Long time since I have been simming and am enjoying FSX but I can't find any info in the learning center about when to lean and enrich other than general suggestion about ascending and descending. Could someone, please, tell me how I would know looking at the gauges, usually fly the Beechcraft Baron, when I should alter the mixture and how much. I feel really stupid when I keep getting the flying tip warning that my mixture is off.Thanks a lot

Hi,Assuming sea levelTakeoff Full Rich3,000 feet look at the EGT gaugePull the mixture lever back slowly until it gets to a peak valueDuring climb, every 1000 feet or so, do it againProp control ... pull back to 2300 RPMIf you pull mixture back (lean it) too much the EGT reading will start to drop. Peak it again.At cruise check it again for peak.During descent ... keep checkig it for peakApproach to land ... full rich againProp control full RPM

Thanks for the advice on how to handle leaning and enriching the engine. I apppreciate your time in answering what must have seemed like a pretty obvious question.

Joe,No problem.Another thing you will also notice while "leaning" is that the fuel flow will also change and the engine sound will "sound" more powerful.These things are normally all used as a crosscheck that everything is going ok.After a while you will pay attention to all three.

I think it's worth mentioning that FSX (like FS9) does a really bad job of modeling the mixture control. When I fly a Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior, the mixture can be left at full rich in a climb until about 5,000 feet, when the engine will start to lose a little bit of power unless the mixture is leaned a little bit. In FSX, aircraft start losing power almost immediately in a climb, and the window between leaning for max power (peak RPM, EGT or ####) and the engine losing a lot of power due to an excessively lean or rich mixture is absurdly small compared to actual aircraft. Personally, I find it more realistic to use automixture than to constantly fiddle with the overly-touchy mixture controls in FSX.

>I think it's worth mentioning that FSX (like FS9) does a>really bad job of modeling the mixture control.> When I fly a Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior, the mixture can be>left at full rich in a climb until about 5,000 feet, when the>engine will start to lose a little bit of power unless the>mixture is leaned a little bit.> In FSX, aircraft start losing power almost immediately in a>climb, and the window between leaning for max power (peak RPM,>EGT or ####) and the engine losing a lot of power due to an>excessively lean or rich mixture is absurdly small compared to>actual aircraft. > Personally, I find it more realistic to use automixture than>to constantly fiddle with the overly-touchy mixture controls>in FSX.I have not made a lot of mental notes regarding exact altitudes in FSX, but in FS9 lack of leaning becomes real noticeable at around 6000', and requires additional leaning every 1000' in climb.Since I do start at an airport of 4600' msl, I'll have the mixture leaned in the simulation before takeoff which does make a difference, although not critical. In real life, we lean before takeoff at this altitude because it makes quite a noticeable difference in takeoff power, besides the fact that density altitude can even be higher.Since I'm use to leaning anyway, as part of a pre-takeoff checklist, I tend to do it automatically in MSFS, and have mixture & prop mapped to my thottle switches.L.Adamson

>Could someone, please, tell me how I would know looking at the gauges, usually fly the Beechcraft Baron, when I should alter the mixture and how much. I feel really stupid when I keep >getting the flying tip warning that my mixture is off.It's not done "looking at the gauges". The sim mixture "warnings" are bogus; real airplane engines can produce useful power far beyond the narrow mixture allowances in FS. If you wanted to do it, you could set mixture to full rich in most piston-powered airplanes and fly them up to 4-5,000 ft msl or more, and still have power to sustain cruise flight.Powerplant management is a pilot prerogative, and no pilot should have to deal with "warnings" regarding how he decides to manage his engine. That being said, this application is a MS "game", and this leads to goofy "game warnings".To fly the sim and minimize the "warnings", every thousand feet or so of altitude, pull the mixture back to get max rpms, just listen to the sound from your speakers, that'll suffice. And, it will keep the "sim" happy - your engine will produce power and fly the airplane.Now, understand that the aforementioned is only a suggestion that works in MS Flight Simulator. It's not the totallity of what I know about piston engine mixture management - I've owned a couple of single engine piston aircraft, and the subject is more complex.

Hi,I was just wondering why you have the flying tip OPTION turned ON in MSFS?

>Hi,>I was just wondering why you have the flying tip OPTION turned>ON in MSFS?Who said I do?

Hi,You said:"I feel really stupid when I keep >getting the flying tip warning that my mixture is off".

>Hi,>You said:>"I feel really stupid when I keep >getting the flying tip>warning that my mixture is off".Nope. Didn't say that. The original poster said that.

OK,Sorry, I failed to notice you were quoting the OP. My mistake.I could not figure out why you were (I thought) using the function because you already were very informed about the topic.Now, I know!Best Regards,