Swiss Alps Gliding: Problematic Engine Retraction with Arcus-M
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- This season, the weather is nothing to write home about. We had ONE day of somewhat better conditions and Silvio and I decided to give it a go. Given the (even more difficult compared to last weeks flight) weather, we needed to deploy the engine several times to avoid landing early - which is a nice feature of the Arcus-M. The Third engine retraction turned into the 'retraction from hell'.
Instead of the 25 seconds to retract the engine after finishing the cooling down procedure, it took 130 seconds (while having this huge air-resistance out), and we lost almost 300 meters after turning off the engine. This resulted in being 200 meters below the Mattstock peak and we were not able to connect with the thermals and had to deploy the engine a fourth time...
To boot, Silvio on his first ever Arcus flight, got really sick given the engine gas fumes (pretty strong at the Arcus rear seat) and after we finally managed to climb using a weak thermal, we had to quit and land.
Glider: Arcus-M HB2500
CoPi: Silvio B. (aka DXhunter)
Camera: Insta460 One X2
editing SW: Insta360 Studio + Premiere Elements 2020
flight: www.onlinecont...
The most important advantage of an electric motor is that if the battery is charged, the motor will always start and can be relied on. Although for two-seater gliders such as the Arcus-E this is more difficult to achieve due to imperfect batteries, which is probably why this glider is exotic and most Arcus pilots prefer the old school Solo engine.
Apparently (so I heard), the Antares 20E has the same reliability as a self launcher with a solo engine. The main advantage of the Antares is that when it fails, it mostly does this on ground. Once in the air, the Antares-20E engine is much more reliable than a combustion one.
@@ronaldglider Thank you for telling me. I wish that the discussion of risks and technologies used would not be perceived as criticism of any particular glider manufacturer.
Hi Ronald. A "simple" retraction failure like this one shows just how quickly the workload and mental requirements on the pilot increase as you are trying to fly the plane while debugging the situation. Thanks for the video lesson.
Thanks, Henry - my pleasure!
Nothing beats an Antares 20E😊 Maybe a pure glider without any engine😎
Sooooo true. I would buy one if it weren't for A.L.'s reputation.
Great flight, Ronald! What fuel do you use 8:30? If AVGAS 100 LL, it contains tetraethyl plumbum as an anti-detonation additive ad its dangerous for health. There are more environmentally friendly alternatives UL91, MoGas.
We use regular unleaded car gas (In Europe called Bleifrei 98) with 2% added high quality oil (two stroke engine needs this mix). Someone told me that the 98 gas contains a small amount of alcohol, which causes the smell.
@@ronaldglider Alcohol-ethanol, used as an anti-detonation additive. This is the topic of my first university research paper.
@@AndrewBashtovoy Cool!
@@ronaldglider Ethanol as well as oil in mixtures with gasoline are prone to liquation, i.e. heavy fractions settle down and light fractions up and the mixture becomes heterogeneous over time, therefore it is better to prepare the mixture anew before each flight or to mix it thoroughly.
One more hint : If you decide to move the Prop towards the Prop stopper ( Arcus 2 / Ventus 3 ) or the first Magentic Sensor ( Arcus 1 ) you dont need too put the Yellow Ignition button in the ILEC to extend/ON as you said...
So if you decide to use the Starter to move the prop towards the retract position , keep the ignition down otherwise you might overshoot the retract position because if you put the the ignition back on you will release the engine Brake / Prop Stopper...
You dont have to worry that the starter breaks something when you have the ignition on OFF. It is slowed down ( Makes a weird sound but thats normal )!
Thanks for the hint. I did not know this. I did try the starter with igniton off, but nothing happened... Apparently I should have pushed the starter button longer. I appreciate your help!
Regularly training for the 5 various scenarii for the engine helps to better understand the logics of ECU. In this case, the propeller stopper seems not to have lifted, whereas stopping the propeller vertically seems a nightmare. Prob. Cause: You may have accidentally hit briefly the pilon manual up/down switch, neutralizing the automated procedure. I find it if faster to start the engine again for a few seconds to reset the ECU in such case rather than struggling with prop brake. You may also flip the yellow ignition switch up/down to see if the prop finger stop lifts again.
Thanks for the hints. I _really_ like the *restart engine again to reset the ECU* idea!
I checked the video: I did not accidentally hit the manual up/down switch. I did think that I did this, until I saw the video that shows I did not. This engine has no propeller-stopper, only a brake operated thru a solenoid or manually (and two Hall sensors to determine the propeller position). I did use the yellow ignition switch, which did not help.
I find lift then shut down. Why shut down with no lift?
Well, I found lift, climbed additional 100 meters, lost 300m for shutdown instead of expected 100m...
Arcus M owner here (original version). As someone says - the most likely reason to see manual mode is if you touch the manual up/down switxh. To go back to auto you don't need to restarr the engine,. instead turn the ignition on and off again, then press the white button. To move the prop with the ignition off hold your finger on the starter button until 15 degrees before vertical. If you have to use the manual prop brake it should be possible to stop the prop vertical more quickly than that - but you don't have a hand for the stick! And it is difficult to know whether the prop is close enough to vertical.
THanks! - Even better advice! _Ignition on then off, _*_press white button_*
Where is the Problem? If you lost too much altitude, start the engine again.
that is what we ended up doing.... The problem is that this should not happen in the first place. *Never* had such issues in the Antares 20E...
@@ronaldglider I know the issues about the Arcus... When this happened start the engine for short time again, normally it works bey the second trey. This problem you had also not in a shark MS.
@@mathiasrodel7683 I now know this for the next time...