is air start possible after engine stop during flight?

there are moments when merlin engine stops abruptly during flight. prop is intact but not rotating, ampmeter shows 0, it seems the battery is dead but cockpit and landing lights are on.

i try to start engine midair, with no success. are there any instances where the engine failures are not catastrophic?

If propeller does not rotate, it means that engine is dead due to fatal failure or damage and You can not start engine again.

You can start engine during flight, if propeller is still rotating, caused by for example empty fuel tank or accidentally switched off something..

Ampmeter shows generator current only, not battery.

If i remember, engine must have 1500 R.P.M. at least to shows some current.

I'm not sure starting the engine with empty tanks is going to help :)

Interestingly, the RL Pilots Notes make no mention of engine restart. They just let you decide whether to do a dead-stick, ditch or abandon (see page 33) :-

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/mustang/P-51D-manual-5april44.pdf

I'm not sure starting the engine with empty tanks is going to help :)

 

Interestingly, the RL Pilots Notes make no mention of engine restart. They just let you decide whether to do a dead-stick, ditch or abandon (see page 33) :-

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/mustang/P-51D-manual-5april44.pdf

In the mustang, there is 3 internal tanks.

So if a tank is empty it's possible to switch to not empty tank before restart.

I think you missed the smiley ;) <-

If you run out of fuel, a restart is not required. If the prop is spinning then the mags are working. Meaning there firing with every rotation of the prop. Switch the fuel tank and get fuel to the engine and it fires right back up. No need to restart! The current 51 has some interesting issues, if the prop stops, the engine is dead regardless of why. I have encountered a bug recently where my engine losses power with no reason what so ever. Everything’s normal, just stops producing. There’s also a bug that will cause the prop to seize randomly on occasion for zero reasoning. To answer your question, yes there are instances where engine failure is not catastrophic, I have found those to usually be damage related from combat. In that case hold the starter switch in the up position and it will give you enough power to reach an airbase. If you can successfully break away from an engagement.

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If you run out of fuel, a restart is not required. If the prop is spinning then the mags are working. Meaning there firing with every rotation of the prop. Switch the fuel tank and get fuel to the engine and it fires right back up. No need to restart! The current 51 has some interesting issues, if the prop stops, the engine is dead regardless of why. I have encountered a bug recently where my engine losses power with no reason what so ever. Everything’s normal, just stops producing. There’s also a bug that will cause the prop to seize randomly on occasion for zero reasoning. To answer your question, yes there are instances where engine failure is not catastrophic, I have found those to usually be damage related from combat. In that case hold the starter switch in the up position and it will give you enough power to reach an airbase. If you can successfully break away from an engagement.

 

 

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Certain combinations of RPM and MP will cause seizure, its not random in my experience.

is air start possible after engine stop during flight?

Certain combinations of RPM and MP will cause seizure, its not random in my experience.

That is true but there is also a random bug failure. When your cruising along at max continuous everything is in the green, then suddenly “clunk” the engine seizure. Doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s very aggravating. Of coarse any time you run MP higher then the RPM you can expect it to blow. Any time you push the throttle forward to aggressively you also stand a chance of blowing it, and if you push up MP before RPM you can blow it. The bug usually strikes when your cruising along doing nothing and everything is as it should be.

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That is true but there is also a random bug failure. When your cruising along at max continuous everything is in the green, then suddenly “clunk” the engine seizure. Doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s very aggravating. Of coarse any time you run MP higher then the RPM you can expect it to blow. Any time you push the throttle forward to aggressively you also stand a chance of blowing it, and if you push up MP before RPM you can blow it. The bug usually strikes when your cruising along doing nothing and everything is as it should be.

 

 

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Oh, yeah i think i have had that happen once, but the OAT was really cold so i thought it had something to do with that.

+1