ERJ Sim question
 

i'm at flight safety in the erj-145 sim getting ready for my checkride thats in 3 days. tonight was a review of single engine operations. in the past me and my partner have had no real problems with the whole single engine ops thing. tonight i was doing good for about an hour and then we were reset for another take off for a v1 cut. after the cut i could not control the plane. i was getting into nasty dutch rolls with and without the YD. i would keep everything coordinated and limit thrust changes and nothing would give. the same thing happened to my partner after about an hour in. the instructor was frustrated and so were we. intially we thought it was pilot induced but even the instructor was saying something had to be wrong with the sim. has anyone ever had anything simlilar happen to them??? i know these full motion sims are full of bugs...

Sounds like the sim... They break as much as they are expensive. If you didn't have a problem in the past, don't worry about it now. Either that, or you and your sim partner both had a bad day on the same maneuver. Which sounds more pleasible to you???

First of all, never try to engage the Yaw Damper flying the ERJ with an engine out. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's an aircraft limitation to not use the YD on single engine.

After the engine fails, use whatever rudder is necessary to hold the exact runway centerline and whatever aileron is necessary to hold exact wings level. This will vary depending on crosswind and engine that fails. Rotate at about half the rate of a normal takeoff while maintaining exact centerline and wings level. Now here's the key: once you become airborne, LOCK YOUR LEG and use aileron only to keep wings level. If the yoke needs constant pressure in one direction to maintain wings level, GENTLY add rudder in the direction the yoke is pointing and then LOCK YOUR LEG again. After one or two rudder additions/subtraction, you'll have just the right amount of rudder to maintain heading with very little need for aileron input.

You absolutely cannot try to change aileron AND rudder inputs at the same time. It's almost impossible without Dutch Roll making you look like an idiot. Every sim I've ever flown has this characteristic.

Let me know if that helps.

Carl

Actually no, it is not a limitation to fly without the yaw damp single engine. Bad info. While you do need to properly trim out the airplane manually first, once it is properly trimmed you may engage the YD. Personal technique/preference as to whether you do or don't. Most of my instructors taught to engage it. I did, and it will definitely help mitigate the Dutch roll tendency, IF you trim properly first, and avoid large, rapid changes in thrust.

thanks for the input! it happened to be the sim. i guess i don't suck that bad. the inclinometer was "not responsive" and the control inputs "were lagging". the technician was able to fix it and last night went really well. tonight is the company ride and the faa ride is tomorrow night. hope the sim keeps on working.

Good deal. Best of luck.

Carl