P-40C *
200
200
P-43A-1 *
220
230
PV-2D
259
259
PBM-3 "Mariner"
225
225
XP-50 *
280
BTD-1
265
P-61A-1 *
230
100%: 2400
100%: 5250
100%: 1724
100%: 1651
P-47M-1-RE
240
260
P-51D-10
266
266
P-51D-20 NA
250
250
100%: 4400
WEP: 3700
100%: 1281
WEP: 1388
P-38J-15
266
266
P-38K
266
266
P-59A
386
XA-38
257
257
F7F-3
278
278
A-26C-45
270
270
A2D-1
335
F2G-1
290
AU-1
280
USA Foreign Premium
Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
Super Charger Stage 2 [m]
Super Charger Stage 2 [hp]
Ki-43-II *
210
210
100%: 3850
WEP: 3700
100%: 918
WEP: 1024
Ki-61-Ib
240
240
A6M2
200
200
Bf 109 F-4 ******
230
230
Fw 190 A-8 ******
240
250
Spitfire LF Mk IXc
220
230
100%: 4000
WEP: 3250
100%: 1278
WEP: 1577
Bombers
Bomber climb rates from data sheets available on War Thunder forums.
Not all bombers are available, no super charger gear information is provided.
Name
100%(km/h)
WEP(km/h)
B-18A
193
193
B-34
213
213
B-17E
220
B-17E/L
220
B-17G-60-VE
220
B-24D-25-CO
240
B-25J-1
250
B-25J-30
250
PB4Y-2
240
B-29A-BN
265
B-57A
600
B-57B
620
44 Comments
trexwyoming379 26 Mar @ 9:40am 
You climb at whatever angle gives you the desired speed. You'll have to adjust your angle as you climb to maintain the correct speed.
slaaneshgod 25 Mar @ 10:08pm 
I feel like this could be awesome but too stupid to understand it. What angle should I set a plane to for this? Gods I struggle Soo much with air and things just don't make sense to me. Oh well I'll just deal with it. Worst player in the game.
HablosGaming 22 Feb @ 10:35am 
Wow, really? I thought it would just be some math equation lol.
Ackarusta 7 Feb @ 12:11am 
I believe they were determined by simple experimentation. Set full throttle (or WEP if appropriate) and then vary your pitch to raise and lower speed until you observe the greatest RoC. IRL values would be available from flight manuals, but would not be reliable in-game since Gaijin changes flight models to make planes fly the way they want them to.
HablosGaming 6 Feb @ 11:41pm 
How the heck is this calculated?
EmotionallyBroken 9 Sep, 2023 @ 8:35pm 
American props dont use kilometers :P
but "props" for trying 👍
trexwyoming379 11 Jul, 2023 @ 1:37pm 
the F4U-4B has a 3 speed supercharger it's section is inaccurate
Ackarusta 11 Feb, 2023 @ 12:28pm 
This reminds me of one of the first counter-intuitive things you learn in flight school: control speed by changing pitch, control altitude by changing throttle. Of course it's not that simple, but you get the idea. Ignore this principle at your peril. Follow it and you will touch grass. Thanks for assembling the chart. It should be noted that while these speeds yield the maximum climb rate, you will often want to go faster when climbing unless there are no enemies nearby, as this area of your flight envelope will not give good maneuverability, especially in American planes, which are mostly BnZ obligates that suck ass at low speeds. Level your climb in time to gain maneuvering speed, otherwise you will be forced into low energy defensive maneuvering, which is not efficient. <edited to remove misleading terminology>
Ackarusta 11 Feb, 2023 @ 12:21pm 
Thank you. Having all the rates in one table is super convenient.
wastoid  [author] 11 Feb, 2023 @ 9:11am 
@Ackarusta Thanks for the advice.