Hello AllI have recently discovered the POSKY A340s and have been enjoying making a lot of flights with this aircraft(mercifully free of masses of updates,service packs FDE updates etc ).I am using Ken Mitchells A340 panel(a variant of his good old 320,330 one)so the layout is not unfamiliar to me,there is one difference though on the 340 panel that I would like explained,on the throttle panel there is a button(clickable)called RAM AIR..what is this,and what does it do,and at what points in a flight should I use it?.So far I have not experienced any discernible problems by leaving it alone,but as its a clickable button I thought I would ask.cheers to allAndy

Hello AllI have recently discovered the POSKY A340s and have been enjoying making a lot of flights with this aircraft(mercifully free of masses of updates,service packs FDE updates etc ).I am using Ken Mitchells A340 panel(a variant of his good old 320,330 one)so the layout is not unfamiliar to me,there is one difference though on the 340 panel that I would like explained,on the throttle panel there is a button(clickable)called RAM AIR..what is this,and what does it do,and at what points in a flight should I use it?.So far I have not experienced any discernible problems by leaving it alone,but as its a clickable button I thought I would ask.cheers to allAndy

I don't have this a/c or panel but...- Ram air in general refers to the dynamic air pressure created by a moving object as used by several engineering applications. Pitot static ports are one common example, as are air intake systems on high-performance road vehicles (which use ram air to increase engine power). But you wouldn't AFAIK need a button or a control for either. - A ram air turbine (RAT) is an emergency generator in the form of a small propeller that's deployed into the airflow. You'd only use it in the event of a total loss of electrical power. Sounds more likely to me, although the throttle quadrant would seem to be an unusual place for the button. And whether it / the button actually does anything on this a/c is another matter.

As Tim has explained the A340 has a Ram air turbine in the event of a complete power failure, it provides basic electrics and HYD power in the event of an emergency, the switch should be on the overhead panel. http://www.sanalpilot.com/forum/uploaded/admin/rat2.jpgYou can see the swich on the top left of the Air panel - http://www.flightsim.com/feature/atwcdk3/image010.jpgRegards

Thanks guysI feel somewhat humbled by your technical expertise.Having looked at the images of the real aircraft,I loaded up the POSKY model switched the AIR RAM (That's how its labelled in the panel)to the on position,had a good look at the external model and could see nothing there at all like the image in the link.If It's there at all its use will probably be explained in any text file that came with the aircraft.So i should probably have looked there.(naughty)I haven't seen ram air featured in any other aircraft (all freeware)that I use(nearly all passenger jets both small and large,but at least I now know what it's function is should I come across it again.It seems that it is a dummy.Thanks GuysAndy

Thanks guysI feel somewhat humbled by your technical expertise.Having looked at the images of the real aircraft,I loaded up the POSKY model switched the AIR RAM (That's how its labelled in the panel)to the on position,had a good look at the external model and could see nothing there at all like the image in the link.If It's there at all its use will probably be explained in any text file that came with the aircraft.So i should probably have looked there.(naughty)I haven't seen ram air featured in any other aircraft (all freeware)that I use(nearly all passenger jets both small and large,but at least I now know what it's function is should I come across it again.It seems that it is a dummy.Thanks GuysAndy

Andy- just to elaborate on the ram air turbine- in July 1983, an Air Canada 767 ran out of fuel at cruise altitude. Amazingly the crew was able to glide the aircraft to safe landing at an abandoned military airbase. The RAT- ram air turbine- supplied enough power for emergency instruments to get the bird back on the ground. On touch down, the nose wheel collapsed due to its not locking. With nose skidding on the concrete and tail high, the emergency escape chutes became nearly vertical, resulting in the only injuries as passengers slid/plumetted down to the tarmac. Read about it here-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider(Why they ran out of fuel is another amazing story itself!)Alex Reid

In this case, RAM AIR is part of the air conditioning system:RAM AIRAn emergency ram air inlet ventilates the cockpit and cabin, if both (air conditioning) packs fail. The emergency ram air inlet valve is controlled by the RAM AIR pushbutton on the AIR panel. The pushbutton opens the ram air valve, provided that ditching is not selected. The outflow valves open about 50% provided that they are under automatic control and delta P is less than one psi. they do not automatically open of they are under manual control, even if delta P is less than one psi. If delta P is greater than one psi, the check valve, located downstream of the ram air door, will not open. No airflow will then be supplied.The Ram Air inlet valve position would be displayed on the ECAM bleed page.Note that on this Airbus, the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) drives a pump on the Green hydraulic system. There is also a hydraulic powered emergency AC generator on the Green hydraulic system. scott s..