Condition levers: after starting the first engine (usu. the right, because it's closer to the battery), you push up to high idle on the condition lever for two reasons:1. The faster the generator is turning the easier for it to carry a high load. When you start the 2nd engine, after it passes 10%, you turn the 1st gen back on and it helps boost the 2nd engine up to speed for a faster, cooler start for the 2nd engine. The starter on the 2nd engine draws 1000 amps at 0%, quickly falling to around 300 amps at 20%, so at 10% it's pulling something over 400 amps, quite a lick to hit the running generator with. Of course, the generator is only rated at 300 amps, so it will not go beyond 100% load, but for anything over 200 amps you need to be turning over 65% to keep from overstressing the circuitry, brushes, etc. 2. When first charging the battery, not to mention the generator assisted start, the generator drag is substantial. For any heavy accessory load, it's easier on the engine to be turning faster. At slower speeds, there's less mass airflow running through the engine, and for external combustion engines like turbines, mass airflow is all there is for cooling. As the engine bogs down under load, the fuel control governor will increase fuel flow to maintain the set RPM. Same mass airflow (same RPM) but more fuel = higher ITT. You can burn up a $175,000 engine if you allow this to happen. At the higher N1 (RPM), the engine is much more resistant to excessive ITT due to accessory load. This is why the minimum N1 for air conditioning is 65% on the right engine -- it's the one with the compressor mounted. When you're the pilot of a real turbine, and your job hangs on you not ruining very expensive equipment, you tend to pay attention to this! ITT can be though of as a sort of expense meter: the higher it is, the sooner and the more costly will be your hot section inspection and overhaul. Compressor turbine blades were running, last I checked, over $900 each, and there are, I believe, 40 something of them. Per turbine wheel.Starting is usually the worst thing that happens to a turbine engine, especially for these small turboprops. The fire is lit, after all, but the mass airflow is near zero. The engine may get very hot before airflow catches up to cool things down. Fortunately, the temp may be high, but it has less impact during starting with the lower flow than during running. That's why there is a starting redline on PT6s and most TPE331s that is much higher than the running redline. Despite all the above, the PT6 is a much lower-stressed engine than the Garrett / Honeywell TPE331 engine mounted in Turbo Commanders, Mitsubishi MU-2s, Conquests, etc. I don't believe I've ever seen a PT6 start above the (lower) running redline. The TPE331 is another matter. That engine has a much longer and hotter start cycle, thanks to having to deal with the prop intertia as well as that of the gas generator, and I remember routinely seeing temps approach within 20

Hey Todd,What screen capture utility did you use to make those videos?Mark

FRAPS