Some Simple Prop Questions For You Pros.

[Guest Grayfox]

1) I have a question that no one seems to be able to answer in the FS2004.com forums. On Nav. Lights, Strobes, and Beacons I got a bunch of mixed answers. When do you put these on? Nav Lights: My understanding was that these were on all the time no matter what. Someone at FS2004 said you only use these during the night. Strobes: I thought these were for night and fog conditions. Someone at FS2004 said Strobes are on all the time day and night and are switched on before takeoff and switched off after landing. Beacon: These are on any time the engines are running. Landing Lights: Obviously during landings...are these used for takeoffs too or the taxi ones instead? Taxi Lights: Obviously for taxiing...can they be used during takeoffs? 2) In the Cessna 208's what exactly is the Suction Gauge???? What in the world does that measure? I can't find anything in the FS help menu... 3) LAST ONE :) sorry man...I'm a n00b. What exactly is the difference between feathering and auto sycn prop. I know that feathering is with RPM lever used in case of an engine going down. But what exactly is the sync prop and when should you use it? Also on the RPM lever when is it appropriate to have it on full and when is it appropriate to bring it down. To my understanding as you climb and start to reach cruising speed you can bring this down, creating more torgue. Is this right or am I totally off here?

[Guest aca_dia]

Nav lights: Unless a company has a specific rule Nav lights are only required from sun down to sun up.Strobes: Are an anti collision light and should be used most of the time like the beacon. There are times when you do not want them on. Its poor form to have them on when taxing around other aircraft or people at night on the ramp (kills their night vision), so at night its best to wait until you are about to take the active runway before turning on. Also in low light conditions in IMC (in the clouds) when they reflect back at you they can screw up your own vision (and can cause spatial disorientation in some situations) so its best to switch them off.Beacon: YupLanding Lights: Used for take off, landing, and operations near airport to increase visibility of your aircraft. In real life mine come on about ten miles out and when doing pattern work as well.Taxi Lights: They are lower intensity and are directed lower than landing lights. They are better on the ground because you wont cause as much glare for other pilots. You can leave them on for departure and landing, but they wont do much compared to the landing lights. I have lost a landing light and used the taxi lights in a pinch.Suction: Lets you know that suction from the vacuum pump is operating in the normal range. In most GA aircraft (A 208 is GA) the vacuum pump crates suction to spin the gyros in the attitude indicator & heading indicator. The turn coordinator is most often electric (for redundancy) these days though some are vacuum driven.Suction level is critical when IMC. If you lose a vacuum pump and suction you lose both the AI and HI.Prop Sync: For twin-engine aircraft. When flying it will automatically micro adjust prop rpm on both engines so you don

[jchpa32 0]

The suction guage measures the amount of suction provided by the suction pump. Suction provides air movement to drive the gyros that are in the directional gyro and the attitude indicator. If the suction is not in the correct range, the instruments are not reliable.Prop sync is used to synchronize the props of twins to reduce vibration and noise, which can lead to pilot fatigue and passenger annoyance.The 'prop' control is used to set prop RPM during T.O., climb, cruise and descent for best prop efficiency. Generally, prop RPM is increased before power increase, and decreased after power reduction, to prevent undue stress on the engine. Many people advocate using 'squared' prop and RPM settings, such as 25" MAP/2500 RPM, though some manufacturers have said higher MAP than RPM is ok.As far as light usage goes, generally accepted practice is nav lights on anytime electrical power is on to show the aircraft is occupied and subject to configuration change, beacon on to indicate imminent engine start/aircraft movement (such as pushback), strobes on just before takeoff for increased visibility, the same for landing lights as often these require air movement to prevent overheating, and taxi lights on for ground movement.Long-winded answer, hope this helps.

[Guest Grayfox]

I'm sorry I don't know what 25" MAP is. I'm a n00b at this sometimes, I don't know what you are referring to that.As for the strobes I too remember being on a flight to Spain and it was foggy and the pilot had on the strobes and I was sitting near the wing looking out and I remember I couldn't look out because the strobes were so strong they were blinding me with the reflection back from the fog.Thanks to both of you for your kind and thorough explenations :)I wish to someday become a profficient real world pilot like you guys too :)

[CraigC 0]

MAP is manifold pressure set in inches. This is set with the throttle. RPM is set with the blue prop lever. The other guys pretty much covered your other questions thoroughly, so no sense in regurgitating their info.Craig