The odd thing is that I’ve only had the problems when starting on the runway. The Duke has been flawless for me otherwise. I realize correlation doesn’t equal causation which is why I’m curious as to how my next flight goes. I wonder if it’s just one of the permutations of all the variables that something gets out of sync. For example, one of the anomalies when I started my flight was that avionics where on but the GPS units weren’t powered up. Cycling the avionics switch brought them to life but they bypasses the start up sequence which shouldn’t have happened. So there’s something that goes awry somehow and is affected an unknown number of other systems.
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Just to clarify from my original post a number of weeks ago, this issue has only occurred twice for me in dozens of Duke flights. Other than those instances, this plane is pretty much flawless.
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Yeah, actually maybe it has happened to me once or twice too.
And @Eyaen I rarely start from the runway, unless there’s no parking option where I want to take off of or for whatever reason just want to get in the air and not screw around. Even rarer with the piston Duke because I love the sounds it makes on startup. But after @SteveKane mentioned how rare the problems are I guess I have had very occasional issues and it may correlate with runway starts due to laziness or necessity.
Usually when my autopilot doesn’t want to work it’s because I forgot to hit that little pitch trim switch lmao.
I definitely agree that for the most part the Duke has given me no problems at all. I’ve only noticed oddities in the last two flights (out of 30 so far) which both happened to be runway starts - runway starts in which on the previous flight I had done a full shut down as well. If we can narrow down the cause we can all avoid it as well as take that info to the developer. I hope to fly at least one more time this weekend.
anyone able to help me understand why the left battery won’t charge above 56%? i checked and there are no active failures at the moment
Did you try resetting the generator for that engine?
i have, no change
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Can you show a screenie of the ELEC page on the EFB?
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I have a question about the pitch hold mode. It says in the documentation that you can assign keybinds for that, but then it shows some stuff about SPAD. Can I assign a key for this without SPAD, through the MSFS control settings?
How would you use that exactly? Would you disconnect the AP, manually set a new pitch, and then enable AP again? I am very confused about this pitch control mode and I don’t want to purchase the plane until I understand the system and know for sure I will enjoy it.
Thanks!
I use it the same as I do on a standard AP, like a KAP-140. When I want to control the pitch, I press Vertical Speed, and that maintains the current climb rate. Then I adjust that up and down the same as I would for the 140. I have a Honeycomb Bravo and I haven’t had to remap anything, the default mappings have worked just fine for me.
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That’s great to hear thanks! I have a Bravo as well.
unfortunately no longer flying. will try and grab some more screens if it happens again
I have two questions about the piston Duke:
- How should I operate the cowl flaps? The checklist just states “as required”, the manual only explains about the clickspot. I don’t even know what cowl flaps do, so I was dissapointed the manual didn’t explain this at all to me. Open for takeoff is what I gather and closed for descend. And cruise? What’s the influence of OAT on this?
- What is GA on the autopilot? Everytime I click on ATT after takeoff it automatically transfers to GA and I can’t reclick ATT until I cycle ALT. I don’t really understand why this is an again the manual explains nothing of this.
Using them will help keep the engines cool. If you notice the CHTs are too high then open them to bring them down.
Go Around mode. It will bring the FD bars to a specific pitch angle on the attitude indicator (I forgot what it was). Useful as a pitch reference on takeoff and when you need to go around.
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Generally speaking, cowl flaps open during takeoff and climb. Close them up when you reach your cruise altitude. And use at pilot discretion on descent and landing. Lots of pilots make sure the cowl flaps are open on landing just in case it go around needs to be executed.
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If anyone cares, it is 20 seconds to open or close the cowl flaps on the Duke.
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Yes, and you have to mentally count…there’s no indicator showing the cowl flap position.
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Basically you want to open and close them to keep the CHT temps in the 150-170ish range. Always open on takeoff, slowly close them as you get to cruise.
Unrelated but nothing makes me giggle in happiness like the absurd angle the turbine can maintain at max climb
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it says 14 in the manual, and I use 16 seconds to be on the safe side. And I’ve ‘cheated’ and had the virtual ground crew check and they appear completely open or closed, as the case may be.
You can also look at the generator load.
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