You’re not wrong, an extra 300, 400 is a ton which is why I figured probably isn’t normal. I won’t say definitively unless I have proper info at my fingertips and I don’t for this aircraft.
I remember my instructor telling me while flying a SportStar on a couple of occasions “that’s a lot of power” as I countered sink on final. I’d be thinking “Man, I only gave the vernier throttle a quarter turn or maybe even less!” I’m not sure what the RPM change was, my eyes were outside, but it was tiny.
I hadn’t really flown my JF Arrow yet so I just fired it up. My idle is actually a little over 1,000 RPM. Even if the real JF aircraft does do that for whatever reason, I’m fairly confident our version shouldn’t because the engine.cfg definition seems to indicate 600 is minimum and min_gov_rpm is 700 RPM.
Variable terminology?
Either the throttle is at idle or it isn’t.
Low and high idle exists in some turboprops and jets, but not on piston engined aircraft.
Never seen any piston engined aircraft idle at 1000RPM.
No wonder it starts moving on its own!
I thought Cessna and Lycoming differentiated between ‘idle’ and 1000 RPM with said terminology, but I am wrong. Both state to ‘adjust’, or ‘set the throttle to’ 1000 RPM (sometimes 800-1000RPM).
Set throttle to 1,000RPM was what I was taught as a student pilot and through all my conversions and numerous check rides many years ago. I was type certified on all the normal Cessnas up to C210, all the normal Cherokees up to PA32-300, Rockwell Commander 114 and Beech BE33.
And yes, it did mean that you had to use brakes to avoid excessive taxi speed. Would it have built up to say 40kts on a good surface had one not used brakes? Don’t know as I never tried it or allowed that to happen. It sounds rather high but not absurdly so. Get up to takeoff speed? Now that sounds over the top. WAY over the top…
I think I’ve replied elsewhere about idle speed as well, but it’s objectively too high. Some people seem to be confusing recommended engine speed on the ground to avoid plug fowling with what the engine will actually run at with the throttle lever completely retarded. That figure according to the maintenance manual is 550-600rpm. I couldn’t find anything in my POH, but it is on my checklists as 5-800rpm.
I know we’re getting off track here, but engine speed doesn’t avoid plug fouling, mixture does.
I’ve flown this plan in MSFS precisely once, and I didn’t notice an abnormal idle. I will have to check again. But I routinely do a throttle idle check as part of my runup in any airplane, so I suspect mine idled at less than 1,000.
Has anyone ever observed that, like a car, the speed is at 1200 when it is first started, and after a few minutes it will automatically drop to 700? Is this an intelligent function given by the trip computer?
Don’t quarrel, quarrel, the engine idling speed is still 1000 rpm. I don’t know if JF will be revised, and I don’t know if it is right or wrong. I just ask if you have the same problem as me.
From the POH - “Warm-up the engine at 1400 to 1500 RPM. Avoid prolonged idling at low RPM, as this practice may result in fouled spark plugs”. I don’t dispute that leaning also helps in this regard.
Unless you’ve changed something in config, the aircraft in this sim runs at 1000rpm with throttle closed.
In my experience, leaning is most effective in preventing spark-plug fouling but often leads to novice pilots and students forgetting to reset full-rich/the correct mixture setting prior to selecting full power for take-off.
Lycoming also recommends engine speeds of 1000-1200 RPM to prevent fouling:
