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Surviving Dual Flameout on Takeoff in the Leonardo MD-80

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Maddog 20th Anniversary Systems Stress Test: Dual Flameout at 1,000ft - ok give a few 100ft here and there haha (Relight is Possible!)

Many simmers assume a dual-flameout after takeoff is an immediate "game over," but there is a very specific flow for a relight that requires two main emergency actions as well as balancing your glide speed against the N2 rotation needed for the ignition.

I’ve seen quite a few simmers accidentally torching their MD-80 engines or inducing flameouts during the climb-out phase due to improper EPR management (over-revving). I decided to use that as a scenario to test the emergency systems logic.

The Technical Challenge:

  • The APU Factor: At 1,000ft, the 60-second APU startup time makes it a literal paperweight. You are 100% dependent on a windmill start.
  • Bypassing the Logic: The key to surviving this is the Ignition Override. Since it bypasses the standard fuel lever/N2 logic, it’s the only way to get a relight before you run out of altitude.

I’ve put together a video demonstration of the exact flow and energy management required to pull this off without stalling or hitting the deck. It’s a tight window, but the systems depth in the Leonardo seems to hold up:

 

Of course, if you are above 10000ft, you might want to consider placing the outflow valve to manual and closing it fully in order to prevent pressurized air from escaping the cabin - but that's secondary. 

Question: Has anyone else tried simulating failures in the sim? If so, I'm curious which - and did you save your plane?


Cheers,

Joshua757 (First Class Aeronautical Engineering Grad & Simmer)

Edited by Joshua757

Interesting, though I would not wish it upon myself…

So, both the engines were gone at 1,000 ft. At what altitude, you got the engines functioning again…to be able to soar away successfully…? Maybe, you said it, but I may have missed it…

  • Author
9 minutes ago, P_7878 said:

Interesting, though I would not wish it upon myself…

So, both the engines were gone at 1,000 ft. At what altitude, you got the engines functioning again…to be able to soar away successfully…? Maybe, you said it, but I may have missed it…

haha neither would I 🙂 

I was at about 140 kts. Actually the altimeter showed 1500ft when I cut off the power and the engines then spooled down fully, tripping off both engine driven gens. The plane climbed I think by another 200ft.

The left engine kicked in when the altimeter displayed 900 ft and full recovery happened shortly after. 

No real pilot here, but diving down instead of the natural urge to pull up, probably helped restarting the engines quicker…

I now recall that British Airways 747 that lost all 4 engines at 37,000 ft in the (invisible) volcanic ash, and the pilots restated all 4 engines, one-by-one, at lower altitudes.

  • Author
1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

No real pilot here, but diving down instead of the natural urge to pull up, probably helped restarting the engines quicker…

I now recall that British Airways 747 that lost all 4 engines at 37,000 ft in the (invisible) volcanic ash, and the pilots restated all 4 engines, one-by-one, at lower altitudes.

Absolutely. It does go against the natural instinct. In BA Flight 9, they had a 50 knit difference between the captain and first officers ASI so to stay on the safe side, they dived to ensure they had the optimum speed for windmill start. 🙂

1 minute ago, Joshua757 said:

Absolutely. It does go against the natural instinct. In BA Flight 9, they had a 50 knit difference between the captain and first officers ASI so to stay on the safe side, they dived to ensure they had the optimum speed for windmill start. 🙂

Good points…

Anyway kudos to those BA 747 Flight 009 pilots, and kudos to you too…🙂…in your virtual flight of this Mad Dog 80…

  • Author
1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

Good points…

Anyway kudos to those BA 747 Flight 009 pilots, and kudos to you too…🙂…in your virtual flight of this Mad Dog 80…

Aw thanks 🙂 indeed. Kudos to them who actually pulled it off in real life 🙂 🫡

  • Author
16 hours ago, P_7878 said:

No real pilot here, but diving down instead of the natural urge to pull up, probably helped restarting the engines quicker…

I now recall that British Airways 747 that lost all 4 engines at 37,000 ft in the (invisible) volcanic ash, and the pilots restated all 4 engines, one-by-one, at lower altitudes.

If you're interested in relights, I managed to pull one off in Concorde some time ago...

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Joshua757 said:

If you're interested in relights, I managed to pull one off in Concorde some time ago...

 

 

 

 

You are a Pro…or at least seem like one…🙂

Non-pilot speaking here…

  • Author
1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

You are a Pro…or at least seem like one…🙂

Non-pilot speaking here…

Haha just an enthusiast  🙂

This would happen to me if I owned this plane.  Id simply apply Full Rental Power on takeoff and leave it there!

My Liveries | FAA ZMP | PPL ASEL |
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  • Author
20 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

This would happen to me if I owned this plane.  Id simply apply Full Rental Power on takeoff and leave it there!

And you are not alone... :) Many simmers fall victim to that haha

4 hours ago, Joshua757 said:
On 2/8/2026 at 2:10 PM, ryanbatc said:

This would happen to me if I owned this plane.  Id simply apply Full Rental Power on takeoff and leave it there!

And you are not alone... 🙂 Many simmers fall victim to that haha

Which is also the same reason I've accidentally blown up several engines on the FSR500 haha

On 2/8/2026 at 1:10 PM, ryanbatc said:

This would happen to me if I owned this plane.  Id simply apply Full Rental Power on takeoff and leave it there!

Ryan:

That’s called, “Let’s kick the tires and light the fires, Big Daddy.”…🙂

Oh boy…it has been nearly 30 years since I went to see that film (in the theater; rarely so these days) on a sweltering July 4th.

I was a tad bit younger, I suppose…

  • Author
3 hours ago, P_7878 said:

Ryan:

That’s called, “Let’s kick the tires and light the fires, Big Daddy.”…🙂

Oh boy…it has been nearly 30 years since I went to see that film (in the theater; rarely so these days) on a sweltering July 4th.

I was a tad bit younger, I suppose…

Interestingly, on concorde after all the 2% noise abatement throttling is done out of EGLL, the throttles are once again returned to MAX Climb Power and pretty much remain there.

Also during the supersonic acceleration to mach 2, the throttles are at full power.

I also remember seeing a YouTube video once of a 707 retired pilot explaining that fuel was apparently so dirt cheap in the it's that they left their throttles at full power during the climb 😂

Also very handy if you don't have an auto throttle: just set max pwr or CLB EPR and use IAS and Mach hold to pitch for speed and later mach during the climb.

This is why I don't get why some simmers insist on climbing on Vertical Speed 😕

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