Stephen Harding wrote:
Mike Marron wrote:
Stephen Harker wrote:

It would be interesting to have some real information on this. I
would expect that, to a large extent, when flying in formation the
pilots could compensate by the throttle setting, after all when on
patrol they would be flying at considerably less than the maximum
speed and hence it was less of a problem.

I haven't been following this thread too closely but if it hasn't been
mentioned yet, remember that those old WW1 rotary engines didn't
have throttles. The pilot used an "interupter" switch to alternately
kill the ignition and restart it so as to adjust their speeds. A good
example of this technique (called "blipping") being used is in the
1975 movie, "The Great Waldo Pepper" starring Robert Redford.

I don't believe "blipping" was a characteristic of all rotary engines
though was it? Certainly was in the case of the Camel.

Probably not "all" but AFAIK blipping was a characteristic of the
vast majority of WW1 rotarys.

I've heard and seen the Camel in flight (genuine engine; reproduction
aircraft) at Rhinebeck airfield (see http://hobart.cs.umass.edu/~harding/Rhinebeck/
for some pics I took during a visit in 2001, including the Sopwith Camel)
and it really is quite distinctive sounding in flight.

Yep. I understand that severe backfires as the result of blipping
sometimes caused fires to erupt inflight which of course would
promptly engulf the entire dope 'n fabric airframes.

I would think staying together would be quite challenging given different
engines, different age/wear of the engines, and the blipping throttle
control requirement.

All true, not to mention the lack of 2-way radio communications.

Even during WWII, I've read accounts of the same model aircraft having
difficulties staying together because of differences in engine wear.

As an aside, besides complete engine failures I've also experienced
a runaway engine at WOT (wide open throttle) while flying in formation
with a bud. My throttle cable broke while flying crosscountry at our
normal cruising altitude of 5-10 ft. AGL underneath the powerlines and
bridges while hopscotching over the hedgerows and terrorizing any
cow, deer, or other four-legged critter who happens to get in our way.

My options were either to hit the mag switches and kill the runaway
engine, or simply go with the flow and let the bird do it's thing and
climb, climb, climb. I chose the latter and radioed my bud that I was
diverting to the nearest airport. By the time we reached our
alternate, we had climbed up to about 8,000 ft. AGL at which time
I simply shut down the runaway engine and glided down to an
uneventful dead stick landing.