Realistic Cruise Settings for Dash-8?

[Guest gwi]

Hi:A question for a real-world Dash pilot. Most of the time I fly relatively short sectors (150-250 nm) in the mid-to-uper teens using ballpark settings of 70% torque and 1000 rpm, giving aroung 190 IAS for an average burn of 650 lbs/hour. I set an initial fuel load of 60%, allowing for 30' hold, 45' to my alternate (always specified) and 45' remaining upon arrival. A 'typical' load is 33 pax and 1500 lbs baggage (I know ... should be using metric!)Advice appreciated.GWI (EGKA)PS: Incidently, I find the Pheonix Dash sim truly addictive!

[Guest DashTrash]

The usual prop RPM setting in cruise would be 900 rpm. There are some cases where 1050 might be used, but there are no charts available for 1000 rpm.As far as torque settings, that all depends on air temperature and altitude. I have the charts for the -100, -200, and -300 on a CD somewhere. If I can track it down, I'll see about getting it out to you guys.

[crosswind 825]

The Torque setting charts for cruise are a part of the manuals, and have been well tabulated by PSS.

[Guest gwi]

Dash 8 300QYes, I've been through the manuals and printed out the torque settings. If you look at Max Cruise torque for rpm=900, F250 and -20C, you'll see it's 80%. But try flying at F250 using those settings and you feel on the back of the power curve with a nose up attitude of 5-7 degrees and an IAS down to around 150 kts. (And yes, the A/C is fully cleaned up.) Pushing the props to 1050 gets you to 200 kts indicated with the nose back on the horizon. Pilots who fly the real thing tell me they regularly pull the props back to 900 in cruise. Something wrong with the sim, or is it me?George(EGKA)

[crosswind 825]

George,It it is not you. This is just an envelope that the PSS Dash does not handle very well, despite the many tweaks that many have done. The FS2004 patch did not do the aircraft much justice. Performance was alot better (even better with some more tweaking)in FS2002 for which the aircraft was originally designed.The correlation between Torque and Prop has some flaws which are somewhat tedious to model. In order for these anomalies to be corrected, PSS maybe better off re-creating the Dash for FSXKroswyndFlight DispatcherPiedmont Airlines (Dash 8 100/Q300 operator)

[Guest gwi]

Thanks, I guessed it might be the software. A great pity since I'm not going to upgrade to FSX and the PSS Dash has a number of strong points, including the panel 'hot spots' and a very good FMS. Cheers,George