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Info on C152 and when to use carb heat.

See pg 4-7   C-152 manual ( abbreviated )

Carb heat is a must in most all the Cessna's and Cub , when pulling the power back below 1700 rpm. Carb icing happens pretty fast  in these planes at about any air temp due to the venturi effect of the particular carb's used.  I've seen two planes ( C-150 & 152 ) on downwind loose their engine and the folks flying the plane luckily survive an embarrassing pasture landing at the airport I flew and worked at when young. Cause was forgetting to use carb heat, both had flown Pipers and Beechcraft where this was not required. Again an important reminder to always use a checklist no matter how proficient you are in a plane.

Knowing how important it is in these planes is the only reason I was curious of  it being modeled in the sim.  Maybe it will later, I'm sure some folks who have flown a bunch of Cessnas in the real world will say something.

I am sure this sim is really nice, this was a me moment in watching the video and noticing carb heat was left cold on final approach ( that is all ) ---    

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I had that kind of carb on my A-75 in my Chief.  Whether carb heat was needed or not depended on the humidity and air temps.  There were a couple of times where I didn't use it and it started running a little rough.  It's not like it goes from running well to stopped, so there's time to apply it when needed. 

Unlike a vapor lock.  My Chief had a fuel gauge from a Model A car.  The kind with a cork float.  The face of it was yellowed with age and the glass was getting frosted so I looked around and found a new one (there are lots of Model A parts out in the world...who knew?).  When I took the old one out, it was loose in its housing.  I thought that was odd.  I put the new one in snugly and started flying again.  A few weeks later, on a local scenic flight, my engine started running a little rough, then smoothed out.  I climbed for altitude.  Then it stopped.  Just dead stopped.  No more fan blowing in the front.  Very quiet.  I declared an emergency at the closest airport, which was towered, and glided to the runway and landed.  Pushed the plane over to the nearest A&P shop at the airport and he did some tests.  Turns out the fuel tank vent was clogged and someone who had owned the plane in the past never fixed it.  They just loosened the fuel gauge so it could work as a vent.  🙂

The joys of antique aircraft!

Anyway, the A2A folks built an external system for FSX/P3D that would model carb icing very nicely.  I hope they will do the same for this sim.  Sibwings did as well.  The An-2 Colt I used to fly a ton in P3D would carb ice at the drop of a hat, particularly in the Pacific NW or BC or Alaska.  That was nice.  Those guys made great sim aircraft.  Sad they went out of business. 

Edited by WWGriphos
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I remember when you bought that plane Griph. I did not know you had lost the engine in flight in that aircraft---- man, that incident could have been a lot worse and I am glad it wasn't. In our area the pitot tube as well as the fuel vents will once in a while if the aircraft is not flown often get what we call

"dirt dobbers " to start to build their clay nest in them. We also get blackbird ( starlins ) that will try to build nest inside the front cowling on the engine and also in the tail section to the back of the elevators.  Aren't you glad you don't have to preflight in these sims. ( or do you ??? )😁

 

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I pulled some dirt dauber larvae behind some hardened clay out of the wing fuel vent during pre-flight on the CTLS one time.  It was a good catch, as I wouldn't have liked to have had to glide down in that one  Not a very good glider.  Of course it has a parachute rig, but I wouldn't have wanted to use that either.   

At least my Chief had those old low-aspect wings on it.  I probably glided close to 7 miles that time its engine quit, and I had plenty of height still when I got to the runway.  I had to side-slip it a bit.

I've had the pitot tube stick closed on the Chief a few times.  It had that little flap that the air was supposed to open.  It's weird to fly a landing pattern without knowing your airspeed, but it's actually not that hard to tell when you're at the right speed, if you listen to the wind and the plane.  I had the engine quit on it one other time when I turned from downwind to base at a different little airport nearby.  I think that was probably the same issue, but I didn't figure it out that time.  I pushed it from the runway to the apron and opened the hood to see if I could see the problem, and then I opened the gas cap to check I really had gas and the gauge wasn't stuck, and then I started it back up and flew home.  Opening the fuel cap cleared the lock, of course.  I was a dummy not to realize the problem then.  The plane came with a cap without a vent, and I just thought it was supposed to be that way and it was vented some other way (without ever remotely suspecting it was "vented" by having the fuel gauge screwed in very loosely!).  There were small holes in the filler neck, and I thought those were the vents.  But those were what got clogged.  I flew out of a grass strip that was mostly dirt in the summer and the fuel cap was low on the side of the fuselage.  The A&P said those weren't vents anyway.  It should have a vented cap.  Doh!  It's not like it came with a manual.  It was built in 1946! 

I sure miss that Chief. 

I also had to land in a pasture once in a C172.  I'd forgotten to fill up at a last stop when I was out field hopping from one EAA gathering to another.  I may have had enough fuel to make it to the nearest airport when I realized I was low, but it was Austin Bergstrom, and I didn't have enough to go anywhere else.  I didn't want to try to land at a Class Charlie airport with maybe not enough gas.  I had the kids with me.  So I put it down in a field near a highway and called Lisa from a nearby house and she came and got me and we went to the airport to get gas.  🙂

On the landing rollout, I saw a ditch across the pasture up ahead of me that I hadn't noticed from the air, but luckily, it was near the start of the rollout, so I goosed the throttle and hopped it and then rolled out to a stop.  So, even tricycle geared aircraft can do rough field landings! 

That's about it, I think, for exciting flight adventures (other than some scud running on a few cross-countries).  And I swear I have never flown under any bridges in real life!!! 

Edited by WWGriphos
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