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Herr-B
Apr-07-2012, 20:00
Hello folks, this seems like just the right place to ask - I've just been on the ATAG server for the third time in two days, in a 109. Start up and take off are fine (apart from struggling to find the runways at Coquelles!!!) transit to England is just fine and dandy, but after 5-10 mins in country I get a bad vibration - I throttle back and it goes. It's happened each time -the second time I just put down to damage from a Spit, the first and third times there was - to the best of my knowledge - no aircraft near me or firing at me.

Any fiddling with prop pitch or radiators proved fruitless, there's no mixture to contend with, and initially I only have to throttle back to about 15% - another couple of mins later and I'm back at the stops. Tried an emergency landing at Littlestone on my latest go, I was just a few hundred yards outside the airfield and I opened the throttle a little to keep my height for just a little longer and it just rolled to the left - I managed to get it the right way up as I hit the ground but I think it'd wreck the a/c and my spine. Then the AAA started on me! :hiding2:

What am I doing wrong? Was I the subject, unknowingly, of ze Britishers aim? Please advise.

Ooh, one other thing - is there a guide to using the 109s prop pitch correctly? I wind it up to 12 o'clock for take off and then knock it down a bit but I've read somewhere hereabouts that it's quite important to keep adjusting in the 109 E-3.

CanvasKnight
Apr-07-2012, 20:32
It could come from many things. Prop pitch is a likely culprit. If you are flying an E-1 or E-3, you will always be adjusting it.

Typically, 12:00 for take off and landing. After that, you'll want to keep adjusting it to try and always keep your engine RPMS at about 2350 at full power, maybe 2000 to 2100 for cruising once you've climbed to altitude. Any time that you enter a dive, you need to change the prop pitch (lowering the "time" to 9:30 in a steeper dive, or maybe 10:00, for example). And to keep your power up while climbing, you will generally have to adjust the prop pitch back closer to 12:00. Cruising and level flight, just make sure that you check it every now and then to make sure that the rpms haven't dropped off, or are running too high (at or past the little red mark at 2,600 is not good if you let that happen for too long, and you should never go past 3,000 rpms, ever.)

If it wasn't your rpms and prop pitch, it could be something like one of your two radiators being closed (the oil and water radiators, oil being the yellow knob lever by the throttle, and water being the spinwheel on the right side of the cockpit below the pitot heater button).

If it's not one of those things, then I'm at a loss. I do know what you are talking about - the same thing happened to me a lot when I was first starting to learn to fly the 109 and 110. I'm not sure what exactly causes it, but since I learned to control the prop pitch better, I haven't seen that effect since *crossing my fingers*

Hope you figure it out!

Doc
Apr-08-2012, 03:32
Perhaps this is oversimplifying it a bit but try to fly with the throttle wide open and only use pp to control RPM. Watch RPM and speeds in various situations and always take something from every sortie until you get use to sound of engine at varying RPM's.

Once you acquire the ear for it then actually watching it / looking at it is not needed.

When you start to hear it, feel the engagements and just see it all from a sort of 3 dimensional way all while tangling with an antagonist then you are really honing your abilities. But keep trying.

Fly online and don't become discouraged. Flying online with others that have a wide range of skill sets as often as you can will build your skills and confidence.

Master the mind first the plane second. Always keep coming back. Be persistent. Sooner than you think you will be flying from takeoff to landing without any problems.

Doc

Herr-B
Apr-08-2012, 05:46
Thanks for the advice guys. Don't worry, not disheartened with the online mishaps and I'm definitely learning every time.

CanvasKnight
Apr-08-2012, 10:53
Doc is right. You have to change throttle too - cruising you'll want your ata somewhere around 1.0-1.1, not maxed out. Prop pitch is fine-tuning, and won't do the job of your throttle. I assumed that was well known, but its good to cover all bases. You definitely shouldn't fly around at full throttle all the time - not if you want your fuel to last you the full 90 minutes that it should and your engine to last.

Herr-B
Apr-08-2012, 13:25
Thanks again, I'll experiment next time I'm on.

OK, prop pitch seemed to be the problem, I've just been flying over England for what must be an hour with no vibration issues. :dthumb: