Flying Turboprops

[DoinTime]

You are going to set torque for all of your power needs. Different phases of flight will require changes in prop RPM but this is no different than a piston prop aircraft. Sometimes people use ITT to set a cruise or climb power setting but this is generally frowned upon. T/props are a ton of fun to fly and you will never use the word "unable" again.

 

[DoinTime]

The above post was for using the General Electric CT-7. I should have clarified.

 

[ifly4food]

On a Brasilia, with P&W 118 engines you use T6 (EGT) in the climb, keeping the temps below 720 and torque below 84%. In other phases of flight, cruise is set by torque with props at 85%. In the approach phase, a good rule of thumb is to take the speed you want, subtract 100 and divide by 2.

Example: assigned 210Kt... 110/2= 55% torque.
Works like a charm.

I like to tell people the Brasilia only has two power settings: full power and flight idle!

 

[pilotyip]

Allison T-56/D-501

If you flew the Allison T-Prop you only has one lever per engine like a jet. Prop had no speed control in flight and always run at 1028 RPM and the go lever just changed the torque. You flew Shaft Horse Power as your primary power setting. Power setting when you lost an engine, just double what you neeeded on two engine and put it on one. Airplane flew the same. The CV-580 had more power on one D-501 than it did on two PW-2800's awesome flying mochine.

 

[Cornelius]

Some TPs have their torque gages in lb-ft instead of percent torque. There is no difference in setting power, just that you may be using numbers in the thousands. Once you set a torque and rpm, usually you don't have to worry about changing anything until you reach another segment in your flight. Usually the biggest limitations to the TP are Temp and Torque. At low altitudes and moderate temps, you are limited by max torque. At high altitude airports and high temps, you are limited by Max Engine Temp. Torque does decrease as you climb and your engine temp also goes down. The 1900d after takeoff, you decrease your torque about 300 lbs and then bring the props from full forward Max rpm back to 1550 rpm. Like in a piston aircraft, when you bring your prop lever back, you will see a rise in torque. You don't move the prop lever until you land at least in the 1900D. Pretty easy. Some TPs have a ram rise during takeoff that you need to consider and the PNF may have to readjust torque around 80 KIAS or so.

Hope this helps.

 

[Freight Dog]

In Dash 8 and we have PW121 engines, we also use takeoff torque predicated on airport analysis charts and go with reduced torque settings for takeoff. However, during climbout, we set the torques and PRPM settings at 90% and 900rpm and fly the desired airspeed which is usually 160kts in climb.

Having come from flying a turbocharged twin to a turboprop, I found turboprops to be way easier simply because you dont worry about stage-cooling. It's nice to be able to keep 200+ kts till 4 miles out and be able to fully configure and make a normal stabilized approach and landing at 100 kts.

 

[bobbysamd]

Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual book review

I got mine today and have leafed through it briefly. Excellent book with good diagrams. Well written. The first couple of chapters on general preparations discuss such things as hiring, unions, CRM and preparing for class, and is valuable information. The book discusses systems, weather and the like, and has some great rules-of-thumb.

Excellent book with some great tips.

 

[Timebuilder]

Hey, sounds like I need to purchase the newest edition. Thanks.