I am trying to fly a Maule 7 in Microsoft flight. I would post this in that section but I don't think it pertains to that software. I am wondering how to fly the aircraft. I don't understand the use of the mixture and propellor. I am wondering when I need to increase or decrease one or the other for climb etc. I was flying one of the missions in flight and I was gradually increasing altitude, probably around 400 ft VS and when I had my mixure, prop and rpm at 100% the entire time yet my speed kept decreasing. This was around 7000ft. I am wondering how I can fly the plain without stalling it because that is exactly what happened at 8000 ft. I understand that the air gets thinner the higher you go but I just don't understand the physics of the prop and mixture control. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi,like you said the higher you go the thinner gets the air. But the engine/motor needs a special mix of air and fuel. And when the air gets thinner the motor needs less fuel to maintain the air and fuel mix.Therefore you have to reduce the mixture, which means giving the motor less fuel. If you reduce the mixture to 0% the motor will stop because it gets no fuel.If you fly high with a rich mixture the motor gets to much fuel and cann't burn it right which means you don't get the full power of your engine.If you fly on a low altitude with a poor mixture it's the other way around the motor gets not enough fuel to work properly.You can say as a rule at 5000ft and then every 2000ft you have to reduce the mixture.To reduce it to an optimum reduce the mixture untile you hear a droping prop speed and then increase the mixture a bit.(This rule was mentioned in a mission I think, but don't remember which one it was)The Maule has a gauge (the one with the two pointers) where you can see the power of the motor i guess (don't remember it corectly at the moment sorry) it's left next to the prop rpm.Look at the right pointer when reducing the mixture and you will see what i mean :) .Now to the prop rpm controll.With this lever you controll the pitch of the propblades to increase or decrease the "suction" of the prop for start and climb to not stress the motor so much.So thats what i know about this. I hope this helps you, but I'm not a real pilot it doesn't have to be corect what I said but it works for me :)If a real pilot has an addition to it pleas let us now.Best regardsBenni.

Hi guys,For the Maule M7...Once up above 5000 feet or so just look to the right of the manifold pressure gauge. The right half of that gauge will be a fuel flow type gauge. Bringing the mixture back you will see this gauge begin to drop. When this happens your effectively increasing your engines performance at that altitude. Now...as you continue to bring it back you'll see that the needle drops but eventually begins to climb again. This is where you stop pulling the mixture back. You want to pull it back far enough to see the needle drop then slowly begin to rise again......you stop moving the mixture control and push it forward just a few more percent. You want to be on the "too much fuel" side of the bell curve as opposed to the "not enough fuel" side. So pull it back slowly...watch the needle drop and then when it begins to turn direction and climb stop pulling the mixture.Another thing to mention. And perhaps someone can correct me, but on the Maule M7 in flight setting the mixture via auto-checklist produces a much leaner mixture...about 15.6 gallons per hour than what it should be leaned too according to the gauges behavior. Just a simple observation i've made.Hope i've been able to explain it a little....been a while since i've used a real one.MJ_ERIC

Edited March 6, 201214 yr by MJ_ERIC

Hi there OP!If you hit "Q" while flying, the Check List will appear. It will give you some more information about where your Throttle, Prop, and Mixture should be for Takeoff, Climb, and Cruise.Then, follow the information posted by the other gents above. They have explained things very well.

Alternatively in the setttings menu, just set the mixture to "auto" ...

Alternatively in the setttings menu, just set the mixture to "auto" ...

Cheat! LOL!

LOL, works for me at least while I am learning, I will eventually disable that! That is the only one I have enabled... I did map mixture to an axis on my Cougar stick, so am getting ready anways.

from what I understand, the prop control is kinda like shifting gears in a car. You don't want to be blasting along at full speed in third gear, because it would use more gas and strain the car. So when cruising at high speed, you shift into 5th gear (or pull the prop back to a lower rpm)

from what I understand, the prop control is kinda like shifting gears in a car. You don't want to be blasting along at full speed in third gear, because it would use more gas and strain the car. So when cruising at high speed, you shift into 5th gear (or pull the prop back to a lower rpm)

Yep that is what I figure, I have been using the feature at least.

You can kind of move the mixture around and listen for when the engine is happy as well. Looking at the RPM gage also will confirm you ears :D