odd behaviour from engineer

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Today i was doing leg one of a recreation of the kangaroo route the connie flew in 1947 for qantas , from YSSY to YPDN , on my decent with engines set 20/20 at 300fpm from 20000ft to 10000ft , i looked back , and noticed a very odd behaviour from the engineer , he was moving number 1 engine fuel tank cut off lever back and two every two to three seconds , if he had been moving more than one lever in the normal way , i could understand is behaviour , for part of is fuel balancing , but this was very odd .
Has anyone else noticed this wierd behaviour.
regards alan.

[AviationAtWar]

I've had that happen before too and I think I caught it on video. He was going back and forth at 1-2 second intervals for quite a while.

[Gypsy Baron]

Without knowing what the level of each fuel tank was it is impossible to evaluate that behavior. Also, the states of the X-feeds and fuel pumps.

Paul

[alan CXA651]

Hi Paul.
This was no ordinary fuel transfer , it was definatly odd behaviour , thats the reason i reported this , as i have never noticed this type of behaviour before , and the hours i have on the connie , i definatly recognise normal fuel transfer when i see it , and had this been normal , i would not have bothered with this report .
regards alan.

[Gypsy Baron]

Alan.
I am not doubting your observation.

I was just pointing out that without additional information relating to the configuration at the time, a diagnosis of the issue is impossible, unless of course, it is repeatable.

There is a LOT of code related to the VFE functions and it is not an easy task to isolate an area for inspection when an anomaly is reported.

-=GB=-

[Hobart Escin]

I'm seeing the same thing on occasion since the latest Connie-specific update. When I hand over everything to the FE, he will sometimes pull the mixture on the number three engine to the cutoff position. I have to watch him closely and shove it back to auto-rich before the engine quits. Seems to be random for whatever reason.

I'm thinking about rigging a shock collar (available at finer Petsmarts) around his neck and zapping him a good one when he does it the next time. "Okay captain, we're all set" ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Okay captain, I will not tttttttttttouch the number threeeeeeeeeeeeee engine mixture". Worth a shot?

[malexdu]

Yes I have had the FE cut No 3 engine on two occasions in the last 20 odd flights, once in cruise and once in descent. Two different locations - both with tanks circa half full and cross feed off. I too keep an eye on him. I do the start up, take off, climb and set for cruise manually and once in cruise hand over to the FE. On both occasions he cut No 3 after about 5 to 10 minutes. Just finished a 2 hour hop with fuel on light and no problems. FE well behaved!

[malexdu]

Following up on my post above I have done a a few more flights. If I start with the FE in control and let him manage the engines on the flight then no problems. If I hand over control on the climb or cruise, this is when he is most likely to cut No 3 engine. He cuts off the fuel and brings the mixture (red) control to cut off. This happens fairly soon after handing over to him. (Usually within 5 to 10 minutes). Fuel load has been variable (light and Medium), flights 1.5 hours and 2.75 hours, as has the location. After the first few times I had all engines serviced and showing... Excellent...in case there was a problem I hadn't picked up on, but no change.

When the FE cuts the No 3 engine (always No 3), I take back control, get No 3 engine running and after that I hand back over to the FE, he manages all engines as he should for the rest of the flight. Hope this helps.