A question about engine restart...

[trist007]

I just started and I'm barely getting familiar with the ka-50. I created a basic mission to practice starting up, taking off, flying, and landing.

 

I took off from a base and flew into a mountain range, it was great. I got a few questions.

 

I can raise the landing gear but the front wheel doesn't go up. Is there another switch to raise those?

 

I was cruising around 200(units are in metric), there's no way it can be 200m/sec, says around 200 on the upper left corner of the HUD, what units are those in. Also, if I exceed around 220 alarm goes off, yet the airspeed indicator goes up to 400. Anyway I can safely go faster?

 

Also, I was around 5000 meters up(upper right hand corner of HUD), but then all of the sudden my left engine shutdown and ekram starting beeping. I checked my engine RPM and engine heat and both were at zero for the left engine. I don't understand why the left engine shutdown. I had plenty of fuel. Was it cause I was too high? What are some possible causes?

 

Ok so my left engine shutdown. What's the startup procedure for the left engine at this point? From take off, left engine shutoff valve is open and the cutoff valve is open, same for the electronic generator, which is on. I tried turning the apu engine select to left engine and hitting start, but nothing. What's the procedure?

 

Thanks guys, really enjoying this game. Have a great day all.

[Nate--IRL--]

I just started and I'm barely getting familiar with the ka-50. I created a basic mission to practice starting up, taking off, flying, and landing.

 

I took off from a base and flew into a mountain range, it was great. I got a few questions.

 

I can raise the landing gear but the front wheel doesn't go up. Is there another switch to raise those? Sounds like you damaged your nose gear

 

I was cruising around 200(units are in metric), there's no way it can be 200m/sec, says around 200 on the upper left corner of the HUD, what units are those in. Also, if I exceed around 220 alarm goes off, yet the airspeed indicator goes up to 400. Anyway I can safely go faster?

 

Units are Kilometres per second. The speed you can go depends on a variety of factors. Also there are two warning sounds, one for low rotor RPM (Yellow Flashing Light) and on for Max Speed (red Flashing light). Max Speed is about 300km/hr. If you achieve that and keep your rotors, you are very lucky. In general stay below 265km/hr and you will keep you rotors intact.

 

Also, I was around 5000 meters up(upper right hand corner of HUD), but then all of the sudden my left engine shutdown and ekram starting beeping. I checked my engine RPM and engine heat and both were at zero for the left engine. I don't understand why the left engine shutdown. I had plenty of fuel. Was it cause I was too high? What are some possible causes? Sounds like you forgot to switch on your engine de-icing as you got higher

 

Ok so my left engine shutdown. What's the startup procedure for the left engine at this point? From take off, left engine shutoff valve is open and the cutoff valve is open, same for the electronic generator, which is on. I tried turning the apu engine select to left engine and hitting start, but nothing. What's the procedure? Not sure, I haven't flown the Shark in quite a while.

 

Thanks guys, really enjoying this game. Have a great day all.

 

Nate

[sobek]

Ok so my left engine shutdown. What's the startup procedure for the left engine at this point? From take off, left engine shutoff valve is open and the cutoff valve is open, same for the electronic generator, which is on. I tried turning the apu engine select to left engine and hitting start, but nothing. What's the procedure?

 

In case of shutdown you must close the shutoff valve, restart the APU, then probably motor the engine and then do a restart.

 

IIRC, air restarts are prohibited for the Ka-50, because trying to restart a failed engine may cause damage to the engine (you can hardly ever be certain why it failed).

 

Standard procedure would be to drop all stores and land as soon as practical on one engine. In any case, it is a reason to abort the mission.

[Yurgon]

I was cruising around 200(units are in metric), there's no way it can be 200m/sec, says around 200 on the upper left corner of the HUD, what units are those in. Also, if I exceed around 220 alarm goes off, yet the airspeed indicator goes up to 400. Anyway I can safely go faster?

Units are Kilometres per second.

 

Now that would be a fast mover. Let's settle with Kilometers per hour. :-)

 

Also, I was around 5000 meters up(upper right hand corner of HUD), but then all of the sudden my left engine shutdown and ekram starting beeping. I checked my engine RPM and engine heat and both were at zero for the left engine. I don't understand why the left engine shutdown. I had plenty of fuel. Was it cause I was too high? What are some possible causes?

Sounds like you forgot to switch on your engine de-icing as you got higher

 

Let me just add that there's no working temperature gauge in the DCS Ka-50. You should always check the mission briefing to know the outside temperature. The Ekran usually tells you when to put on rotor anti ice and engine anti ice. You'll need both of these anti ice systems together. Also don't forget the pitot heat switches on the left side of the overhead panel and the INU heat on the rear auxiliary panel or some of the cockpit instruments may give bad readings in icing conditions.

 

Edit: Check out EinsteinEP's read on coaxial rotor aerodynamics. Should you feel like going faster than 300 kph, you'll know why there's a sudden drop of lift. :-)

 

And another addendum: it's quite possible to go faster than 300 kph without rotor cone intersection. In a dive, lower the collective. I've achieved 450+ kph from a steep dive and leveled out with rotor blades fully intact. Just remember to leave the collective full down until you're traveling at less than 300 kph. :-)

Edited July 14, 2011 by Yurgon
Added a link

[ironstrike]

A quick clarification about Yurgon's advice:

 

He is right about the deicing systems going together, but note that engaging the engine anti-ice system requires bleed air and will further sap engine power when you may well need it most. Be aware of this if you're up in the mountains where the air is thinner - and where you will most likely find yourself turning on said anti-icing systems...

 

The INU heater is not modeled however. Feel free to ignore that switch. In fact, the only functioning controls from that bank on the back panel are the INU power switch and the center rotary for ballistics data for impact point calculation of unguided weapons (rockets, gun pods, bombs). You may safely ignore the rest of that panel. :)

[EinsteinEP]

Whether or not it's approved by Real Life Black Shark Peoples, you can perform an engine re-start in flight, given that the engine is still operable. The process is the same as on the ground - start the APU, set the engine selector switch to the correct engine, hit the start button and wait through the start up process. Don't forget to double check fuel quantity and fuel pump/cutoff valve switch statuses before attempting the restart though (more on that in a sec). And shut off the APU after the engine has stabilized.

 

The Real Life Black Shark Peoples have a good point, though: if you don't know why an engine stopped, just trying to start it again right away probably isn't a good idea. While, in the sim, you don't have to worry about having to explain engine damage to an angry crew chief, if the engine stopped because A) a fuel pump/valve switch got accidentally turned off, B) the feeding tank ran out of gas, or C) there was an unauthorized installation of 20mm holes in the turbine disk, etc, the time/effort you spend trying to start the engine will be wasted. Troubleshoot the cause first, if you can, then fix it before attempting a restart.

 

For example, if your engine in your example really had stalled due to ice (clogged inlet is the root cause, IIRC), and you had attempted an in-flight restart, the engine wouldn't have lit off. You would have needed to engage the anti-ice devices and probably even drop a few 1000 m to get to some warmer air and ensure the intake was clear.

 

If you can't figure out why an engine has stopped, RTB on the single engine ASAP (your other engine may be getting ready to go, too!). Dump stores, if you need to. If you absolutely have to have the second engine (to get over a ridge, etc.), then you might as well try it anyways, but I would also start looking for a place to ditch.

[Vitesse2l]

Guys - I seem to remember an issue with engine restarts. Not sure if it was a bug or not, but even sat at a farp, an engine would not restart.

 

A while since I tried. Ring any bells with anyone?

[trist007]

Great info, I really appreciate it.

[Arclight]

Or it might be flooded. Never hurts to crank/motor it before attempting a restart.

[AlphaOneSix]

Flooded? :P Turbines can't get flooded...but boy will they make one heck of a flame if they have pooled fuel! So yeah, always do a dry crank after a failed start.

 

There is a bug (was a bug? I think it's still there) where the starter for the engine will break if you try to start the engine too soon (I think you need to wait three minutes as mentioned above). In reality, you're allowed restart as soon as the engine's RPM reaches 0%.

[sobek]

A restart before 3 minutes would break the turbine starter on the next start?

 

Not sure on the 3 minutes, but yes, the turbine starter spooldown takes ages, and if you try to engage the starter clutch with the starter motor still running down, the excess torque from the moment of inertia will break the clutch and make subsequent starts futile.

 

Edit: sniped :P

[Arclight]

Flooded? :P Turbines can't get flooded...but boy will they make one heck of a flame if they have pooled fuel! So yeah, always do a dry crank after a failed start.

Fair enough, didn't know what to call it. ;)