BeachAV8R Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Just curious how everyone is handling avionics prior to their mission. I've leafed through the manual..but haven't looked very hard. I'm curious if the electrical system has some sort of voltage protection to protect against power spikes during engines starts..or is it advised to have all of the avionics and NAV equipment off during engine starts? In the airplanes I fly for a living we have to have the avionics off for starts. I know lots of aircraft that have APUs can run their avionics with APU power, start the engines with the avionics on, then just open the generator bus from the engine gens and shut off the APU with no ill effects. What is the real recommended procedure for the Ka-50? Also..once the engines are running, is it OK to turn off the forward and real boost pumps? I'm just getting back into the Ka-50 after a long absence..so excuse my ignorance.. :dunno: BeachAV8R
5parta Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Im pretty sure from the manual, producers notes videos, as well as ingame training missions (the one on startup) that you can have the electrical systems running prior to engine start. At least its done that way in the sources cited above. They also do not turn off the pumps after engine start. Wouldn't that stop the fuel from making it into the engine?
Weta43 Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 From memory - of discussions here :-) There is enough suction generated to lift fuel without the pumps, but they should be on... Sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong ! Cheers.
Frederf Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 The Intercom and VHF-2 radio need to be on to ask the tower for Engine Start Clearance... so in the real world one would have those on at least. Ejection, fire extinguisher, EKRAN would be on before engine start for obvious reasons. Without ground power the AC systems won't be powered until the main rotors get turning above 86% RPM (this is the AUTO setting! initially the throttles are at LOW 79%) with the generators on which is rather late in the procedure. There is the emergency AC bus that can be powered by the MOD-500 DC-AC converter but that only covers a limited selection of items. Batteries of course cover all the DC stuff. The fuel tanks should provide adequate flow by gravity/suction without the pumps but it's a violation of safety to do so at any point during operation. The APU supplies no electrical power. All it is is bleed air for engine start. Spiking the electrical system (in fact battery draw, currents, and potentials) are all not modeled since ED couldn't get detailed-enough information. You will never damage the electronics in the Ka-50 outside of battle damage. A small aircraft often uses electrical power to start the engine (like a car) so saving battery power for start can be critical. The Ka-50 uses bleed air so that isn't an issue. Without ground power there are limits to what system you can bring online before engine start. I usually leave stuff like NAV, K-041, and WCS for after start. 1
AlphaOneSix Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 The most realistic thing to do is always use external power when starting, and only remove external power after your engines are up to AUTO power and your rotor rpm stabilizes above 86% and your generators are online. Of course, no matter what you do, there will be no spike in the electrical system, regardless of how you start the aircraft. The aircraft has voltage regulators, reverse current relays, etc. installed to prevent any such problems. As far as the fuel pumps go, you should always leave them on. They are there to provide a backup pump if your engine driven pump fails, and also to prevent cavitation in the fuel lines at high altitudes.
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