The A2A Simulations Community

I'm running win xp sp3 + A2A 377 with all the patches + captain of the Ship. I think that covers the important stuff.

If I want to start manually or using the FE from cold & dark AND on the first start after loading FSX,following what I think is the correct proceedure, the engines will not turn over at all. I don't even hear the voice of the FE telling me "Turning engine x". Note that I've had the APU on with power, Ignition switches etc ON,engine select button in correct position, fuel boosters on, fuel tap to Tank-Engine, press prime button several times then press middle button then mags then boost..

I have discovered that if I set the fuel tap for engine 3 (first engine to be started) to Engine -Manifold (the next position to right of Tank-Engine) then I can get everything to work & start the engine AND start the remaining engines with fuel taps at Tank-Engine. Following on,once all engines start once & are stopped I can start using the normal Tank-Engine positions. This means that for the first start I can't let my FE do anything until I get the first engine running because he just sets all fuel taps on Tank-Engine,as he should.

This is no big problem but if anyone else has had this happen maybe you can take note. It might be a bug with my system or a bug with the Capt of the Ship. It didn't happen prior to Captain of the Ship being loaded.

The engines start ok if I just use Auto Start.

Can anyone comment on this?

Regards
Ian

With COTS I turn on the VFE mfunctions as soon as I enter the cockpit and then do my
prefilgt setups in the left seat. After a short time I move back to the FE station just so I
can visually verify that the fuctions I select with my mapped switches on my Saitek
throttles are doing what they are supposed to do.

I have no problems starting 3,4,1,2 with the fuel selectors set to tank to engine, as
set by the VFE.

Perhaps your issue has something to do with your default flight since everything seems
to work as advertised once you have gotten the engines running once.

_________________
Paul


i5-2500K @4.3Ghz OC - GA-P67A-UD7-B3 - 8GB Corsair 1600mHz

No, it's definitely not a bug within COTS as I have done quite a few dozen startups with all possible configurations. The startup is not dependend on the position of the fuel selector as long as it is a valid position which supplies fuel to the engine. I strongly suspect something not completely kosher within your setup. First of all check whether you have full fuel pressure on the engine that you intend to start which should be happening when setting the necessary booster pump on and the mixture lever to auto-rich. Just to make sure also: you certainly have clicked the APU switch TWICE to not only start the APU but also to connect it to the electrical system. Depending on the battery state the engine may or may not turn over on battery only.

_________________
Oskar

i7-2600k OC 4.4 GHz, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, WIN7-64Bit, 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, 1x OCZ Vertex 120 GB, 1 x OCZ Ibis 480 GB, 1 x GeForce GTX 580, 1200 W Power Supply, 2 monitors, ASE, EFB on remote PC

The aircraft has power from the APU and fuel pressure after the pump is turned on.

Thank you for your reply

Ian

Well, I just did a few startups with just setting ONE fuel cock to "tank to engine", it's associated boost pump on and the engine fired up normally. I tried with all four engines at different times and I saw no problem whatsoever. Just set APU ON-FEED, Master- and Main Ignition Switches ON and using normal Startup Sequence Prime - Start - Ignition - Boost. No anomalities found on the callouts. There seem to be a few gremlins in your system though....

_________________
Oskar

i7-2600k OC 4.4 GHz, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, WIN7-64Bit, 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, 1x OCZ Vertex 120 GB, 1 x OCZ Ibis 480 GB, 1 x GeForce GTX 580, 1200 W Power Supply, 2 monitors, ASE, EFB on remote PC

My 1st flight after COTS installation I let the FE do his stuff. On my 2nd flight, I did everything on the checklist myself, waiting until I taxied to the runway to let the FE take over. At engine start I could not get #3 to turn over. I double and triple checked everything by the check list - engine 3 would not crank. I was about to reload my saved cold dark flight and start over when I noticed in the F10 screen, the APU was not highlighted. Now, I had turned the APU on with the switch at the FE station, I heard it start and the voltage came up. When I clicked on APU in the F10 screen, I was able to crank #3 and all other engines.

I tried to duplicate this today. I started the APU at the FE station, I heard it start and the voltage came up. In F10 APU was not lit, but I was able to crank and start #3. The only thing different today from my 2nd flight was the saved flight had the NW Orient skin rather than the A2A skin I used on my 2nd flight.

I am curious whether anyone else has noticed odd behavior with the APU in the F10 screen.

Now just to clear up things a bit:

1) You don NOT need to use the APU for engine start in ANY case. If you do everything right and quick enough you might be lucky to start one engine on battery only. Then - hopefully - you turn on the engine generator and feed enough power into the electric system to start the other engines. However there's NO guarantee that engine start is in any case possible on battery only. That's the way it is with a 24 V system with relatively small batteries and large engines which consume starting current in excess of 600 Amps. The starter motor has a peak power output af around 20 HP. So you may have ONE start attempt an be lucky to be successful

2) To have the APU feeding the electric system you need to do TWO things: you need to start the APU - this is audible - and you need to connect the APU to the electric system. Most people forget the second step. The APU switch must be in the DOWN position to be connected (click it a second time after it has started)

The engine not cranking can only have three reasons:
- the start switch is in the wrong position
- The Master and Master Ignition Switch are not on
- the battery voltage is too low so that the starter motor will not activate

That said we shouldn't have any more problems to start engines from now on and that's all written in the manual....

_________________
Oskar

i7-2600k OC 4.4 GHz, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, WIN7-64Bit, 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, 1x OCZ Vertex 120 GB, 1 x OCZ Ibis 480 GB, 1 x GeForce GTX 580, 1200 W Power Supply, 2 monitors, ASE, EFB on remote PC

Ok, I have changed my loadup(FSX), I now load the flight, then reset the flight. I can now start as per the manual, with one small hicup. After all engines are running, & started in the proper order, engine three sometimes stops but can be restarted without me having to change anything, just using prime, starter, boost switches. I'm guessing it's my system still but does anyone know of anything that might be of significance?
The temp is not too cold just whatever the temp is for my default startup flight, well above freezing though. The altitude of the default flight's airport is 3500', which in real life isn't much of a problem while still on the ground but nevertheless the air is thinner than at sea level.


Ian