I've already asked this question on the official DF forum, but after 4 days, 70 views (and a smashing total amount of exactly ONE other post on that forum in the meantime) I thought it might be wiser to post my question over here... ;)I've looked at the DF Beech A36 charts for a while and wondered if I looked right (just to be sure). If I'm not mistaken normal cruise settings are 23.0 in. hg @ 2300 rpm. Right? I also noticed that apparently it's better (?) to lean LEAN of peak instead of RICH of peak. Right? First of all there are more charts for LOP than ROP and most examples use LOP...BTW I also noticed the charts on p 6.14 (the right one) and p 6.15 (the left one) are the same. A little mistake, I guess...?

Hi,I hope some expert will answer you. In the meantime I can offer you my amateur-opinion.>I've looked at the DF Beech A36 charts for a while and>wondered if I looked right (just to be sure). If I'm not>mistaken normal cruise settings are 23.0 in. hg @ 2300 rpm.I fly at low altitudes and I stick to Peter McLeland's tutorial: MP around 20 in cruise, then 15 on top of (and during) descent and finally 13 just before touchdown.>Right? I also noticed that apparently it's better (?) to lean>LEAN of peak instead of RICH of peak. Right? First of allThat is not what I read in the manual. There it says:7) Click on the

Wow! An answer! Within a day! :)>I fly at low altitudes and I stick to Peter McLeland's>tutorial: MP around 20 in cruise, then 15 on top of (and>during) descent and finally 13 just before touchdown.20 MP is a bit low, I think... According to the charts 21 MP is about the lowest for normal cruise. The thing is, you do not actually cruise in the tutorial: it's not a normal flight tutorial: you are only flying a circuit as you would do AFTER the flight when you are getting ready to land. So I would not recommend 20 mp for normal cruise... For the final part of the flight these settings are indeed great and I do use them too. >So "slowly ENRICH the mixture"...You've got a point there, yes. But... that part of the manual is just a copy of the EDM 700 manual, so... it's not Beech A36 specific! Indeed, you usually lean to rich, but as I said, when I look at the charts it seems leaning to lean is the way to go...>Didn't help you much, I know.Well... indeed you didn't... ;) But I'm really glad someone answered my question, so I still say 'Thank you very much!' :) And I just LOVE to talk about this AWESOME plane, so... you made me happy anyway! :)

Howdy,I used to fly Bonanza's when they only cost multiple ten's of thousands of dollars (a long time ago). So, providing there hasn't been some significant change in engine management procedures the following should be pretty accurate and should work for any normally aspirated constant speed prop machine.Generally, keep the manifold pressure equal to or less than the rpm setting - except for take off or emergencies.A good procedure for take off is max throttle (manifold pressure) and max rpm until reaching 500'agl. Climb to that altitude at best rate of climb speed. At 500', lower the nose to enroute climb attitude (and take what ever speed you get, forward visibility is most important.) Then reduce the manifold pressure to 24". Next, reduce the rpm's to 2400.When reducing power, the manifold pressure is changed first. When increasing power, the rpm's are changed first.As you gain altitude, the manifold pressure will decrease about 1" per thousand feet. So, you have to add power accordingly to maintain the 24 square setting. As you approach 6000', the throttle will be maxed out to hold the 24". As you continue to climb the manifold pressure will continue to decrease at the 1" per thousand feet rate. For that reason, 7000' msl is usually a good cruise altitude for Bonanza's as they can maintain about 75% power. Once you reach your criuse altitude, the rpm's can be reduced to 2300 if the manifold pressure is set at 23" or below. There are power setting tables that come with the airplane showing what percent power you get with different manifold pressure and rpm settings at different density altitudes. But, the above procedure will always work and won't hurt the engine. Hope this helps,Bill Worth

Great! An answer from a real Bonanza pilot! Thanks for the very interesting infomation. I like to do everything as realistic as possible, so this really helps me a lot to do just that! Good to know MP should always be equal or less than RPM. This way it's easy to remember in which order you have to do things when I have to reduce or increase power! I always use an 'ezelsbruggetjes' to remember things I've just learned or need to remember. (Don't know the English word for 'ezelsbruggetje'). In this case it will be: M comes before R in the alfabet, and in the Bonanza this will be the case too: the M may never come above the R! Now I'll never ever forget this. ;)I've printed your post and will keep it beside my computer!Do you, by any change, happen to remember if you leaned rich of peak or lean of peak...?

>Don't know the English word for 'ezelsbruggetje'.The english word is "mnemonics." Although it has fewer letters, is just about as difficult to spell! ;)With regards to leaning, in general most Textron/Lycoming engines call for ROP. Continental engines, as well as many others call for LOP.

Thank you for your kind words regarding my post.Mixture was set on the rich side of the peak egt setting. You could run slightly on the lean side, but there was a danger of engine damage if you were too far on the lean side (piston damage). So, those who wanted the engine to last, would stay on the rich side of the peak.Glad to help,Bill Worth

>Thank you for your kind words regarding my post.>>Mixture was set on the rich side of the peak egt setting. You>could run slightly on the lean side, but there was a danger of>engine damage if you were too far on the lean side (piston>damage). So, those who wanted the engine to last, would stay>on the rich side of the peak.>>Glad to help,>>Bill Worth Bill, I enjoyed reading your post re the proper way to fly a bonanza very much. What memories! I am currently simming the DF A36 and have Simmed the Carenado V 35 in the past. Back in the early 60's I soloed my dad's old vintage 1957 Bonanza and flew all over the U.S. with him in it. My recolection is that our leaning procedure was pretty simple. You leaned until the engine started to run a little rough, then you riched it back to where it ran very smooth and about a half a turn past that (so we were running rich of peak). The insturmentation was nowhere near as precise as it is on modern aircraft. Years later, my law partner had a straight-tail Bonanza and he leaned very carefully by the egt exactly as you inicated in your response. Incidentally, our home airport was in wyoming so we did a lot of flying at 10 to 12,000' so we seldom saw 23" of mercury. But we frequently made 180 to 200kts. The Bonanza truly was the Caddy of single engined airplanes. It was a great deal more fun to fly than a 182. I am currently flying the DF A36 from Centennial, Denver to Santiago Chile, by way of the Carribean. Now if I could only get fs 9 to start logging my flights again!Richard

Okay, so RICH it will be! BTW It's nice to read those stories from real pilots! :) And the last post also remembers me that it is indeed a nice idea to do a long flight over a few days: going from one airport to another in unknown territory. The last weeks I only flew in the Netherlands (where I live), starting from the same airport everytime. I think I'm going to plan a sightseeing flight from my home airport to something like the south of Italy. Great idea: hop from one airport to another, save the flight, and continue from the airport the next day. Just as if you're doing it for real! :)

Richard -I too am going to print this out as I am thinking of acquiring a DF A36. I am not a real pilot, or even an accomplished sim pilot for that matter, but I have flown in a real A36 a number of times with a friend here in TX who has since sold it, and his hangar, due to health concerns. I have sent him info on the DF A36, but can't get him the least bit interested in simming.BTW, I 'fly' in/out of Centennial(Arapaho), JEFCO, DEN all the time as it is my favorite venue having lived in Littleton (Arapaho and University) most of my adult life while working in the airline and travel agency business. Bruce

Hi Richard,I know what you are talking about with the Bonanza. I flew many different singles and multi's during my career. The Bonanza was indeed the top of the line. The controls were so smooth, they felt jeweled. And the way the V-tail version would gently yaw back and forth in light turbulence was almost like it was comforting you. The leaning procedure you describe was exactly correct before we had the egt. The egt just let us get it a little closer to the peak without damage. The only thing about the bird was it needed your attention on approach. You couldn't fly it like a 182 or it would bite you. By that I mean there was little warning if you got too slow before stall. So, much like a Cessna 300 and 400 series twins, you had to make sure the airspeed was where it should be all the way to the runway. I looks like the newer version has modifications to the wing to make it a little more user friendly.Good to hear from you. Happy landings,Bill Worth

Does anyone know whether I can put the default GPS unit in the airplane and fly off of that? I really don't like the reality Xp one much because it has outdated nav data and I can't see the terrain!

>Does anyone know whether I can put the default GPS unit in>the airplane and fly off of that? I really don't like the>reality Xp one much because it has outdated nav data and I>can't see the terrain! The default GPS Garmin500 is included via an invisible click-spot located just to the left of the Reality unit. You can then make it (Garmin500) the active nav device by pressing the GPS1/GPS2 button located right above the attitude indicator.

awesome! thanks!

That's the right idea. Get out of your backyard. I have flown around the world that way about 30 times, including once in the Lockheed Vega. You get a lot of auto pilot time, but its fun. A great way for you in the Netherlands to get started would be from home to Sion Switz. to Nice France and back. Great 3 day trip and great scenery! Fly to Geneva then up the valley to Sion. You'll be in Kathmandu before you know it! Take the Barron or the King Air and fly VOR to VOR.Richard