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Propeller windmilling with engine off in strong wind

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Experienced this today in the Seneca at Innsbruck after parking and shutting down the engines. Props kept spinning quite fast. It was quite windy, 120° 20kt, gusting 33kt according to the METAR. Made for a challenging crosswind landing at rwy 26!

Should have taken a video. Anyone else experienced this? Do pilots do something to secure props at windy airports in RL?

7950X3D | RTX 4090 | 64GB DDR5

Turbo props tend to windmill, piston engines not so much.

I am not sure, where I come from they only strap the props as a security anti-theft thing, if the do at all.  but in coastal more windy locations it might be more common.

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Anyone else experienced this?

Yes I have...try to ignore it (I know its ridiculous as 20-30kt winds cant do this)...just a silly quirk of the msfs physics.

Edited by hangar

1 hour ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

Turbo props tend to windmill, piston engines not so much.

But don't seem to match what he descibes.  Unless during a severe storm, gale, or hurricane.

Edited by fppilot

Frank Patton
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Former USAF meteorologist & ground weather school instructor. AOPA Member #07379126
                       
"I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me." - John Deere

I noticed this in a video of the feathered engine in flight. Totally inaccurate. In fact, I have feathered an engine in a Seneca V on purpose multiple times (training) and it doesn't move. 

It would have to be a pretty strong wind to windmill a shutdown piston engine 🤣🤣

David Porrett

I feel like it takes me maybe 5 - 7 lbs of force to turn the prop whenever I do my inspection of the blades. Any science wizard want to calculate the windspeed needed to achieve that amount of force on the airfoil?

Take-offs are optional, landings are mandatory.
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
To make a small fortune in aviation you must start with a large fortune.

There's nothing less important than the runway behind you and the altitude above you.
It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.

The Top Rudder Solo is windmilling.

Karl

i9-9900K@5,0   |  32GB 3200  |  2080TI  |  4K 55"  |  MSFS | P3D V5

Motor glider Fournier RF-4 do not have start motor and in the air the motor is started using kind of slope start. Gentle dive and the propeller start moving at speed 150 km/h. I have used same method with Grob-109b just for fun. When you stop the motor in the air, the propeller will continue windmill at much lower air speed, let's say about 50-60 km/h?

11 hours ago, kaha said:

The Top Rudder Solo is windmilling.

Karl

The aircraft might have a centrifugal clutch which decouples the prop from the engine when it's not running.

You should all know that it is almost impossible to stop the windmilling in FS 2020 without upsetting a whole lot of other more important prop parameters. I've no doubt several 3rd party developers have spent many hours of tweaking to get rid of it. You can almost stop it, but then you get violently twitching props that look demented. Don't blame the 3rd party devs. They are dealing with a core system which has multiple unsolvable aspects to it. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Robert Young - retired full time developer - see my Nexus Mod Page and my GitHub Mod page

21 hours ago, kaha said:

The Top Rudder Solo is windmilling.

Karl

Maybe it has very low compression and very little weight holding back that prop?

Rhett

7800X3D 96 GB G.Skill Flare  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB

2 hours ago, Mace said:

Maybe it has very low compression and very little weight holding back that prop?

The Top Solo has a clutch that disconnects the Propeller whenever the throttle is retarded.

On 5/10/2021 at 7:59 PM, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

I am not sure, where I come from they only strap the props as a security anti-theft thing, if the do at all.

Wait, people steal propellers? Did I read that right? So next time ( like I have seen one before ) I see a guy dressed in Black next to a GA plane, call the police 🙂

For some reason this made me laugh out loud! I'm picturing a guy walking down the street with a big ole prop 🙂 Wait for it, there will be a video or article next!

Of course a guy did steal a tank one time. So anything is possible 🙂

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