proper settings before takeoff

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Saucey12
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proper settings before takeoff

Post by Saucey12 »

Hello everyone. I'm hoping I can gain some knowledge here to help me better manage my t-6. I have been flying it for about 15 hours now and I had no problems til today. Just as I am gettng more comfy with the landings and not ground looping it... I get engine issues. Here is what is happening: Bare in mind I am following the checklist provided.. I am not goosing the engine at all. I increase and decrease the throttle so gently that if I tried to be even more gentle I wouldnt be moving it at all.. Every time I increase or decrease the throttle the engine wants to sputter and backfire. I have encountered this through 3 takeoff and landings tonight. When I shut her down and go to the maintenance hanger.. It says that nothing is wrong, plane is in beautiful shape. As I am follwing the checklist and just learning to efficiently fly it before pushing any limits.. What am I doing wrong? I provide time for engine warmup on cold starts but get the same result. Should I be taxing with full rich mixture and full prop rpm? I know that these two are essential during the takeoff roll. But what about during taxi? should the mixture or rpm be in another position besides full forward?
And given all this.. I have no problems with her while she is in the air.. I am only referring to ground movement before takeoff and after landing.. I'd appreciate any help and insight that you experienced t-6 pilots could offer..

Thanks,
Jason

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Jacques
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Jacques »

Hi Jason, to answer your question about prop and mixture: yes, prop fully forward after start and when the oil pressure indicates 40 psi. Your mixture should also be at full rich unless you are at a high altitude airport that might require a small bit of leaning to run smoothly. Having your mixture too lean on the ground could be why you get sluggish response from the throttle on the ground followed by a backfire. Once airborne and climbing, you can bring throttle and prop levers back into the green and gently begin leaning as you gain altitude. You’ll know when you’ve leaned too far when sense a reduction in power.

The checklists, which start on page 83 in the manual, can help promote best practices in your preflight, flight and post flight routine.

If you are still getting a backfire and/or something less than full RPM from the propeller when you have the throttle and prop levers full forward, you might have a hardware issue, probably something to do with the calibration being off. If that is the case you might want to share more about your hardware.

I hope some of this helps, and do write back if you are still having issues. Lots of people here with loads of experience will give you a hand.

Saucey12
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Joined: 01 Nov 2020, 10:42

Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Saucey12 »

Jacques wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 02:14 Hi Jason, to answer your question about prop and mixture: yes, prop fully forward after start and when the oil pressure indicates 40 psi. Your mixture should also be at full rich unless you are at a high altitude airport that might require a small bit of leaning to run smoothly. Having your mixture too lean on the ground could be why you get sluggish response from the throttle on the ground followed by a backfire. Once airborne and climbing, you can bring throttle and prop levers back into the green and gently begin leaning as you gain altitude. You’ll know when you’ve leaned too far when sense a reduction in power.

The checklists, which start on page 83 in the manual, can help promote best practices in your preflight, flight and post flight routine.

If you are still getting a backfire and/or something less than full RPM from the propeller when you have the throttle and prop levers full forward, you might have a hardware issue, probably something to do with the calibration being off. If that is the case you might want to share more about your hardware.

I hope some of this helps, and do write back if you are still having issues. Lots of people here with loads of experience will give you a hand.
Yes sir thank you! I was thinking that it could be this throttle quadrant that I have. Its the package deal by logitech (that used to be Saitek I believe). I will go into fsx and try to run that calibration and see if it effects anything. By the way, I was not running it lean on ground. I'm thinking it is this throttle quadrant.

Saucey12
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Joined: 01 Nov 2020, 10:42

Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Saucey12 »

Jacques wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 02:14 Hi Jason, to answer your question about prop and mixture: yes, prop fully forward after start and when the oil pressure indicates 40 psi. Your mixture should also be at full rich unless you are at a high altitude airport that might require a small bit of leaning to run smoothly. Having your mixture too lean on the ground could be why you get sluggish response from the throttle on the ground followed by a backfire. Once airborne and climbing, you can bring throttle and prop levers back into the green and gently begin leaning as you gain altitude. You’ll know when you’ve leaned too far when sense a reduction in power.

The checklists, which start on page 83 in the manual, can help promote best practices in your preflight, flight and post flight routine.

If you are still getting a backfire and/or something less than full RPM from the propeller when you have the throttle and prop levers full forward, you might have a hardware issue, probably something to do with the calibration being off. If that is the case you might want to share more about your hardware.

I hope some of this helps, and do write back if you are still having issues. Lots of people here with loads of experience will give you a hand.
You know I have another thought that I forgot.. Something Scott had told me awhile back. He suggested always beginning my flight with a default fsx aircraft and the switching to my a2a aircraft. I have not done that in awhile. I get in the habit of shutting her down and saving the planes location and then jumping back in day after day. That may have something to do with it. I am going to try changing that as well and see if it resets the parameters so I wont have that issue again.

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Jacques
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Jacques »

Yeah, every flight should start from a default FSX/P3D aircraft, otherwise things tend to go awry.

I always make a copy of the .dat file for the airframe I’m flying and keep a copy safe in a folder. By doing so, each A2A aircraft and, within the aircraft, each separate paint has its own hours and condition.

You may also find that calibrating your hardware controllers through FSUIPC to be of help. I’ve used CH products for decades and always calibrated through their software. A few years ago I switched to FSUIPC and found it much more precise and adaptable.

Saucey12
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Saucey12 »

Jacques wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 14:35 Yeah, every flight should start from a default FSX/P3D aircraft, otherwise things tend to go awry.

I always make a copy of the .dat file for the airframe I’m flying and keep a copy safe in a folder. By doing so, each A2A aircraft and, within the aircraft, each separate paint has its own hours and condition.

You may also find that calibrating your hardware controllers through FSUIPC to be of help. I’ve used CH products for decades and always calibrated through their software. A few years ago I switched to FSUIPC and found it much more precise and adaptable.
Thank you Jaques.
I will try the calibration through fsuipc. I have that installed but did not know it could be used for controller calibration.

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Assinthewind1
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Assinthewind1 »

Jacques wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 14:35 Yeah, every flight should start from a default FSX/P3D aircraft, otherwise things tend to go awry.

I always make a copy of the .dat file for the airframe I’m flying and keep a copy safe in a folder. By doing so, each A2A aircraft and, within the aircraft, each separate paint has its own hours and condition.

You may also find that calibrating your hardware controllers through FSUIPC to be of help. I’ve used CH products for decades and always calibrated through their software. A few years ago I switched to FSUIPC and found it much more precise and adaptable.
This is very interesting... I fly three repaints of the T6 each of which is saved as a separate flight, but I'm very aware that I'm actually flying the same aircraft. Is there a way of getting each flight to load with differing configurations (canopy/spinner/antenna etc.) and, more importantly, with differing airframe/engine hours/fluid levels? It would be great to have an immaculate restoration with low hours and a rather tired airframe with a few hundred hours with some wear and tear. The slightly different performance of each airplane would add enormously to the realism/immersion.
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Assinthewind1
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Assinthewind1 »

Saucey12 wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 00:52 Hello everyone. I'm hoping I can gain some knowledge here to help me better manage my t-6. I have been flying it for about 15 hours now and I had no problems til today. Just as I am gettng more comfy with the landings and not ground looping it... I get engine issues. Here is what is happening: Bare in mind I am following the checklist provided.. I am not goosing the engine at all. I increase and decrease the throttle so gently that if I tried to be even more gentle I wouldnt be moving it at all.. Every time I increase or decrease the throttle the engine wants to sputter and backfire. I have encountered this through 3 takeoff and landings tonight. When I shut her down and go to the maintenance hanger.. It says that nothing is wrong, plane is in beautiful shape. As I am follwing the checklist and just learning to efficiently fly it before pushing any limits.. What am I doing wrong? I provide time for engine warmup on cold starts but get the same result. Should I be taxing with full rich mixture and full prop rpm? I know that these two are essential during the takeoff roll. But what about during taxi? should the mixture or rpm be in another position besides full forward?
And given all this.. I have no problems with her while she is in the air.. I am only referring to ground movement before takeoff and after landing.. I'd appreciate any help and insight that you experienced t-6 pilots could offer..

Thanks,
Jason
Hi Jason,

I'm not terribly experienced with regard to the T6 but I have found that the airplane is VERY sensitive to throttle input, particularly when going from idle to a low power setting i.e.- moving off the ramp and taxiing, and the initial take-off roll. I'm using modest hardware - a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro - which has a very limited amount of throttle travel. After many hours of sputtering and backfires I'm getting the hang of it - the higher the manifold pressure the more aggressive you can be with increasing the manifold pressure. Once airborne I've found that I have to be pretty ham-fisted to over-fuel the engine, but I still get the occasional mis-fire once back on the ground. I've learnt to become very aware of this and I'm always ready to instantly retard the throttle slightly at the first sign of trouble. I believe that both mixture and prop should be fully advanced during groundwork. This 'problem' has been mentioned elsewhere, but I think that it's just a part of the wonderful T6 learning curve!
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Jacques
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Jacques »

In the shift+3 panel there is an option for a “used” aircraft that, when selected, will give you a random, “used” state for your Texan. In the same panel, you can choose a “hangared” version which will keep your engine oil at a simulated 45 degrees (F) between flights. ( I just saw that in the manual - mine like to sit out in the cold and rain!)
By copying the .dat file to a unique folder at the end of each flight, I’m essentially running a fleet of individual aircraft, with their own hours and condition status. You just have to remember to swap in the correct file before each flight. There are other, more elegant means to accomplish this if you care to look through the forums 😉

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Assinthewind1
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Assinthewind1 »

Jacques wrote: 20 Mar 2021, 14:13 In the shift+3 panel there is an option for a “used” aircraft that, when selected, will give you a random, “used” state for your Texan. In the same panel, you can choose a “hangared” version which will keep your engine oil at a simulated 45 degrees (F) between flights. ( I just saw that in the manual - mine like to sit out in the cold and rain!)
By copying the .dat file to a unique folder at the end of each flight, I’m essentially running a fleet of individual aircraft, with their own hours and condition status. You just have to remember to swap in the correct file before each flight. There are other, more elegant means to accomplish this if you care to look through the forums 😉
Thanks Jacques, I'll give those options a try - this would be the v2_T6log.dat file that resides in the \documents\A2A\FSX\T6 folder?
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Jacques
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Jacques »

Yes! The safest way to do this is to copy all the files, including the Backup files (I think 5 or 6 total). I have a main “A2A”folder on the desktop with subfolders for aircraft and again for individual paints.

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Assinthewind1
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Assinthewind1 »

Jacques wrote: 20 Mar 2021, 18:09 Yes! The safest way to do this is to copy all the files, including the Backup files (I think 5 or 6 total). I have a main “A2A”folder on the desktop with subfolders for aircraft and again for individual paints.
That's brilliant and works a treat - thanks man! I think I'll post this info in a new thread... :D
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Jacques
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Re: proper settings before takeoff

Post by Jacques »

Okay, but don’t give me credit for knowledge that has been out there a long time! 😂

The really neat thing is the small program creat by Paul “Gypsy Baron” Strogan that does all this without the fumbling around, with a little bit of preparation on your part. That is the elegant solution I mentioned earlier. I can try to find a link to the thread and post it here.

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