There is a caution range on the standby ASI, at least on the FS2020 C208 but not on the G1000. Maybe copy - paste error from a different plane?
Yes because the autopilot should disengage upon stall warning activation but it doesn’t in FS2020.
Careful with that battery , I would rather start-up first and then set-up everything.
Depends on the aircraft I guess, never had such problems on the aircraft I fly, during descent FLC is an absolute disaster on some turboprops, causing the oscilations you speak off.
Whenever I decide to use anything else than FLC during climb I rather use basic pitch mode, at least it won’t pitch up further in an attempt to maintain vertical speed!
Only times I use VS during climb is to reduce vertical rate to 2000 ft/min, 2000 ft from level off and 1000 ft/min, 1000 ft prior level off as per Eurocontrol recommendation.
It’s definitely a copy & paste error because the Vne/Vmo on the stndby ASI is way too low as well.
I noticed that also
This should help.
Even if it did disengage, the trim would already be full up and you’d still be in the same mess.
It only takes about three minutes to set everything, and the battery should last a bit longer than that to at least allow instruments to run for a period of time if the engine fails in mid-air.
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Depends on the aircraft maybe but not that likely. The ones I used to fly, not even close to full nose-up elevator or trim is required to activate the stall warning.
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Of course the battery will last longer than 3 minutes in flights, but engine start requires quite some power. 3 minutes would not be a problem, but I know people preparing, briefing etc. for 15 minutes easily on batteries only to find out there isn’t enough juice left to start .
There’s been some good discussion on autopilot modes (particularly @anon50268670) but I thought I’d add a couple points since I’m a military pilot qualified on the Caravan. I’m going to put a lot of info here for the geeks, but your mileage may vary. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. And I mean no ill towards those I’m calling out for incorrect info, I know we’re all trying to help.
- FLC/VS/SPD modes:
Usually FLC is used for climbs, as mentioned by some smart folks here (because VS will sometimes leave you slow since the climb rate decreases with altitude). The most common speeds I use are 104 (best rate of climb, Vy, at max weight and flaps up) and 115 (cruise climb speed recommended by the POH). I also use 86 knots with flaps TO/APR as a climbout speed for obstacle clearance (Vx), but I never use autopilot for that since it’s right after takeoff. Climbing is almost always done with max climb power (825 degrees ITT or the far edge of the green arc on the torque). You can get in the book for more specific speeds for other weights, especially if you have serious takeoff obstacles to consider, but those speeds are the 99% solution. We normally rotate at 74 KIAS and put the flaps up around 400-800 feet AGL after reaching 95 KIAS.
VS is used for descents. 500-2000 ft per minute is normal for most descents, but the pilot MUST control the torque setting to avoid exceeeding Vne (175 KIAS), particularly at higher descent rates. A “cruise descent” is often be done with FLC mode set to 160 knots and cruise power - this is the fastest way to get down to the destination, and use of FLC avoids overspeeds since you are commanding an airspeed. 900-1000 FPM is the VS I normally use for stepdowns on instrument approaches if I’m flying 120-150 KIAS.
SPD is confusingly not functional in the Caravan, but is used for some jets with the G1000 in order to command a mach speed.
- Vne Vma and ovserstress.
The most common way I’ve overstressed (died) in the sim is getting distracted on a descent and exceeding 175 KIAS. In the airplane you’ll get a beeping noise and fix it quickly, then have to tell your boss after the flight and get yelled it. It sucks, but <5 KIAS overspeed isn’t going to require maintenance checks. I’ve only oversped an airplane once or twice in 10+ years, but it’s easier to do in the sim.
“148” KIAS was discussed (Bubba) as a way to avoid overstress. It’s not necessary for normal operations. The idea of a maneuvering airspeed (Vma) is that at (or below) the given airpseed, which increases with weight, any sudden change to the aircraft’s attitude (e.g. sudden control input or turbulence) will cause the aircraft to stall before it overstresses the airframe. The ONLY time I ever use Vma is for turbulence or penetrating weather, particularly convective activity, and the procedure is to slow to Vma before you enter the weather. The load (“G”) limits on the Caravan are +3.8g to -1.52g clean and +2.4g with any flaps extended; a 60-degree bank turn in level flight is 2g (physics!) and you should never need to pull more than that, so Vma is not necessary for normal flight.
- Caravan Versions
The Caravan in MSFS is the “EX”, which has more horsepower (867 instead of 675) and different flap configurations (“TO/APR”, which means Takeoff and Approach, and “LAND” vs 10/20/30) compared to the original, among other minor changes. The flap speeds listed (Parm) don’t apply to the EX, and the torque limit chart provided by Seven7Tango is for the wrong aircraft, whereas the one provided by @PZL104 is correct (notice the “867 SHP” in the top right corner). The correct speeds are a maximum of 150 KIAS for flap extension to TO/APR and max 125 KIAS to move the flaps to LAND. Also the sim doesn’t do a great job of simulating the full power range of the engine and it’s changing limitations, so really just avoid the red band of the torque and ITT gauges and you can use whatever power you want; in the real world we have to calculate max takeoff and max cruise torque settings.
- Airspeeds
I just thought I’d add the airspeeds that we use for normal operations. Since the aircraft doesn’t have an angle of attack (“AOA”) sensor that tells us how the wing is performing we have to use calculated airspeeds from the POH for all approaches, which is conservative and imprecise; the difference between calculated approach speed and stall speed is ~18 KIAS, which is a lot to burn off over the runway if you’re trying to land in a 200’ long box! We use 150-120 KIAS for instrument approaches before the final approach fix (FAF), 120 KIAS max inside the FAF, and 100/90/80 for the UP/TOAPR/LAND flap settings, respectively; most guys add 5 KIAS in the base turn until on final. If we’re doing true “short field” ops then we’ll calculate approach speed for flaps LAND based on weight which is 78 KIAS at/below 8500#, 75 below 8000#, 73 below 7500#, and 71 below 7000#.
MM
The Working Title G3000 mod changes the TAS reading at the bottom of the airspeed “tape” to a Mach reading, and the SPD button works to change over from FLC to Mach hold climb at M0.40 quite well.
Thanks for the great post! Lots of good information from real world experience.
Until the NXi update, and the improvements in turboprop engine logic introduced by Asobo, I had completely ignored the C208. As a Cessna pilot, I find the Caravan familiar yet challenging. It’s a fun aircraft to learn and to fly.
By the way, thanks to all for “setting me straight” on which model we’re flying: and further thanks for posting the correct torque map and the link to the proper POH. I’m quite grateful!
If you’re using autopilot in a 152, you aren’t learning to control an aircraft. Cross countries in 152 and 172 without autopilot are normal way to fly small GA
You’re adding an extra element to flying by using the autopilot. How is that not learning to control an aircraft? I never fly AP in the 152/172 but I know it will add to my skills if I did.
And how is this related to the OPs question regarding the C208 autopilot?