HOWTO fly the Seneca II

These are basic instructions about how to fly the Seneca II in FlightGear. They should help you finding and operating all controls in the cockpit you need for a flight. You will also learn some basic maneuvers and procedures. They are based on real world flying procedures and should match reality quite close. But do not use this HOWTO as a guide for real-life flying. There are still some differences between reality and virtuality (e.g. there are no keys like 'P' and 'ESC' in real aircraft).

To follow this HOWTO, you need

The reference screenshots may help, if you are not familiar with the location of the controls:

 
Pilot's Panel
 
Co-Pilot's Panel
 
Fuel-Trim Console


Basics - VFR

 
Cockpit before start engine

To keep the beginning simple, let's start on a nice sunny day in San Francisco Intl - KSFO, FlightGear's default airport. Start your FlightGear with

fgfs --aircraft=SenecaII-jsbsim

You will be placed on KSFO runway 28R with a dead aircraft blocking the runway. In reality, you should never sit in this position without being ready for an immediate takeoff - but in our sim everything is fine here. Grab your checklist and go through the Cockpit Check and Before Start Engine lists. Your panel should look similiar to the picture on the right.

Startup, Takeoff, Straight and Level

 
Before takeoff

First of all, we have to start the engines. Once again, the checklist will help us doing the right things in the correct order. The operation of the primer is not needed in the simulation, so you can safely skip the operation of the primer here, since the engines will fire regardless of priming or not. After ignition, you have to open the throttles to let the engines run at more than 1000RPM for a short time to keep them alive. Go through the After Start Engine Check. The Taxi Check is somewhat void here, since we will not taxi. Leave the flaps up - they are not needed on this long runway. The default trim position will work fine for takeoff. When the engines are running, it's time to do the nav setup. We do a straight out departure without navaids, so just twist the heading bug to the runway heading of 280. The center dot of the attitude indicator should align with the horizon line. The Before Takeoff Check will make you set the fuel selectors to on. The clearance for our little training session is: 'Climb on runway heading to 2000ft. Maintain 2000ft until further advice.' That will also serve as a departure briefing. And in case of emergency: hit the ESC-key and restart FlightGear.

 
After takeoff

D-GEAR: cleared for takeoff runway 28R

When cleared for takeoff, advance the throttle slowly to apply 40" of manifold pressure. In reality you should only advance to 39" of manifold pressure, the remaining inch will build up on the run due to ramair. A warning light in the annunciator panel will illuminate if you exceed 40". Reduce throttle on the corresponding engine in that case to avoid engine damage. When MP is stabilized, release the parking brake (Shift-B) for the takeoff-run. Maintain the centerline and observe the airspeed indicator passing the red line (minimum control speed air) and rotate at 70knots by pulling the yoke (or joystick) a little back. When airborne, accelerate past the blue line (best rate of climb single engine) to 95knots. When the runway is not sufficient for landing anymore, retract the gear and turn off the landing lights.At 500ft above the field reduce the power to 31" manifold pressure and 2500 RPM.Accelerate to 100knots climb speed for a better engine cooling. When your workload permitts, read the After Takeoff Check.

 
Level at 2000ft

When reaching the target altitude of 2000ft, lower the nose and let the aircraft accelerate for some seconds. Adjust your pitch slowly so the vertical speed indicator shows 0fpm. Reduce the power to 28"/2400RPM. Lean the mixture a little to save some virtual fuel and get best cruise performance. Closing the cowl-flaps (use the 'Seneca' Menuitem) will give you approx. 10knots of additional airspeed. You should be now on a straight and level flight at 2000ft at some 130 knots. If you want, go to the next section or hit the 'P'-key to pause and have a coffee.

Airwork, Turns, Climbs and Decends

OK - Now let's have some fun and leave the boring straight and level thing and go for some airwork. We skip the usual clearing turn here, because we don't care about any other virtual aircraft around us.

Climbs and Decends

D-GEAR on course climb altitude 4000ft, maintain for 1 minute, thereafter decend altitude 3000ft

To climb, the aircraft needs more power and less speed. That means the engines need better cooling, so first thing to do is open the cowl flaps. Climb power will be at 75% max power. The according power setting is 32" manifold pressure and 2500RPM. When increasing power, always increase RPM first before increasing manifold pressure. Increase pitch (pull yoke backwards) and slow down to 100 knots indicated. When reaching the target altitude, level off exactly like you did after takeoff. Reduce power to 28"/2400RPM and close the cowl flaps.

After one minute start the decent. Reduce power to 21" and 2300RPM. Reduce manifold pressure before decreasing RPM. Leave the cowl flaps closed to keep the engines warm. Pitch down a few degrees to maintain a rate of decent of 500-1000 feet per minute.

Never decent with an idle engine to avoid shock-cooling and severe engine damage.

When reaching the target altitude of 3000ft, reset power to 28"/2400RPM (remember: increase RPM first), pitch up and accelerate to cruise speed.

Standard Rate Turn

The standart rate turn is defined (for slow aircraft like the Seneca) as turning with a rate of 3 degrees per second. That makes a full circle in 2 minutes. That's why some people call this a 2-minute-turn. The turn coordinator helps you in the correct timing. When the aircraft starts turning (rotate around the vertical axis), the little aircraft symbol starts to bank. When the right wing of that symbol aligns with the R marking, the aircraft turns right at exactly the 3 degrees per second rate. And it works on left turns, too. Just use the L marking and the left wing of the aircraft symbol for that.

So much for the theory - start with a 360 degree turn to the right. Bank to the right, a bank angle of 20 degrees should get you a correct rate of turn. Apply a little right rudder to make the turn coordinated and keep the ball in the turn coordinator instrument centered. Try to keep the altitude within a limit of +/- 100ft (2900-3100ft). Align the altitude with small variations of pitch. Slowly roll out 10 degrees before reaching the target heading of 280.

Stabilize heading 280 and altitude 3000ft and do the same with a left turn.

Steep Turn

This is fun! Steep turn are at 60 degrees bank angle (this is the second long marking on the attitude indicator). In reality this makes you feel the g-force and if you make it perfect, you enter you own wake turbulance when finishing the 360.

The high bank angle reduces the aircraft's lift. This will be compensated with a higher power setting - 1" more manifold pressure will do. Apply the higher manifold pressure when passing 30 degrees of bank angle. In the turn, the elevator becomes more a rudder. Pulling the yoke increases the rate of turn. Adjust the bank angle with the ailerons. Adjust the altitude with the bank angle. Reduce the bank angle when altitude decreases and increase bank angle when the altitude increases. Do not pull the elevator when you loose altitude. That will make things worse.

Now start again with a steep turn to the right. Bank to the right - at 30 degrees bank angle set manifold pressure to 29". Continue increasing the bank angle and pull the yoke. In reality, you need some force here and you feel the increased weight of you body. Keep an eye on the attitude indicator and the altimeter. Try to maintain altitude within +/- 100ft and bank angle of 60 degrees. Roll out on heading 250, reduce manifold pressure to 28" and settle on heading 280 altitude 3000ft. Do the same to the left.

Slow Flight

Stalls

Approach and Landing

Timed Traffic Pattern, Touch and Go, Go Around

Advanced - IFR

Preparing

Flying a SID

Entering and flying the holding

Flying the Approach

Flying the Missed Approach

Abnormal Procedures

Engine Failure

Engine Failure During Takeoff

Engine Failure Enroute

Single Engine Go Around

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