Originally Posted by
Cravenmorehead
Harry what a great post and excellent answer. Tippy top.
I flew B200s in the late 80's and 90's and was lucky enough to amass 5000 hours on them. I never flew one with the Raisbeck mod. We always used or activated the autofeather function I am not sure even if the MEL allowed the aircraft to be dispatched with it U/S. I am pretty sure it was never a issue, because as you said the system is pretty robust.
Even one of the requirements to take advantage of the Take-off minima of ceiling zero feet; and 550m or 800m vis is dependent on operative autofeather, for that safety factor.
The operator on the type I fly now include a check in the emergency recall to confirm autofeather. It should happen....just checking....you never know.....you know!!!! Nothing is full proof in other words.
Simulators are great tools for training on the effects of engine failures etc. I would be nice to see a cost effective generic simulator established that can demonstrate the issues that you described.
Craven.
Thanks Craven. Yes you are correct, systems fail and usually right at the point when you need them most. The Phase 1 checks for the current(ish) model B200 include "Verify Autofeather Operation" for just that scenario during an engine failure on takeoff.
Simulators are an amazing device for such training as long as they are relevant to the equipment you operate. Please correct me if I am wrong but the only B200 sim in Oz at the moment is the one at the Ansett Training Centre in Melbourne and while a great device it only simulates a 3 bladed -41 engined machine, not really relevant I would think to 90% of the operators in this country, with flight dynamics that nowhere near mirror a machine with draggy 4 bladed props. This perhaps leads to a false sense of security regarding the initial climb performance of the B200 when guys do get given such failures and are able to climb away with relative ease, with the focus being just fly the flight director and you'll get the performance you need. Once the new Level D sims are up and running this year I am sure that the training will become a lot more relevant.