Team-Mutley Leg 2 EGJA to EGHE

[ddavid 149]

Thought you'd like to see your Team in Action! Here's Team-Mutley's Short SD3-30 ready to roll:

No runway's short (sorry) enough for the Flying Briquette - leaving Alderney behind:

Landfall at the Lizard:

Heading out again from Land's End:

The Scillys ahead:

View from the office on long final:

There's Runway 18 - easy does it:

Not too low, now...

Applying the brakes - sorry about the skid marks:

Aircraft and clock stopped:

About a minute under - not bad. Now for a nice cuppa...

Cheers - Dai.

[mutley 4,487]

Well done Dai, it can't be easy flying a brick!

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Well done Dai!

Can you just remind me on power settings etc?

[allardjd 1,853]

Beware the third notch of flaps in that thing. If you don't firewall the throttles at the same time it transitions pretty much from flying to falling.

John

[ddavid 149]

Kieran, the Auto Pilot on the SD3-30 seems to work quite well but you'll need to get an accurate Ground Speed indication (I used the GPS read-out) to establish your cruise speed of 179 knots. Also, take note of John's suggestion of leaving the Mixture alone and making adjustments on the Prop to increase/decrease speed. Good Luck, mate!

Cheers - Dai.

[JD_LincsUK 0]

Nice pics.

I was really chuffed when PAD released this - went straight into the AH pot.

Thing that scared me initially was the sensitive pitch trim (at least with my settings) and I ended up adjusting it in the config.

JD

[Andrew Godden 934]

...Thing that scared me initially was the sensitive pitch trim (at least with my settings) and I ended up adjusting it in the config...

JD,

I took on Leg 3 for Team Mutley for the challenge of finding EGHU and the landing on a short strip. Then I remembered I had never done any serious flying in turboprops even though I have a number of them, including PAD's range, installed. So, for once, I started to do some serious testing in the Short 330 in training for the event.

The following setup was one I found worked consistently (without any modifications to the config):

fuel condition lever - fully forward;

nP setting - 85%; and

nG setting - as required, normally about 80-85% and using small elevator trim corrections and AP for altitude during cruise, 70-75% and trim corrections during flap and landing gear deployment during descent and circuit, and once trimmed, 75% on approach and finals, with small (approx 3-5%) adjustments to maintain the glideslope.

In the end, I found the nG setting and trim corrections were the only adjustments I had to make during flight and I found with a gentle touch ("flick") I was able to make smaller trim corretions. With practice, I was able to reduce inputs (and variables) to the nG setting, particularly during approach and finals (as it should be). Admittedly, I am using the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with a trim switch configured on the yoke handle. I agree with the sensitivity issue you mention, but I have also found this on a number of turpoprop models.

I hope this helps in some way.

Regards

Andrew

[allardjd 1,853]

The following setup was one I found worked consistently (without any modifications to the config):

fuel condition lever - fully forward;

nP setting - 85%; and

nG setting - as required, normally about 80-85% and using small elevator trim corrections and AP for altitude during cruise, 70-75% and trim corrections during flap and landing gear deployment during descent and circuit, and once trimmed, 75% on approach and finals, with small (approx 3-5%) adjustments to maintain the glideslope.

In the end, I found the nG setting and trim corrections were the only adjustments I had to make during flight and I found with a gentle touch ("flick") I was able to make smaller trim corretions. With practice, I was able to reduce inputs (and variables) to the nG setting, particularly during approach and finals (as it should be). Admittedly, I am using the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with a trim switch configured on the yoke handle. I agree with the sensitivity issue you mention, but I have also found this on a number of turpoprop models.

All that is entirely consistent with my experience in the PAD Short 330. I have a CH yoke instead of Saitek hardware but it has a rocker switch for pitch trim and behaves much as Andrew describes. The description of how the Power Lever, Prop Lever and Condition Lever are used is the correct way to fly a turboprop, except a few odd birds that don't have separate prop levers (e.g. C-130, PC-12).

JD, rather than go after pitch trim sensitivity in the aircraft.cfg file, you might have a look at the repeat rate settings in the FS Controls menu for the control you are using for pitch trim. It sounds as if the repeat rate might be a bit too aggressive.

The only other adverse habit I noted in the 330 was the high sink rate that seemed to occur as the flaps go from 15 to 30 degrees.

John