Freezing aircraft?
Posted: 15 Sep 2017, 20:27
Hey guys,
I usually fly in real world weather, and tonight I decided to do a flight around the Antarctic. I've flown in extreme temperatures before, and the temperatures I was in today weren't that bad (-20C). As soon as I lifted off, the flight engineer said "I think we lost a turbo". Under the notifications screen, in red it said "We have some problems with Engine 1". At the same time, I was retracting the gear and the first officer said "tailwheel is up, and right gear is up." That sounded odd, so naturally I looked and the left gear was left down. Someone (flight engineer maybe?) said "Huh. The left gear isn't moving at all. It seems frozen." Cycling the gear did nothing, and hand cranking wouldn't work. As this was going on, E1 was continuously backfiring although all flight instruments were normal except for a lower than average CHT. I lowered the gear and landed gingerly, and stopped uneventfully. The interesting part was the maintenance hanger: nothing was showing up on the report as damaged. I reloaded a flight in warmer temperatures, and everything was operating perfectly. My only conclusion is that the cold temperatures started to affect components on the aircraft. Has anyone else had this happen?
I usually fly in real world weather, and tonight I decided to do a flight around the Antarctic. I've flown in extreme temperatures before, and the temperatures I was in today weren't that bad (-20C). As soon as I lifted off, the flight engineer said "I think we lost a turbo". Under the notifications screen, in red it said "We have some problems with Engine 1". At the same time, I was retracting the gear and the first officer said "tailwheel is up, and right gear is up." That sounded odd, so naturally I looked and the left gear was left down. Someone (flight engineer maybe?) said "Huh. The left gear isn't moving at all. It seems frozen." Cycling the gear did nothing, and hand cranking wouldn't work. As this was going on, E1 was continuously backfiring although all flight instruments were normal except for a lower than average CHT. I lowered the gear and landed gingerly, and stopped uneventfully. The interesting part was the maintenance hanger: nothing was showing up on the report as damaged. I reloaded a flight in warmer temperatures, and everything was operating perfectly. My only conclusion is that the cold temperatures started to affect components on the aircraft. Has anyone else had this happen?