Free PT6A Training Material

[MX Trainer]

I have been following several topics the last while and have decided that there is so much mis-information about this engine that I thought I would put together some documents to help with both maintenance and flight peoples - and those armchair pundits that post total rubbish regarding the engine operation.

My friends told me I should sell this info - but I know how that works - In Canada I make 1 sale - and from then on it gets "Shared". In the US - it just gets hacked. Overseas - it gets a little politer hacking - is "Politer" actually a word??

So in the spirit of things I have decided the quickest way to get this stuff out would be to use the Creative Commons approach - if you don't know what that is then Google is your friend.

The link below is to my website and will open showing 3 documents - they are all free for the downloading. They are all PDF documents so all you need is the Acrobat Reader to access them.

They are all based on the small / medium engine series of the PT6 - so up to about the 40 series.

One is on the operation of the Bendix FCU - I have literally built the FCU on paper.

Another one is on rigging the engine.

The third one is a descriptive set of notes on how the engine control system operates.

These might help with understanding and maintaining the engine

- but remember

These are Not OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS and are FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Download them - share them - give them away to your favorite friends - I have relinquished all control of the documents so you can use them in your own training department - or self study - or just to make your computer look smart when someone drops by to see what you are doing.

I had a lot of fun developing these - and after 40 years in the aviation maintenance and maintenance training business I thought it was time to give something back. It's a bit late for Christmas - but here is a present from me to you.

File Catalog - FreeBee (http://freebee.ucoz.com/load)

Best wishes for a great and accident free 2013!!

[Tinstaafl]

What a wonderful thing to do.

[JammedStab]

MX Trainer.....It's guys like you that........

Are awesome to help spread knowledge. Finally after all these years.

Suggested next projects...

Rolls Royce Dart. Allison 501, Pratt and Whitney JT-8D, PW100, and General Electric CF-6.

[Hueyman]

MX Trainer.. how can I thank you ?!

That is the best christmas present I could have dreamed for ;-)

Now, have to find the time to read everything, and really enter into the so called " PT6 Nation " ;)

Happy new year dudes

[JammedStab]

Hi MX trainer,

A couple of questions....Is it true that the two shafts rotate in opposite direction to each other. If so then why.

Als, I operated the -20, -27, and -28. Do you have any background on what thactual internal differences were on these engines.

Thanks

[ericferret]

The usual explanation is to counteract internal rotational torque forces.
Think contra rotating propellers.

[MX Trainer]

JammedStab

Engine internals rotate in opposite directions to reduce the torque loading on the engine mount system as noted above.

The actual differences between the engines can only be determined by the changes in parts as per the Illustrated Parts Catalog and the Service Bulletin status.

In general the -20 was a baseline engine - and was developed for both Beech and DHC.

The -27 was an upgrade to the hot section and used the new integrated governor system that did away with the "Zed" Gap governor system.

The - 28 was primarily developed for a high altitude application - and was used in the Beech King Air and the Piper Cheyenne 2 for example.

Further development of the -34 was to increase power and reliability - used in EMB 110 and in late model DHC-6.

I have added another file to the lot available by the link above. It is a simple table with the engine differences.:ok:

Hope this helps.

[Kingairdoc]

A link to your 3 documents was posted on another forum. It looked interesting so I down loaded them and started flipping through the docs. On page 3 of the Pratt & Whitney PT6A – Small Engine Control System doc is a picture of a King Air panel that I thought looked familiar. It is in fact a photo of my panel from my C90 King Air from a few years ago. I have posted it several times on the web and am glad to see that it is being used for a worthy purpose:ok:

[MX Trainer]

King Air Doc

Thanks for the info - I thought I had taken out any photos that I had not shot myself - but it looks like I missed this one??:ugh:

I was working with another person when I started this project a few years ago and this was one of the photos that they contributed - and I assumed they had taken the photo as they had access to a large number of Beech Aircraft Types.:O

I appreciate the heads up and if you are OK with it in the document then I am grateful for its' use.:ok::ok::ok:

I can modify the source file with a credit to the photo and reload it to the site if that is what you would like - or you can be like me and just offer it as a gift. The option is yours.

[avionimc]

I have added another file to the lot available by the link above. It is a simple table with the engine differences.http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif
Thank you MX!
Is it true that the PT6 was first develped in Poland (or place nearby) as an engine to warm up a cold loggers cabin? And, what does "PT" stands for?

[ericferret]

You would have thought that all engines of this type would use the contra rotating system however the Turbomeca Turmo PT and FT both rotate the same way.
More than one way to skin a cat I suppose.

[AES]

@MX Trainer,

I join all the others above in thanking you for an EXCELLENT piece of work (OK, 4 pieces of work!) which are 1st Class and clearly not a 5 min job!

All downloaded successfully (for my own use) and thanks comments löeft on your website.

All the best for 2013.

[JammedStab]

What about the PW100. Is there any contra-rotation of shafts in that engine?

[MX Trainer]

@ avionimc - I have heard a lot of diffent things about the design origin of the PT6 but a logging camp stove has never crossed my path!!!

The "PT" part stands for Propeller Turbine. The engine is also made as a "ST" engine - which is a Shaft Turbine. Used in helicopters - trains - snowblowers - trucks - boats - pumps - and cars. The "TwinPac" in the Bell 212 was unique in it's day as the combining gearbox - normally made by the airframe manufacturer -was made by the engine manufacturer.

As a side note - my understanding for the reverse flow design was that P&W wanted to be able to retrofit the existing piston engine fleet by having the ability to produce a firewall forward installation that was completely independent. Thus the forward exhaust system requires no modifications to the airframe like the transition tubes etc for rear exhaust engines.

One of the dumbest designs was the placement of the landing lights on the Twin Otter - Yup right behind the stacks!!:rolleyes::rolleyes:


@ JammedStab The P&W 119 engine I know for sure has different directions for spinning the rotating groups.
Engine is a triple shaft - 2 spool engine.
High Pressure group - Clockwise rotation
LP Group - Counterclockwise rotation
Free Turbine group - clockwise rotation

FYI - a "spool consists of a turbine and a compressor. Turbofan engines often consider the Fan section a spool as the inboard blades are considered to be the first stage compressor. For some reason they don't consider a propeller in the same light.

[JammedStab]

Thanks MX Trainer. There is very little technical information about the PW100on the internet(hint hint).

I am curious what PWC did to make the PT6-28 engine different from the -27for the high altitude capability.

Hope I am not asking too many questions. It is just that I flew the DHC-6 with the -27 and the King Air with the -28(I think out BE-99 had it as well) and always wondered what the real difference was internally.

[MX Trainer]

JammedStab

Sorry for the delay - have been a bit busy last couple of weeks.

AFAIK - the -28 had an uprated compressor with more airflow - an uprated hot section - and was operated with more torque than the -27. Also I seem to remember that the compressor bleed valves were also different. Part of the upgrade was for higher altitude performance but also for increased airflow for bleed air used for heating and pressurization purposes. I don't have access to anyone at Pratt that is in the know any more so this is the best I can do. Hopefully it is enough or someone who has more experience with the engine than I do can explain further.

As for the P&W 100 series engine - I have a pile of stuff for it - from Dash 8 - EMB Brazzie - D328 etc. but the problem is that it is still a production engine and probably more important all the training materials I have developed were for specific companies and as such are subject to copy-write issues. Thus it is not easy to just dump them onto the internet - even for free!! Some companies like "Flight Safety" are fully aware of how much of their stuff gets ripped off and until you have actually had to sit in front of a computer for years producing manuals and training material you have no idea as to how much work - and money - it takes to do this. Now if someone wants to hire me to do a set of free manuals I come pretty reasonable but I think you would be very surprised at the end cost.

A small aircraft course - say something like the Beech 1900D - will cost in the neighborhood of about $35,000.00 Cdn. to have produced by someone like me. If I was to see that material offered for sale on the internet or even given away for free; as the owner of the material I would be a little more than upset.

On that note - if I can find a set of very old training documents in my archive I might be able to make a P&W 100 manual into a digital file without a lot of work. But it is going to depend on where the source material came from. If I can use it without copy-right infringement then I will put it up for everyone.

Hope this answers a couple of your questions.

[Kingairdoc]

Are the 4 documents that you posted last fall still available? The link does not seem to work. They have become popular on BeechTalk Turbine Forum. I have been passing them along to others. Hope that is OK. If so, a new link to them would be of great use. Thanks for your hard work.

[MX Trainer]

I did up another website for the downloads - hopefully this one will withstand the assaults from hackers and spammers.:ugh:

New site is File Catalog - FreeBee (http://freebee.ucoz.com/load)

In addition I have uploaded a couple more files as well that might be of interest.

[777Alzheimer]

I have done 10 aircraft ground schools over thirty years from Fokker F27 to B777, covering the RR Dart, JT8D, RB211 and CFM56.
Your PT6A is by far the most lucid explanation of a fuel system I have seen.

[napalm747]

I am curious what kind of software can be used to make detailed drawings of the FCU system like the ones P&WC puts out in their training manuals. Does anyone know what software could be used to make such drawings and also maybe animate them to explain how the system works? AutoCad? Other programs? What would be the best?

[MX Trainer]

napalm747

Almost any graphics program can be used.

From Wiki: Technical professionals and technical illustrators may use technical graphic software that might allow for stylized effects with more emphasis on clarity and accuracy and little or no emphasis on creative expression and aesthetics. For this reason, the results are seldom referred to as "art." For designing or technical illustration of synthetic physical objects, the software is usually referred to as CAD or CADD, Computer-Aided Design (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-Aided_Design) and Drafting. This software allows for more precise handling of measurements and mathematical calculations, some of which simulate physics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics) to conduct virtual testing of the models. Aside from physical objects, technical graphic software may include software for visualizing concepts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept), manually representing scientific data, visualizing algorithms, visual instructions, and navigational aids in the form of information graphics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_graphics). Specialized software for concept maps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map) may be used for both technical purposes and non-technical conceptualizing, which may or may not be considered technical illustration.

List of software from Wiki:

3D computer graphics software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_graphics_software)

I have seen everything from a simple "gif" file to elaborate "Flash" presentations used. It all depends on what software the person doing the task likes to use.

Many very good 2D drawings with some 3D effects can be accomplished using something like "Photoshop" programs.

CAD(D) programs can be used as well - but often is hard to get the same result as from a 3D animation program - steep learning curve for the CAD systems but some of the stuff that is rendered from the CAD drawings is impressive.

Of course back in the old days this was all done with an industrial drawing artist and some of those drawings are really nice to look at - as far as I am concerned they are "Artwork".