carb ice suspected

[NB72 0]

Hello,

 

I have been flying with the PMDG DC-6, on the latest release, for the past 1 week without any problems, but since I updated the Cessna 172 SP from Airfoillabs with their latest release (V1.61), I am having the following problems with the PMDG DC-6 (for your information, I am ONLY using the AFE) :

 

- From time to time the radio will be turned on, as expected, by the AFE, but the GPS will NOT get turned on.

 

- the "CARB ICE SUSPECTED" message will appear as soon as I start the engine, or within 30 seconds if I start the situation in a "Ready to Taxi" mode.

 

- when taxiing, the BMEP needles will go back and forward from 60 to 150, the fuel flow will also go back and forward from 0 to 6, same for the RPM needles (engines seem completely unstable).

 

- when ready to take off, the AFE takes a good minute to get to 30 manifold pressure and is not able to reach the necessary power for taking off. :(

 

 

Does anyone encountered these as well and if so, what should I do to "fix" these and be able to fly again with the PMDG DC-6 ?

 

Last but not least, I am flying from EDDL (OAT is about 25°c) and before each flight I restart XPLANE and reload the PMDG DC-6 (so I would expect everything is reinitialized properly).

 

Thanks for your help  !

 

Cheers,

 

Nicolas

 

 

[mpav 1]

Turn on carburetor heat?

 

Not sure if the AFE is supposed to handle this but moderately warm and humid conditions (like those in eddl these days) can cause carburetor icing which will restrict the airflow to the engines essentially suffocating/drowning them.

The "carb ice suspected" warning is a dead giveaway that you do have ice building up in your carburetor.

 

Martin Peters

[r_stopnicki 92]

Hello Nicolas.

 

I have had similar engine behaviours as the ones you describe (however, without the carburator ice warning).

 

In each case, I found that the engines (by clicking on the Maintenance Manager) needed attention. Their status color was amber/yellow.

 

After "repairing" the engines and the propellers, as well as topping all fluids, the engine behaviour changed to fully normal.

 

I now make a habit of always "maintaining" the airplane after a flight, so that I am not frustrated next time, as it keeps the history of operations.

 

Give it a try. Hopefully it will resolve your issue.

 

Regards,

Roberto

[NB72 0]

Thanks Martin and Roberto for your feed-backs.

 

I will try what you suggested and hopefully it will work out.

 

Thanks again !

 

Cheers from LOWS,

 

Nicolas

 

[NB72 0]

Hello,

 

I just tried again today in EDDL to perform a flight with the PMDG DC6 and unfortunately, it seems that I do not have any power with my engines.... :(

 

(Engines are ALL green and I do not have any "CARB ICE SUSPECTED" message), Fyi, I used only the AFE...

 

Until I installed the Cessna 172 SP from Airfoilllabs last update (V1.61), everything was working fine with the PMDG DC-6, but since this update, it does not work...

 

Does anyone have the Cessna 172 SP (V1.61) installed and can confirm that the PMDG DC-6 still work fine for them ?

 

Thanks !

 

Cheers from LOWS,

 

Nicolas

 

 

[Don Quixote 76]

Nicolas, I have both the DC-6 and the AFL 1.61 and fly them regularly, and I don't see any problems. However, I don't use the AFE.

What happens if you handle engine power, propellers and carb heat manually?

Also, do you have real weather enabled (and not some manual weather setting which could increase the chance of icing?)

[NB72 0]

Hello,

 

Thanks for your feed-back.

When I handle the engine power manually, after having clicked on the "abort" button from the AFE, I still get no power, even for taxiing.

Regarding the weather, I am using Skymaxx Pro V3.2 with Real Weather Connector.

I will give a try flying this PMDG DC-6 without any AFE help and any weather at all to see if I can at least taxi and take off...

 

Thanks again !

 

Cheers from LOWS,

 

Nicolas

 

[NB72 0]

Hello,

 

I tried using the "help" of the AFE and no weather injected by Skymaxx Pro (using the "Clear" mode from Xplane) and I could not taxi due to the lack of power.

 

I then tried again this time with real weather, using Skymaxx Pro, and WITHOUT the AFE and I could at least TAXI..

 

Obviously, there is an issue with the AFE, which is pretty "interesting" as it worked for me before pretty well...

 

Anyway, I will wait for the Tutorial 3 which should show how to operate this aircraft without the AFE.

 

Thanks again !

 

Cheers from LOWS,

 

Nicolas