The A2A Simulations Community

In the educational video of Republic about the handling of the P-47 I was surprised to see the use of a trolley to start the engine, like with the Mark one? I guess it depends on the model of the P-47?
And in this video you see also that the cowls are opened before starting the engine, but with the accusim you need to start the engine in order to open the cowls?
Most likely all this depends on the model of P-47?

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Francesco,
I always operate the manual hydraulic pump to get enough pressure to open the cowl flaps before engine start. Its located to the left of the pilots seat. However I don't think that is always necessary since cowl flaps first show up as an "item" in the "preflight check" portion of the " takeoff" checklist, the November 1943 manual. Earlier, In the "engine warm up" section, the manual does note in cold weather keep oil cooler and cowl flaps closed and in warm weather open cowl flaps and keep oil cooler flap in neutral. I also saw the trolley in the films, but have found no reference to the use of one in any manual I have! So maybe an earlier version or perhaps special circumstances?

JP

Thanks Jacques, I could have thought about the manual hydraulic pump! The accusim Thunderbolt is really a masterpiece!
And about the Trolley, yes strange, I have also a few books I did not yet have the time to delve into, I will look into it but may be one of the elders in this forum has some infos about the use of a Trolley and the Thunderbolt???
I just stumbled on the french TV chain PLANETE on a very interesting documentary I then found on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOwNUo6YVaY

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The Thunderbolt training manual from 1945 has an illustration on page 44 that appears to show a trolley plugged into the fuselage of the aircraft. On that same page, the manual says:
See that the crew chief is on hand with a fire extinguisher and a portable battery cart. If the plane has been standing for more than 2 hours, instruct the crew chief to pull the prop through four blades. One complete revolution is needed to clear the lower cylinders of oil.

Further into the text on start-up procedure, on page 45, the training manual instructs to:
Turn on the main line battery switch as soon as the engine catches and signal the crew chief to unplug the power unit.

I don't know if auxiliary power units were used for every startup, but I'm sure they would have been used at all times during training and probably whenever possible at operational bases. Several important aircraft systems relied on the battery, including the radios and the AUTO propeller control, and reducing the load on the battery to keep it charged would have been a concern. The battery only had about one hour's worth of charge if the generator failed during flight.

Remember that the FSX version we have is a very early version of AccuSim, and lacks some of the brilliant features of the later products like wheel chocks, jack stands and the APU trolleys. And we don't have to pull the prop through four blades, or have a man standing by with a fire extinguisher, or for that matter ever worry that battery acid fumes or oil pools in the supercharger hood will cause our plane to suddenly burst into flames.

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I like Thunderbolts! (Link to MySpace tribute page)


120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard

Francesco, nice link to the documentary! I enjoyed watching and actually was able to at least understand essentially what was being said despite my absolutely inadequate French! Later, I found more links on youtube to an English language series called "Dogfights"...same animations!

JP

Skycat, it does make sense to save the battery if you have the resources to do so! I hadn't seen either of those videos before, so thanks for liking to them. In the first I could have sworn the pilot was making the turn around the hangers with the tail wheel locked...but I think it must be an optical illusion! The second makes the P47 look absolutely massive compared to the P-51...easier to start as well!

JP

About turns, while taxying and making the S turns, does the pilot use the rudder or the brakes, or both? And is there a general rule or does the technique for the S turns depend on the type of aircraft ?

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Use brakes to steer the P-47. The WWII training manual explains all you need to know on pages 45-47.

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I like Thunderbolts! (Link to MySpace tribute page)


120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard

Thanks for your reminder....I have to read the book a second time...and for steering with the pedals, it's pretty hard to get a progressive response, I guess it's a calibration issue (CH Pro pedals)! But I feel the risk of toppling the aircraft less risky than with the Spit!

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I noticed last night that the A2A P-47 is very steerable with the rudder. Maybe it uses rudder control to simulate light braking?

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I like Thunderbolts! (Link to MySpace tribute page)


120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard