OK, now that we've all discussed and experienced the start-locks on this bird, I was wondering about the opposite state, when to feather the props. Obviously one might feather a prop in-flight on a dead engine, but when else would you purposfully feather a prop? According to the tutorial, not during shutdown because we're putting them back on the start-locks 1/2-way through the shutdown sequence. Or did I miss a step somewhere?Thanks,

Al, I believe the dead engine case is the only time to feather; however, it is most important in that case. I don't expect single engine taxi to warrant a feathered prop disc.

Al, I believe the dead engine case is the only time to feather; however, it is most important in that case. I don't expect single engine taxi to warrant a feathered prop disc.

Interesting. I wouldn't think you'd feather on a single-engine taxi either because you're gonna have to mess around with the start-locks before and after the taxi; which seems like more trouble than it's worth.

The only other case I can think of is if you have a prop governor fail and you can't control your engine RPM, in which case you could obviously over-stress your engine. The procedure would be (if you can't get it to maintain any kind of RPM at all) to feather the prop and secure the engine.Coincidentally, my profile pick is of when we practice shutting the engine down midflight (which involves feathering the prop). Good times!

Good catch, Paul. The early model C-130's suffered from this malady. At least one I remember resulted in loss of life in Turkey (blades separated from hub). Oh yeah, remember the heroic piloting skills that the Navy P-3 pilot displayed when a Chinese fighter flew into one of his props, I bet he wished he could have feathered those engines. He wrote a really good book about that incident that is in my library, "To Fly" I think.I never got to feather during my ME training, the CFI pulled the throttle to "neutral" thrust. However, I've had two shutdowns in the C-414 over the past years. Flying single engine in a Chancellor isn't too bad, it is the landing and taxiing that is interesting.

A few instances when you'd feather the prop (in the J41):1) Aborted engine start (Hot, Hung/Stagnating, Overheat, Fire, No Oil Press, people or equipment in danger)2) With APR off, after flameout (With APR on, the IEC will attempt to auto-relight. Relights are attempted until below the windmilling start envelope, at which time the NTS will autofeather the prop)3) Planned in flight engine shutdown (Fire, red BETA CAP, High EGT, Low Oil Press, High Oil Temp, vibration, etc.)There may be others, but thats the bulk of it.Nick

At least one I remember resulted in loss of life in Turkey (blades separated from hub).

I used to fly quite a bit up and down the US East coast as a passenger on prop-jobs such as the Dash and Dornier and I can remember thinnking to myself while seated near the prop, "damn, I hope they never come lose." That must've been an aweful incident Dan.

The early model C-130's suffered from this malady.

Even the H3's have had unexplained occurences like this. Do a search for the Air Force HC-130P off the coast of Oregon or California...King 51 or something like that. More recently, you might remember the C-130H that crashed during OIF during a threat reaction. Both had an unexplained "four engine rollback". It happend at Little Rock a few years ago too. Altogether, there's about half a dozen published incidents/accidents. Regards,Nick

A few instances when you'd feather the prop (in the J41):1) Aborted engine start (Hot, Hung/Stagnating, Overheat, Fire, No Oil Press, people or equipment in danger)2) With APR off, after flameout (With APR on, the IEC will attempt to auto-relight. Relights are attempted until below the windmilling start envelope, at which time the NTS will autofeather the prop)3) Planned in flight engine shutdown (Fire, red BETA CAP, High EGT, Low Oil Press, High Oil Temp, vibration, etc.)There may be others, but thats the bulk of it.Nick

Good detailed info, Nick. Thanks...