Flying a Turboprop

[Guest]

Hey gang,Could someone point me in the direction of a tutorial on how to fly turbos? Or maybe this can be answered in a few sentences.I saw on here one day a dissertation on how the turbo works, but I could never really find what this meant when you were flying.I have the 3-lever thing down for pistons (throttle, pitch, mix), but I'm unsure as to what the 3 levers do in a turboprop. I'm guessing black for power, blue for pitch, and I have no idea about what to do with the red. I keep hearing about "ground fine" and "flight idle" but I really am clueless.I would assume that the POH for a particular plane would have the power settings, just like those tables for jets.I've decided to expand my horizons and fly some little puddlejumpers now and then. :)Thanks in advance for your advice,

[Guest]

Hello Matt, The third lever in the Turboprop is called the "Fuel Condition" lever. It basically has three positions, All the way back is Fuel Cutoff (This is how you shutdown the engine) Just forward of Cutoff is Low Idle (This is where you place it for engine start and ground operations) and Full Forward is High Idle (this is where you put it for takeoff and flight operation) There are a few Turboprops that differ but this is a good rule of thumb and works well with most turboprops in the sim. Happy Flying!http://www.ktone.org/images/FSD_ken.jpg

[wsieffert 0]

I recommed downloading Paco's ATR42-300 and/or -500. He provides detailed flight instructions for these aircraft. See files fsc_atr42_300v20.zip and fsc_atr42500_v10.zip.

[pbenoit 0]

If you want a really wonderful turbo (and I love ATRs also) go here http://home.c2i.net/fokker50/index.htm ... this turbo has one lever only!!!!!!! .. and is really a joy to fly once you read the doc and practice a bit.the Frolov Dash 8 only has two levers .. throttle and condition/propspeed combo ... another extremely aircraft http://home.augustakom.net/oleksiy.frolov/Dash8/Amazingly ... both are freeware .... !!!!I know you asked about "How too's" but hope this helped a bit ... both have excellent documentation which explains a lot about the "hows" and "whats"

[Guest]

hi parka... Or maybe this can be answered in a few sentences.start Fs2002select turboprop aircraftpush throttle all the way forwardwait 20secspull joystick backwards............ there u go....easy only kidding best wishes steve

[Guest oyvindhansen]

You should download the Fly!II 'Aurora'(king air) manual here at Avsim. It is a good primer to turboprop flying from a real world perspective, and isn't really concerned with Fly!II in particular.- Oyvind

[ronzie 21]

Here's the "why" on setting the fuel condition lever:Turboprops take some time to respond to changes in power because of the nature of the gas-turbine engine driving them. To reduce the time of a power increase in flight, the higher in-flight idle state is used on the condition lever. This should be the setting before entering the runway and then on take-off, while enroute, and during approach and especially final in case a quick power increase for a go-around is required.The in-flight setting, however, supplies too much power for general ground/taxi operations, so the lower beta or ground setting as soon as departing the runway for the taxiway to save brakes and better ground operation stability.In a turboprop, the throttle lever is usually called a power lever (and in a jet a thrust lever). Some aircraft also have three ranges as seperated by gates or notches on this lever. The top range is your in-flight range. The middle range is the beta or ground range. While in this range it may also operate some prop control not coupled with your prop lever setting but bypassing that with a special beta valve routing on the prop governor again to enhance ground operations. The bottom range is the reverse thrust which controls for a turbo prop the prop pitch into reverse (again through special governor valve routing)and engine power. The notches or gates insure that the pilot is aware that the end of each range is reached and going from one to the other is not accidental but a deliborate effort.I am not aware of any regular sim throttle levers that employ mechanical gates, so as far as reverse thrust goes, this is accomplished by having the throttle all the way down and/or hitting the F1 key to insure this position, then the F2 key held down so it repeats to apply increasing reverse thrust on roll-outs. After the aircraft has slowed to a reasonable braking speed bump the throttle or hit F1 to go back to the ground idle power position.

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your responses! I've been trying various things out, and I guess it will just take me time and practice to get the hang of things:)Oyvind, thank you for recommending the Aurora manual. Very informative.I also downloaded Frolov's Dash 8...wow...there's a steep learning curve with that one! Something to aspire for, although I think I might have to get me a bigger monitor!Thanks again,