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Real Air Duke - Icing


GDALE14853

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Hi,

 

I have the RealAir Beech Duke piston twin, and It's about my favourite GA twin to fly in FSX. I have had one or two issues, though, in weather conditions that could be expected to produce icing. I have suffered progressive power loss, as though air intakes icing up, but have been unable to find any control for 'Hot Air to intakes'. Does the Duke have such a thing, or how else should I recover from the power-loss issue?

 

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No engine deicing switches in the cockpit? How about hitting the h key?

 

From the aircraft.cfg:

 

 

[deice_system]

structural_deice_type=3 //0 = None, 1 = Heated Leading Edge, 2 = Bleed Air Boots, 3 = Eng Pump Boots

 

I did find these switches in the cockpit for Pitot tube heat and deicing.

 

Deice.JPG

Edited by mrzippy

Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer!  ✈️

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Try something such as "alternate air." Turbine engine might have heated intakes, but on fuel injected piston engines it's typically just alternate (carb heat is only for carburetors). I don't know how it's configured in that aircraft, but the above should help.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Yeah, I found the various de-icing switches etc, and Pitot heat certainly works OK, as in icing conditions I soon lost Airspeed indication without Pitot Heat On! The 'Defrost Air' did not appear to be a cure for my loss of power, though! Still experimenting.:) Not yet tried the 'h' key - next time up!
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Have you tried prop heat? This normally cures the power problem with fuel injected engines in FSX/P3D.

 

If encountering actual icing conditions I would use all of the de/anti-icing equipment available.

 

Defrost air doesn't belong to the de-icing equipment.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
Flight out of Stornoway using AS16 weather (real-time) IFR instructed climb to 7000, pitot iced up as entered cloud, switched on all deicing, continued climb, power started decreasing steadily till could no longer maintain altitude, dropped like a stone to about 3000 before power came back! Castigated by ATC! Climb again, got to 7000 but started losing power again! abandoned flight! Guess the Prop Heat isn't curing my power loss in icing conditions after all!:(
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Power loss due to icing can be prevented by switching on Carb Heat - there'll be a switch or a pull lever on the lower panel for it somewhere.

 

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Well before I start to experience the power loss I get Pitot icing if I've not put the heat switch on for that. Since it doesn't really cause any immediate problem I usually leave it to give me a first indication of icing conditions, and start anti-icing as soon as it appears! The only thing I've been unable to find in the Real Air Duke with respect to anti-icing is any kind of control for Engine Air-intake heating! The Duke has a few pull levers on lower panel for control of various air controls but all seem to relate to cabin air. When my plane is dropping out of the sky with hardly any power available, I've had a go at pretty near any control I thought might have an effect. It just baffles me that I haven't found a cure yet! I have never flown a real-time Duke, (had a very nice trip in a Beech Duchess once), but surprised not to be able to find a control of some sort for anti-icing of air intakes.:confused:
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GDALE..As Mr. Z stated earlier, what happened when you depress the "H" key??. I found that the default Mooney loses power in icing conditions and the only correction is the H key; not prop deice, not pitot heat..nada. It's not mentioned anywhere except it's the toggle for "Alternate Air" in the key assignments. In fuel injected engines, that's what's required IRL.

Please let us know how that works for you..

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Well before I start to experience the power loss I get Pitot icing if I've not put the heat switch on for that. Since it doesn't really cause any immediate problem I usually leave it to give me a first indication of icing conditions, and start anti-icing as soon as it appears! The only thing I've been unable to find in the Real Air Duke with respect to anti-icing is any kind of control for Engine Air-intake heating! The Duke has a few pull levers on lower panel for control of various air controls but all seem to relate to cabin air. When my plane is dropping out of the sky with hardly any power available, I've had a go at pretty near any control I thought might have an effect. It just baffles me that I haven't found a cure yet! I have never flown a real-time Duke, (had a very nice trip in a Beech Duchess once), but surprised not to be able to find a control of some sort for anti-icing of air intakes.:confused:

 

Incorrect operation for ANY kind of heat: Apply application at first sign of power loss, leave on until leaving the area.

Boost pumps should be ON at any ambient temperature below 32 degrees.

It's in the manual, which is not optional!

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A quick test that I use to do is to sit and stare at the panel and press shift plus h or just the h key on my keyboard and watch to see any panel switches move😁

Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer!  ✈️

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there is no switch or lever for 'Carb Heat' on the panel in VC or 2D as far as I can tell!

 

If we're still talking about the Duke, there won't be carb heat, since it has fuel injected engines. But there should be a control, perhaps under the panel, for alternate air. Maybe the 'H' key would work, as Zippy suggests.

 

Does that Real Air Duke come with an operator's manual? Perhaps something under emergency procedures would give a clue?

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Cowl flaps won't do much for icing/power loss, and they should be open for taxiing, takeoff and climb, though once at cruise they should be closed until either you're climbing again or you're on the ground. They do, of course, affect engine temperature (not intake air so much, though), and they are primarily to keep the engine from getting too hot and causing engine damage, as well as allowing you to (along with power management) keep them from cooling too fast and causing engine damage.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Added drag, while it slows you down some, isn't power loss. There might be some slight power loss from the engine temp not being optimized, but not that would match what I understood the OP to say. Of course misuse of the cowl flaps in real life would cause engine damage, which could, indeed, cause power loss.

 

And who is GDALE14853?

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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So it is -- I thought your reference was to a post someone else made, but forgot the specific OP ID -- sorry 'bout that. I gotta pay more attention, but sometimes forget folks' ID that I don't see very often.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Thanks to all you guys for your help. Sure enough, the 'H' key cures the power loss!:) I'm so used to looking to the panel for the appropriate control, and I 'fly' the sim with full yoke, quadrants and pedals, I forget that sim flying has a whole host of commands by keyboard input that I very rarely actually use!

At least now I can stop falling out of the sky in cold clouds! I've set a switch on quadrant for Engine de-ice as well:)

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