On 18 Dec 2003 16:38:47 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

DUDLEY HENRIQUES SAID ;

"Bull ****! This is a constant speed prop. RPM is a
set value. The RPM can be set at 3000 and the
manifold pressure can be anywhere between 15 inches
and 61 inches, and it's the manifold pressure
combined with the set RPM that will determine the
power.....NOT the RPM!!! Are you trying to tell
me that the rotational (energy) of a propeller is
the same at 15 inches as it is at 61?".
-D Henriques

I think he may be discussing an engine pulling 61" of mercury at a constant
speed of zero RPM. (guffaw)

Arthur Kramer

Despite the somewhat pre-pubescent banter between two apparent adults
who appear to either have dosage problems with their medication or
simply are descending into dotage, I will note the complexity of the
conventional engine which is something that I never was able to
fathom.

In one of the darkest periods of my military career, I was forced to
check out in the T-29 for "support flying" during a headquarters tour
at Randolph AFB. As a jet type, I knew that the lever(s) on the left
of my chair controlled perspective--push forward the houses get
smaller, pull back, they get larger again. There also seemed to be
some linkage to the airspeed indicator as well.

The T-29, however, placed the levers on the wrong side of my chair and
also put them in a cluster with a bunch of other levers with small
colored balls on top and cryptic letters. Instead of nice simple
engine limitations like a fixed exhaust gas temperature or maximum
percent RPM, they gave me some sort of arcane formula that included
not only RPM (which I understood) but manifold pressure (which I
didn't) and in the case of the T-29, something called Torque Oil
Pressure as well as mixture controls.

It seemed that whenever I thought I knew what I wanted, the instructor
pilot or the flight mechanic would slap my hand away from the
throttles, which I had always assumed I owned after saying "I have the
airplane."

The idea that if I wanted to climb, I couldn't simply push the
throttles forward, but also had to do something, in some sequence or
other with the props, the mixture and some other gadgetry was simply
too complex.

On my pilot qual check, I kept pushing the throttles up for
go-arounds, only to have the flight mech pull them back. When I got to
the single-engine exercises, I simply pushed the good engine up, well
short of max, to a minimum controllable power setting and then
finessed the airplane through the climbout. Should have busted the
check for lack of engine knowledge, but they passed me on condition
that I would never fly with passengers (oh, darn!) and that I would
never again touch the engine controls. I simply would ask the flight
mech for more or less power.

I don't know how you old guys did it!