Huey randomly malfunctions and crashes after flying for a while

[e32lover]

Hi guys,

 

Great forum! I'm relatively new to DCS but absolutely love helicopters, and without a doubt DCS is the best helicopter simulator Ive ever played. It's a bonus that it's a combat Sim too!

 

Anyway I have been having the greatest gaming experience of my life flying the huey. I just have one issue. Whenever I fly the huey for an extended amount of time, like more than 15 mins, even if just cruising along, I always get an engine fire and the thing crashes. The report says something like Main Generator Fail, Starter Generator Fail.

 

I was just wondering what the cause of this is, and how it can be avoided?

 

Also, what would you recommend as my next helicopter? I love the huey but find that it doesn't quite have enough firepower for many of the missions.

 

Thanks for your advice.

[Holton181]

Do you keep an eye on the gauges so that you don't over-stress the engines (keeping below red lines)?

They added the possibility to break the engine a few years ago, not a perfect implementation but way better than the unbreakable engine we had, making many people just pull all available power to do stuff they wasn't supposed to be able doing.

It was a long time since I broke the engine that way, but my memory says it was like you describe, a seemingly unexplainable drop from the sky.

[Quadg]

Keep an eye on the exhaust gas temp gauge (EGT) and the torque meter gauge above it.

labelled exhaust and torque in the cockpit. they are below the dual tachometer that shows engine and rotor RPM

they both have red lines that you really don't want to cross.

its probably the EGT you are exceeding to cook the engine,

 

when you pull collective the rotors will bite more air and produce more drag. which will slow the RPM.

the auto throttle will burn more fuel to maintain RPM.

if you raise the collective at the right speed there will be no change in RPM.

but as power is a function of torque and RPM. you have a torque gauge which represents how much engine power you are using. (RPM stays the same so torque will increase)

the consequence of this is more fuel burned and more heat generated in the exhaust.

the machinery has both an upper torque limit and a heat limit. before it all goes bang.

in the DCS huey you usually hit the EGT limit before you hit the torque limit.

but if you pull the collective far enough you will hit both.

especially if you are heavy.

if you pull the collective too fast you can also add in RPM drooping. when you hear the RPM slow down. this is known as over pitching. the engine cannot respond fast enough to the extra demand for power.

 

basically its all about how far and how fast you move the collective. you use the torque and egt for how far and your ears and RPM gauge for how fast ,you will hear it slow down and then the low speed rotor alarm. but its why the RPM, torque and EGT gauges are in the same vertical row.

(there is also the gauge for the gas producer which measures air flow through the engine but that is not needed for this.)

[Adam]

If you're flying along with no sudden changes and you get engine fire and crash - it'll be as the others have said - you're flying 'in the red' and after a certain amount of time a engine fire will start.

 

Had the same issue myself. There's lot's that can go wrong in the Huey where you'll never get an alarm for (or only when it's too late).

 

I know because I made the same mistake as you and had the same "What the??!" moment. ;-)

[Bob_Bushman]

Like menti-oned, keep a look on the gauges, and keep your rotor at 6600 RPM.

 

You might get away with doing something wrong once, maybe twice.

The third time, your rotor blades will run away.

[Chic]

Post #1 of the linked thread will give you an idea of what to look for.

If you’re really interested, the remaining thread will provide some deeper insight (and perhaps a headache).

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=196588

Edited October 21, 2020 by Chic