Couple of Questions re F-16 throttle use and QFE on Afghan map

[DrDetroit]

Hi guys,

So in reality, is it appropriate to stay full mil power when in cruise mode to from waypoints?  I use to tend to stay in full mil power most of my flight, if no issue with fuel consumption, TOT, and such.  However, seems that in reality that may cause early wear on the engine?  I kind of knocked that back to 95ish percent as of late.  What's the general rule for full mil power use?

Also, on the Afghan map, I get QFE callouts from tower of around 84.xx at Kabul.  Thing is, mine is set at around 96.xx-97.xx by default, and I can't dial it back below around 95.xx.  So I just set it at 5K at runway level.  What do you guys set your QFE when this happens?

Anyhow, just curious, and thanks in advance!

Good day!

DrDetroit  

Edited 15 hours ago by DrDetroit

[NytHawk]

25 minutes ago, DrDetroit said:

So in reality, is it appropriate to stay full mil power when in cruise mode to from waypoints? 

Usually its advisable to fly a bit slower, you will save quite a lot of fuel.
You can use the RNG mode in the CRUS DED page to show the most efficient cruising speed for the given altitude on the HUD. 

[Tholozor]

1 hour ago, DrDetroit said:

Also, on the Afghan map, I get QFE callouts from tower of around 84.xx at Kabul.  Thing is, mine is set at around 96.xx-97.xx by default, and I can't dial it back below around 95.xx.  So I just set it at 5K at runway level.  What do you guys set your QFE when this happens?

Ignore QFE callouts from tower, use QNH.

Edited 14 hours ago by Tholozor

[Exorcet]

55 minutes ago, DrDetroit said:

Hi guys,

So in reality, is it appropriate to stay full mil power when in cruise mode to from waypoints?  I use to tend to stay in full mil power most of my flight, if no issue with fuel consumption, TOT, and such.  However, seems that in reality that may cause early wear on the engine?  I kind of knocked that back to 95ish percent as of late.  What's the general rule for full mil power use?

Also, on the Afghan map, I get QFE callouts from tower of around 84.xx at Kabul.  Thing is, mine is set at around 96.xx-97.xx by default, and I can't dial it back below around 95.xx.  So I just set it at 5K at runway level.  What do you guys set your QFE when this happens?

Anyhow, just curious, and thanks in advance!

Good day!

DrDetroit  

Putting aside wear, cruising at mil power is unusual because it's not efficient. The F-16 will fly from Mach 0.7 to 0.9 during cruise depending on load and altitude.

I typically climb to cruise alt at mil power (pitching to maintain 350 KCAS or Mach 0.9(AA load) / 0.82 (AG load), whichever is greater) and then dial back to cruise setting.

 

1 hour ago, DrDetroit said:

Hi guys,

So in reality, is it appropriate to stay full mil power when in cruise mode to from waypoints?  I use to tend to stay in full mil power most of my flight, if no issue with fuel consumption, TOT, and such.  However, seems that in reality that may cause early wear on the engine?  I kind of knocked that back to 95ish percent as of late.  What's the general rule for full mil power use?

Also, on the Afghan map, I get QFE callouts from tower of around 84.xx at Kabul.  Thing is, mine is set at around 96.xx-97.xx by default, and I can't dial it back below around 95.xx.  So I just set it at 5K at runway level.  What do you guys set your QFE when this happens?

Anyhow, just curious, and thanks in advance!

Good day!

DrDetroit  

As far as airport operations go, use ILS and radar altimeter to determine where you are in relation to the airfield.

[DrDetroit]

10 minutes ago, Tholozor said:

Ignore QFE callouts from tower, use QNH.

Ah, ok.  Thanks for the heads up!  How to switch to QNH?  

[Tholozor]

20 minutes ago, DrDetroit said:

Ah, ok.  Thanks for the heads up!  How to switch to QNH?  

The tower system is antiquated, and has no ability to provide QNH, however, it's available in the mission briefing.

[Furiz]

1 hour ago, DrDetroit said:

Hi guys,

So in reality, is it appropriate to stay full mil power when in cruise mode to from waypoints?  I use to tend to stay in full mil power most of my flight, if no issue with fuel consumption, TOT, and such.  However, seems that in reality that may cause early wear on the engine?  I kind of knocked that back to 95ish percent as of late.  What's the general rule for full mil power use?

Hey, 

I learned some time ago that with same percentage on the engine RPM the fuel flow will wary depending on height/air thickness, temperature humidity etc, so I trained myself to watch fuel flow, and realised that around 5800ish pph is optimal and mach 0.65 to 0.70. I guess that's why that fuel flow indicator is positioned so high on the instrument panel, so you can glance at it easily. Must have been an important tool

Mil power is, in my opinion, to be used when you are engaging targets, or in high risk zones etc, obviously you need speed to clear out if some launch happens. But when cruising on the way to area of operations I like to use fuel flow and keep it around 5800pph.

 

[DrDetroit]

Thanks to everyone for very informative posts!  This helps a lot. 

[cw4ogden]

@DrDetroit The pilot trying to limit potential Engine wear isn't really a factor.  Fuel for sure, but the difference between 95% and 100% power, in terms of wear, would negligible.