The distance to Charlotte from Teterboro is some 470 nm so my plan was to split this distance into two roughly equal legs without much deviation from a direct route. A quick messing with LittleNavMap revealed that Lake Anna airport (7W4) would fit the bill nicely. The airport is nearby… well… Lake Anna so it should not be too difficult to find it.
It also seemed a good opportunity to finally take to the air the 40th anniversary Beaver so there I was:
Here I have to make a remark. Of course I did not read the manual (not that there is one provided for the Beaver by MilViz / Asobo anyway) and much less the speeds for this aircraft. But just by reading the ASI and eyeballing what looks right, I opted for 90 mph. It worked well After landing I googled for some info and found this:
I would think that switching to a fuel tank with fuel would get the engine running as the prop was still windmilling but that was not the case. No idea why. It should work like that IRL I believe.
But what a boring flight would that be without an emergency
I just looked through the manual for the Beaver I have (Thranda XP11) - The starter switch engages the starter and boost coil. A total WAG, but maybe that answers the question?
Anyway, you made me google today at 7am to check the Emergency Procedure for engine failure during flight. I got this (this is RL POH so it may not be simulated in MSFS but I find it intetesting nonetheless):
I recall having zero oil and zero fuel pressure. Of course I did not use the wobble pump and instead in sheer horror pressed Ctrl+E to crank the engine The automated start up sequence did the trick.
Note that the emergency checklist above DOES NOT include holding the starter switch in START position.
Interestingly I recall from some of my older aircraft procedures turning boost pumps on for switching fuel sources.
Last year I starved the engines in the DC-6 when I tried to rapidly balance a tank by feeding all engines off of it without remembering to put the Boost Pumps in high, so it seems possible to do that.
I wouldn’t think this Beaver would have that kind of systems depth, but good on them if it did.
I plan to take the Beaver to the skies of Alaska and discover a bit the Misty Moornings scenery package so I suppose I will face multiple opportunities to check out
I tried an in flight engine failure with the Thranda Beaver I have for XP-11.
Turned off the fuel and the engine stopped within about 10 seconds. And by stopped I mean completely, as in not turning/windmilling at all.
But I followed the procedure - it only took two pumps with the wobble pump to get the fuel pressure back into the green, there was still a bit of oil pressure so I tried adjusting the prop to see if I could get it spinning… Nup. So I said fuggit, hit the starter and the engine came to life!
Started with the recommended airspeed (95mph/83 knots). Put the nose down a bit further and bumped that up to nearly 100 knots, but nothing.
No autofeather, and the lever didn’t appear to be adjusting the prop pitch… I’m guessing that this particular version isn’t that ‘sophisticated’?
Edit/Update: I did a quick ‘experiment’ with a number of ‘prop’ planes - turbine and piston. For aircraft that have an autofeather prop pitch is animated, but only between full fine and feathered. i.e. start an engine with the prop feathered and it will ‘transition’ to full fine on start up regardless of the prop lever position. With all other aircraft the props seem to be ‘fixed’ at full fine/max rpm regardless of lever position. This is obviously an animation thing only, it is modelling RPM based on lever setting.
I might try some other aircraft to see if their props will windmill - that will let me know if it is XP11 or aircraft (i.e. developer) specific.
Edit/Update 2: Windmilling props is aircraft specific (asterix denotes autofeather):
(STMA) Beech 18* - No (might be due to autofeather, will re-check)
(Aerobask) Velocity Twin - No
(AWX) DC3* - Yes, but autofeather and will only windmill when getting near VNE in a dive (awesome freeware BTW, definitely one to DL if you have XP11)
For the last leg from the Lake Anna airport (7W4) to Charlotte (KCLT) I picked the Electra since, for some reason, it gives me great 30’ vibes and that was exactly what I felt like
Early morning departure calls for cold & DARK cockpit, of course.
With no special plan for landing (even though I have fired up the FSLTL to have some traffic around, I have forgotten to activate it ) I just pulled up the ATC menu and got rwy 18L for visual landing.
If you read this, @BeachAV8R, I made it all the way from my home to your home (kinda), went through some hiccups, learnt ton of new stuff (like paying attention to weather and fuel planning) and had lots of fun!
Thanks a million @Deacon211 for taking care of this Christmas flight.
After landing I googled for some info and found this:
to check the Emergency Procedure for engine failure during flight. I got this (this is RL POH so it may not be simulated in MSFS but I find it intetesting nonetheless):
) I just pulled up the ATC menu and got rwy 18L for visual landing.
and congrats!
