I will have an opportunity to fly a turbocharged light twin this weekend. I have never flown anything turbocharged before. I have read a litte bit about it in the Airplane Flying Handbook, but if anyone has any tips they'd like to share, I'd appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

 

That red glow in the cowling at night is nothing to worry about.

 

What type of aircraft will you be flying and I hope you will take some pictures and post them.

USMCFLYR

 

Make sure you know how the wastegate is controlled...automatic or manual?

Expect a slight turbo lag when you go from idle to high power (but not as bad as a jet).

Let the turbo spin down and cool down at idle before you stop the engine

 

It's just a turbocharged Piper Seminole that a friend has to pick up! We are going from Vegas to Spruce Creek, FL with it this weekend. I couldn't pass that one up.

I read about the waste gate obviously, but the AFH didn't really mention the manual/automatic issue. Another book I have did mention it, but didn't go into any great detail. If it's manual, how do you know when to use it? And is it an on/off switch so that it's either on or off, or can you open it a little or open it a lot as required?

I also read a bit about the fact that the turbocharged engine runs at higher temps than non-turbocharged and that a richer mixture would be required. Is that what you have noticed, and how you have dealt with the higher temperature issue?

And as you mentioned about letting it cool down at idle before stopping the engine, I read that you have to more carefully plan your descent so that you do not damage the engine from cooling stress. Any tips on that?

 

And actually, I realized I have flown a turbocharged Diamond DA-42 before, but that plane does all of the thinking for you. It only has the power levers, no mixture, props, etc. Rick's comment about letting the engine cool down prior to shutdown reminded me that we had to do that in the DA-42.

 

500FPM, keep your airspeed up to keep proper airflow, power reductions in the descent to keep your temps even, and then a 3 to 5 minute cool down.

The biggest thing is the cool down. Just don't jerk the mixtures and hop out.

Turbo's aren't the boogie monster people think they are. Fly the plane like you own it and you'll probably be ok.

 

I second what Rick said about the lag. You can't just throw them forward and expect immediate results. Also you must control your power addition carefully so as not to overboost the engines. Just takes a little bit of finesse.

 

Ahhh. That sounds like an awesome gig !

 

I think the PA-44-180T is a fairly rare aircraft... only like 86 ever made or something... pretty quick for a seminole!