General Operation Questions - New Comanche Pilot

[BlueThing]

Hello there,

I'm sorry to bother again, but being a new Comanche pilot I have some more beginner's questions. I hope someone could help me out here:


1) Clock:
Does the clock only shows the time or does it also function as a timer? If so, how do I operate it? and is it also possible to set it's time (indepandetly from the PC or simulator time) ?

2) Landing Gear Switch:
Why does the Landing-Gear switch have 3 possitinos? According to the flight manual, the circuit cut off the power, as soon as the landing gear are fully extracted or retracted, so why is the middle "Off" position actually required?

3) Tip-Tank:
What does the switch under the Tip-Tank guage do exactly?
Do the Tip-tanks have fuel pump?

4) Autopilot:
Where is exactly the autopilot mode selector button (ST, HD, TRK LO, TRK HI) ?
I could only find buttons for Disconnect and Alt hold (On the yoke).

4) Flight manual:
Does anybody have a link for the genuaine Pilot Operating Handbook of the exact model ?
I have found this one:
http://brianmichael.org/n5448p/N5448P_POH.pdf
Yet, this is not exactly the same model from A2A.

5) Power settings:
How do I know which RPM should I use for each power setting exactly? Is there a table somewher
I've looked in the power setting table (Page 69), but could not understand how to read it or how to use it exactly. If anybody have the patient to explain it, it would be great.

6) IVAO MTL:
Is there a comanche 250 Model available for IVAO's MTL?
If not, which Model is recommended for using as alternative?


thanks for everybody's support

lovely greetings,

BlueThing

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Look at the introduction video on A2A home page for the comanche this will answer some of your questions.
The switch under the tip tank gauge allows you to select either left or right tip tank for the gauge to read the contents of that tank.
The button top left on the auto pilot switchs in sequence with each push from ST,HD,TRK LO,TRK HI , DONT FORGET THE SWITCH on the left of the GPS this needs to be in GPS when autopilot is in TRK HI or LO so autopilot follows the GPS flight plan , to turn autopilot off the autopilot master switch left of avionic switch needs to be turned off or OFF then ON to reset autopilot or ap disconnect button and revert to manual flight.
Also on my win7 system the A2A docs and configurator can de found under the win symbol on taskbar\all programs\A2A\ then the particular aircraft if you have more than one A2A aircraft.
regards alan.

[BlueThing]

Thank you very much Alan CXA651 for the good advice.
And I will check that video again too.

If anybody else could answer the other questions (about the clcok, landing gear switchc, POH, power settings and IVAO) that would be great.

Have a lovely day

BlueThing

[ClipperLuna]

I'll take a stab at a couple of these. Don't know about a timer in the clock, but there is one "hidden" in the ADF tuner. If you look to the right of the display, you'll see a slider switch that has positions "REC", "MODE", and "TIMER". Right-click it to put it in timer mode. I was so happy when I discovered this.

The off position on the gear switch is another way of killing power to the gear motor as soon as the wheels are up. Whether you put the switch in the up or off position after gear retraction is a matter of personal preference, and I've read arguments that go either way. I like to set it "off" so the system isn't hot when it doesn't need to be. The counter is that moving it there makes it that much more likely you'll accidentally bring the gear down when you don't mean to.

On page 69, let's say you want to run at 75% power and you're at 4,000'. To get there, you could run the engine at 24.8" manifold pressure and 2200 rpm. Or 24.1" manifold pressure and 2300 rpm. Or 23.3" manifold pressure and 2400 rpm. Does that make sense? The table there doesn't have this information, but you can also run at 1800 or 1900 rpm provided you keep the manifold pressure at or below 25.0" and 25.5" respectively.

[BlueThing]

Thank you ClipperLuna,

I mainly liked the tip about the hidden timer in the ADF. Very useful.

Though I understand how to read the table on page 69, I'm still not sure how to put this information into practical use:
How should I choose which power setting is better?
taking your example as a reference, since both 24.8"/2200 rpm and 23.3"/2400rpm provide the same 75% how should one choose which setting to use?
Shouldn't I always prefer the lower rpm for the same power output?

maybe some of the (real) pilot could advice here, which power setting do you use during climb, cruise, descent etc.

Thanks again and lovely greetings,

BlueThing

[AKar]

taking your example as a reference, since both 24.8"/2200 rpm and 23.3"/2400rpm provide the same 75% how should one choose which setting to use?
Shouldn't I always prefer the lower rpm for the same power output?

Not always. Speaking generally, there is some character in each engine model. Some engines want to run faster while others are comfortable at lower RPM. Some also have ranges that may even have limitations against using them. While you can't feel the engine vibrations in the sim, you may carefully look for them; in A2A Comanche you may even want to reduce the RPM down towards 2000 RPM if you're not that hurry. Also, at high power settings you'd want to have a comfortable margin to the limiting manifold pressure for continuous operation line the engine manufacturer graphs.

-Esa

[Paughco]

There are a lot of useful tips on Comanche flying on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... manche+250 I particularly like the stuff by FSMania and SimCFI.

Scott gives us some tips on Comanche engine settings in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykxeVxa8qJo. Around 5:45 into this one Scott talks about MP and rpm.

Try to re-enact that IFR flight from Chico to Redding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTHSRV ... 82BzdiVe4l.

Then, watch some of this real world stuff about leaning and such: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VfiPuheeGw&t=29s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-tKyiUZ3ts.

All of the above references are intended to add to your enjoyment of your new (to you) Comanche. It's like owning a REAL airplane (not just a puddle jumper), without the huge expense!



Seeya
ATB

[bullfox]

In real life aviation gas and engine over hauls are expensive. In FSX they are free. A lot of what is done in real life has to do with limiting expenses. So if you want to fly as in real life that generally means a compromise between mile per gallon, engine wear and time since it's generally cheeper to fly slower.

In the sim the trade off is between verisimilitude and what you want to do. For example, I generally set the rpm and mixture for how fast I want to go regardless of fuel consumption, although I usually keep the rpm In a more reasonable range than 2500. I fly with a lot more gas than most pilots would in real life. I also keep the engine at full throttle which I think is consistent with practice in real life, and do some other things to maximize ground speed.

[William Hughes]

Some models of Comanche only have a two position switch. However, I have used the center off switch IRL during a manual extension. It is handy to have a way to cut power to the circuit before pulling the breaker. Two ways to interrupt the power before entangling your fingers in the transmission ball-screw system to initiate the manual extension.

Let's say the limit switch didn't trip while raising the gear and instead the circuit breaker popped. Well, putting the switch in "off" while resetting the breaker is handy as that way you are using normal procedures when you want that gear moved. You can reset the breaker with the gear off, and then switch the gear down in a normal way in the circuit. Instead of doing something odd and unusual like groping around under the panel near your left knee during a critical moment.

It is also handy in a situation where you might need to manually lower the gear using the emergency procedure - you can positively cut power with the switch and not with the breaker. Breakers are not switches - it is a subtle difference but a real one.

It is a nice feature to provide a pilot to help in unusual situations or to diagnose problems. Not a critical one, but a nice one. It is nice to have an easily accessible way to positively cut power to a circuit without messing about with the breakers. That includes the landing gear.

[GlennC]

Almost all of my real flying is in C172's, no real time in a Comanche. That noted, I think in one of Scott's videos, he was talking about power settings. On thing he demonstrated was engine smoothness versus power settings, He noted a relatively low setting (doing this from memory) at about 19 squared, 19 inches and 1900 RPM produced a very smooth ride. As I think a couple of the other guys noted, deciding what settings to use will usually be based on what's easier on the hardware (lower settings) versus how soon you need to get there. If you do some math based on your usual trip times, you might find that more conservative power use won't cost you a whole lot on flying time but may save more fuel.

My two cents worth

Glenn

[AKar]

On thing he demonstrated was engine smoothness versus power settings, He noted a relatively low setting (doing this from memory) at about 19 squared, 19 inches and 1900 RPM produced a very smooth ride

I believe the MP remained at 24 inches. At 19'', 1900 RPM you'd pretty much struggle to go anywhere.

-Esa