REP Centurion How To: Startup and Takeoff

This is the first post about how to fly the Cessna T210M Turbo Centurion and safely get to your destination.

Flying an airplane powered by the Reality Expansion Pack is different than flying any other aircraft in X-Plane. Here you find some simple rules that may help you to become a better Centurion pilot.

Preflight

There are few thing that are really important during the preflight checks.
In the hangar window (Plugins->SimCoders – REP->Hangar):

1. Check that the cylinders status is ok.
2. Check the oil quantity and quality. If you see that the engine is burning too much oil (so you can’t get to the 40 hours check without refill the oil) it means that a cylinder is leaking.
3. Check the battery charge.
4. Check the tires status. A flat tire may explode during takeoff or landing

Startup and warmup

Now you’re ready to start the engine.
Turn on the battery, leave the alternator and the avionis off and be ready for priming. With the TSIO-520, you always have to prime the engine.

Follow this simple rule for priming:

1. Set the mixture lever to full rich, the RPM lever to the maximum and the throttle lever full forward.
2. Turn on the electrical fuel pump (yellow switch):
   1. If the engine is cold leave the pump on for 2-3 seconds.
   2. If the engine is warm but the CHT needle is still in against the left side of the CHT indicator, turn on the pump for 1-2 seconds
   3. If the engine is hot and the CHT needle is in the middle (or to the right) of the CHT indicator, turn on the pump for just a split of a second
3. Close the throttle and then open it of about 1 inch.
4. Engage the starter. The engine should start in 2 or 3 prop revolutions.

After the engine start, is really important to check the oil pressure. If the oil pressure is in the green arc in less than 4-5 seconds, you can turn on the alternator and check that it’s correctly working by checking the amperometer needle.

If the oil pressure does not rise and reach the green arc in few seconds, turn off the engine and inspect the oil system.

You have to wait usually up to eight minutes until both the Oil Temperature and the CHT reach the green arc (apparently the oil temp reaches the green arc before the CHT but that’s because its green arc starts at 100°F while the CHT green arc starts at 200°F).

You can take advantage of this time to setup you GPS and navigation instruments.

Taxi and Takeoff

When the engine is warm just release the brakes and start taxying. Use the toe-brakes to steer.

Before entering the runway, do the engine test by following the checklists.

While lining up with the runway turn on the landing and strobe lights, switch the transponder to ALT. Also make sure once last time that the cowl flaps are open and the mixture is set to full rich.

When ready, slowly apply full power (to avoid any overboost) and release the brakes. Once full power is applied, it is important to check the fuel flow. If it’s lower that 186pph, turn on the electrical fuel pump (yellow switch) and reduce the mixture under the red line. If it’s already too high, just reduce the mixture in order to have a fuel flow lower than the red line.

Rotate at about 70 knots and accelerate to 97kts (Vy). Raise the gear above 80kts then the flaps after reaching 500 feet AGL.

After raising the flaps, set your climbout power accordingly to the checklists (usually 25” MAP and 2500RPM or 30” MAP and 2500RPM for an high performance climb). Also, remember to turn off the fuel pump and reset the mixture as desired.