Hi, sorry for this noob question, but I'm having trouble understanding how to start the engine on the Caravan.  The checklist doesn't seem to work.  And maybe the plane is bugged.  Because sometimes the propeller is spinning but I still get a notification on-screen saying "Press Control-E to start engine" or something to that effect.  If I press Control-E it then makes a sound and starts... but the prop was already spinning.

Anyway, I would like to know the proper sequence of buttons to start the engine from cold.

BTW, if anyone can explain the prop torque lever usage, that would be appreciated as well.  I've just been leaving it on max and adjusting speed via the throttle.  I have a Saitek quadrant so have three levers and one mapped to throttle, mixture, and flaps.  I'm wondering if I should consider remapping mixture to the prop torque?

11 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Hi, sorry for this noob question, but I'm having trouble understanding how to start the engine on the Caravan.  The checklist doesn't seem to work.  And maybe the plane is bugged.  Because sometimes the propeller is spinning but I still get a notification on-screen saying "Press Control-E to start engine" or something to that effect.  If I press Control-E it then makes a sound and starts... but the prop was already spinning.

Anyway, I would like to know the proper sequence of buttons to start the engine from cold.

BTW, if anyone can explain the prop torque lever usage, that would be appreciated as well.  I've just been leaving it on max and adjusting speed via the throttle.  I have a Saitek quadrant so have three levers and one mapped to throttle, mixture, and flaps.  I'm wondering if I should consider remapping mixture to the prop torque?

did you turn the fuel levers on in the overhead panel? 

32 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Hi, sorry for this noob question, but I'm having trouble understanding how to start the engine on the Caravan.  The checklist doesn't seem to work.  And maybe the plane is bugged.  Because sometimes the propeller is spinning but I still get a notification on-screen saying "Press Control-E to start engine" or something to that effect.  If I press Control-E it then makes a sound and starts... but the prop was already spinning.

Anyway, I would like to know the proper sequence of buttons to start the engine from cold.

BTW, if anyone can explain the prop torque lever usage, that would be appreciated as well.  I've just been leaving it on max and adjusting speed via the throttle.  I have a Saitek quadrant so have three levers and one mapped to throttle, mixture, and flaps.  I'm wondering if I should consider remapping mixture to the prop torque?

As mentioned, the usual oversight is the two fuel controls on the overhead need to be turned to on.

On my Saitek I use the three levers for throttle, prop and mixture. I use the up/down buttons under the mixture for flaps, the ones under the prop for gear (not that the 208 has retractable gear) and the down button under throttle for parking brake. Totally personal preference.

In a turbine, the mixture lever is controlling fuel, and you basically have a cutoff, low idle and high idle setting. You usually start into low idle and use that if you're just sitting around, but otherwise it will always be full forward. In sim, you can ignore this and just always use full forward when operating the aircraft. The prop, or condition, lever is controlling prop pitch and thus RPM, as well as the ability to feather the prop. You can also just leave this full forward in sim, though it would be typical to back off on RPM for cruise and descent and sometimes even for climb in some TPs.  I'm sure you can track down some resources online for typical RPM settings for different phases of flight, as I haven't flown the 208 in real life. The throttle controls engine output, or torque, and this is your primary power control. Different altitudes and speeds will influence the torque limit and ITT limit. You want to keep both of these in the green, so sometimes you'll be torque limited and other times ITT limited, but in any case, don't exceed the green values for either. Of course, you can turn off engine damage in the assists menu and then feel free to run as red as you like 😉

Hope that helps...

 

for the 208 just remember....boost pumps on, fuel cocks on, power lever to idle, Mixture to ground idle. Batt on...Good to go. Hit that starter button. I also hate how they have you turn on Avionics before starting. In real life, starting an engine can cause overload that kills avionics...moreso in the smaller planes so I turn those on after engine start. In the case of the 208, the indicators are in the avionics themselves so no biggie...but in steam gauge planes, never turn on avionics before starting engine! 

Ok, the checklist has you turn the fuel levers on... but I'll double check that.

I think one of my challenges was that the checklist is not clear about the starter switch... it has three positions... start, off, motor.  I gather you push it to start and then afterwards turn it to "off" but what is "motor"?

 

 

24 minutes ago, cwburnett said:

As mentioned, the usual oversight is the two fuel controls on the overhead need to be turned to on.

On my Saitek I use the three levers for throttle, prop and mixture. I use the up/down buttons under the mixture for flaps, the ones under the prop for gear (not that the 208 has retractable gear) and the down button under throttle for parking brake. Totally personal preference.

In a turbine, the mixture lever is controlling fuel, and you basically have a cutoff, low idle and high idle setting. You usually start into low idle and use that if you're just sitting around, but otherwise it will always be full forward. In sim, you can ignore this and just always use full forward when operating the aircraft. The prop, or condition, lever is controlling prop pitch and thus RPM, as well as the ability to feather the prop. You can also just leave this full forward in sim, though it would be typical to back off on RPM for cruise and descent and sometimes even for climb in some TPs.  I'm sure you can track down some resources online for typical RPM settings for different phases of flight, as I haven't flown the 208 in real life. The throttle controls engine output, or torque, and this is your primary power control. Different altitudes and speeds will influence the torque limit and ITT limit. You want to keep both of these in the green, so sometimes you'll be torque limited and other times ITT limited, but in any case, don't exceed the green values for either. Of course, you can turn off engine damage in the assists menu and then feel free to run as red as you like 😉

Hope that helps...

 

Thanks for the advice on the prop lever. I think I will setup the controls just as you have.  I already have the parking brake configured the same way as you.  the other controls make sense.

The bottom line is that while the checklist are a good idea, they are not very thorough and there's nothing to help someone understand how to level a plane, cruise settings, or landing configuration.  There's a huge opportunity for someone to do YouTube videos on these topics for each plane or type of plane.

6 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

I think one of my challenges was that the checklist is not clear about the starter switch... it has three positions... start, off, motor.  I gather you push it to start and then afterwards turn it to "off" but what is "motor"?

You are correct, go set it to start, then off once the turbine is running. Motor is a function to run the start engine and turn the turbine and prop without actually starting the engine. This has some practical and maintenance functions that are not needed for normal operations in the sim.

The posters above have covered pretty much everything. The only things I’ll add are:

Ignition is left in the norm position for all normal ops. Lost of people switch it to on for engine start, but this is not necessary, as ignition is controlled by the starter switch during a normal start.

Leave the fuel condition leaver in cutoff when you start, unlike a piston. Introducing fuel too soon, without any cooling airflow through the engine will produce a hot start, which at best means an inspection and worse a complete replacement of the hot section you’ve just melted. There is a minimum engine speed Ng% for introducing fuel, 12% I think? but to be safe just wait till it has spun up as far as it will go before selecting low idle.

On the fuel condition lever, it only controls the engine speed when at idle. The moment you advance the power leaver, it becomes irrelevant. As previously mentioned, low idle on the ground, high idle entering the runway and during flight.

Lastly, not sure how well the inertial separator is modelled (big black handle that gets confused with the park brake at times). This is usually open (handle out) on the ground. It opens a bypass door that helps prevent FOD and other objects entering and damaging the engine. Close it for takeoff. In flight, you would only open it in heavy precipitation and ice. Be carful doing so, particularly closing it again. It effects ram air into the engine, therefore when closing torque will rise 100-150lbs. If you’re already at max power, you can over torque the engine by closing the separator without reducing power first.

Here’s a copy of a POH for a C208B. It’s not the EX of MSFS, so some of the engine number may be different, but everything else will still be relevant.
 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gwx3mcyf4pgq1c5/C208B Information Manual.pdf?dl=1

36 minutes ago, norman_99 said:

Lastly, not sure how well the inertial separator is modelled (big black handle that gets confused with the park brake at times). This is usually open (handle out) on the ground. It opens a bypass door that helps prevent FOD and other objects entering and damaging the engine.

Thanks for clarifying this! I was doing it backwards! Not that there's FOD in MSFS, but...nice to get it right.

And lastly, for some unknown reason the MSFS version skips the first stage of flap, 10 degrees, and travels from up straight to 20 degrees...