Motor cutt off when idle

[Bushido]

It look like it happens all the time on the ground when I set the throtle to idle the motor cut off.
Is it a normal behaviour for a bonanza ?
Normaly part of the check list in my airclub is to set the throtle to idle and the motor is not supposed to cut off (but I don't fly bonanza).
The mixture was set correctly as far as I can tell.

[Tomas Linnet]

Idle is a funny thing on A2A aircraft....do you pull the throttle all the way out, or do you set the throttle a e.g 800-900RPM??
If I close the throttle my engine dies as well, but if I lean to under 50%(on my Saitek Throttle Quadrant) and set the throttle for 800RPM, it will keep running just fine. I use the massive wire spark plugs, the fine wire plugs are less prone to foul, so you may want to change those.

[speedy70]

There is a red idle warning light on the panel make sure it goes out and then your engine will not die.
Cheers Chris

[dscott3984]

No aircraft engine should die out when taken back to idle stop with a proper mixture for field elevation. Hopefully this is on the list to roll out in an update soon

[Scott - A2A]

No aircraft engine should die out when taken back to idle stop with a proper mixture for field elevation. Hopefully this is on the list to roll out in an update soon

This isn't true for all aircraft, many Warbirds will not idle with the throttle all the way back. We're playing with the idea of putting an idle adjustment in the maintenance hangar, so anyone can adjust the idle to how they like it.

Scott.

[dscott3984]

Ok I stand corrected Scott. My experience is not with warbirds, it is with the Lycoming and Continental in GA aircraft.

On the other hand, warbird or not... doesn’t seem safe for an aircraft to idle so low it cannot remain running

[cristi.neagu]

doesn’t seem safe for an aircraft to idle so low it cannot remain running

Maybe not an issue in flight where incoming air is freewheeling the prop.

[Ron Attwood]

. We're playing with the idea of putting an idle adjustment in the maintenance hangar, so anyone can adjust the idle to how they like it.

Scott.

No! That smacks of making the aircraft how you want it to be rather than how it really is. This is A2A remember.
if you go along this route you'll make the P-51 take off in a nice straight line!

[dscott3984]

No! That smacks of making the aircraft how you want it to be rather than how it really is. This is A2A remember.
if you go along this route you'll make the P-51 take off in a nice straight line!

Not hardly. It would be adjusting idle to what the aircraft should idle at. If I bring a Bonanza in for annual and it quits on an idle check, it will be fixed before it leaves my shop.

[EnDSchultz]

. We're playing with the idea of putting an idle adjustment in the maintenance hangar, so anyone can adjust the idle to how they like it.

Scott.

No! That smacks of making the aircraft how you want it to be rather than how it really is. This is A2A remember.
if you go along this route you'll make the P-51 take off in a nice straight line!

Adjusting the idle is a pretty typical maintenance routine. My flight school is constantly adjusting them on our aircraft as the weather changes. It's a real world procedure and the idle varies from plane to plane.

[AKar]

Idle adjustments are indeed done routinely based on several factors. "Book adjustment" for the idling RPM value is usually given, and the mixture is adjusted by the book so that a slight rise in rpm, about 50 revs, is noted when leaning the engine.

You will immediately realize the variables. Say, my airplane is based on an airfield some 3000 ft above the sea level. Adjusted by the book to the same values there, the airplane will idle with sightly different idle throttle setting and significantly different idle mixture - different enough to make cold starting more difficult or impossible even if going to the other extremes.

Further, let us say you have an aircraft in constant training use. A Cessna 150 or whatever. You wouldn't like to get constant issues with fouled plugs or cutting engines when the aircraft is operated by the students, generally throttle full back and mixture full rich on the ground. The engine is adjusted accordingly, should such reports rise, and perhaps differ from the "book settings" thereafter.

In that sense, idle settings are adjusted partly to the taste and partly by the operating conditions.

Generally speaking, the engine should run in usual conditions with throttle full back and mixture full rich, this is my opinion. This may not be the case for an individual aircraft. My position would be that it is an issue in such airplane, however, I know that many do accept the "add some throttle" solution. And many aircraft come from different environments. Some fly only during summers etc.

-Esa

[Bushido]

I confirm I idle by throttling all the way back.
I would support the idea of adjusting the idle position in the hangar, in real life I would be reluctant to take off in a plane that can quit if throttling all the way back.
I don't have this issue on the Comanche.

[Tobus75]

No aircraft engine should die out when taken back to idle stop with a proper mixture for field elevation. Hopefully this is on the list to roll out in an update soon

I fly several birds in real life that will not take idle for too long. not a problem if you know about it

[Alfredson007]

I haven't really done any scientific tests but it feels that fine wire plugs do not differ at all from the massive ones on the Bo... Other a2a planes idle happily with fine wires though..