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Touring Motor Gliders Association (TMGA)

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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/16/2016 in all areas

  1. I have been asked to address in-air restarts using a windmilling prop without electrical power starting capability. Rotax says that the 912 cannot be started with a windmilling prop. I have been told that this is a liability related answer. So I will use the profound wisdom of Rotax, and also state that you can not restart the Rotax 912 by windmilling the prop. Got it? Ok good, now on to reality. I have tested windmill starting my Phoenix 4 or 5 times back in 2010 or 2011. I started it successfully each time. If the engine is warm, i.e., just shut down, then a dive of "only" 80kts was sufficient to rotate the prop fast enough to start the engine, losing about 800'. On other occasions with varying degrees (sorry) of cold engines, I have had to dive the Phoenix at over 100kts to start the engine. Do you know what a 100kt dive looks like? Well it is practically straight down, and the vertical speed is horrendous. It is easy to eat up 2000 feet of altitude during this maneuver. There is absolutely no way I would want to attempt this below 3000' instead of gliding to a suitable field or airport to make a forced landing. So when do I anticipate needing to do a windmill start? I am reluctant to use the term "never" but I cannot think of a time when I would need to do this rather than gliding to a safe landing.
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