Pushback for small planes

I either can power up and pull out, or I have to push it back on my
own. Depends on how the aircraft is parked. Noone has ever pushed it
back for me.

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 23:14:47 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

In simulation, I note that I'm apparently expected to have my plane
pushed back from its parking place before I start the engines and
taxi, judging from the way the aircraft are parked (with very little
room to turn around on their own). Are real small aircraft tugged and
pushed back, or do you just start the engines and move out under your
own power?


Mike Alexander
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
See my online aerial photo album at
http://flying.4alexanders.com

Mxsmanic wrote:
B A R R Y writes:

Small aircraft are typically parked nose out, or with room to get out.
You start it up and move out.

OK. How do you park it, in that case?

When parked outside you usually can swing all the way into the space
or taxi parked pointed out just in front of your space and then it's
pretty easy to push it back.

In hangars you usually just get close and then either push or use
a small tug to move it. In my case, my truck is usually parked
inside my hangar when I am not there, so I park the plane at about
a 45 degree angle so the truck can clear the tail and then I use
a little powered tow bar (it uses a cordless drill as it's mostive
force) to bring it back in.

I use the tow bar to pull it out before starting up (my hangar is
a little tight so it's easier to preflight pulled out as well).

A friend of mine who has a hangar next to his house just taxis into the
hangar. He pushes (it's a very small plane) it before engine start.


If you're in a hanger, you pull it out, by hand or with some sort of
mini-tug, set it 90 degrees to the hanger, and start it up.

Are small aircraft easy to pull or push by hand (as compared to a
car)?


Most planes can be moved by hand. My Navion is a pig on the ground.
It's 2000 lbs. empty and has really big squishy tires so to push it
it has to be fairly level. I can step on the tail skid and lift
the nose gear and spin it around however. My hangar has a slight
incline going into it (you want this so that rain and snow drains
away from the doors). It takes me pushing with all my might to
get it back in without the tug.

Jim Macklin wrote:
Sometimes you can back the airplane under its own power,
just like the airliners do. The King Air backs up nicely.
But since you have to trust that nobody parked a car behind
you after your walk-around, I don't do that unless I'm on a
taxiway or run-up pad and need to change heading, such as
when swinging a compass.

I don't know how well it works on the ground, but seabees back
nicely under power on the water.

Mxsmanic wrote:
Neil Gould writes:

It depends on what's around you. Moving a small plane is not a big deal,
and it's better to be safe than to ding something because of laziness. You
do have to use some common sense in these matters.

I notice that my (simulated) Baron has negative pitch adjustment
available, below the feather position. Does this mean reverse thrust,
or what? I tried setting it to -25 on the ramp with the engines
running, and each time I tried it, the engine stalled a few seconds
later. Am I supposed to be able to go backwards in a Baron? Is this
setting for reverse thrust on landing, or what? Or does it even mean
reverse thrust?

Sounds very odd since I've never seen a Baron that allowed you to
directly set the pitch of the prop. Maybe some strange MSFS thing.
-Robert, CFII

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

Are small aircraft easy to pull or push by hand (as compared to a
car)?

My kids (7,5,5) have no problem pushing the plane back into the
tiedown. I just steer with the towbar and keep the plane from
going too fast.

http://www.clear-prop.org/images/kidsfly.jpg

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

OK. How do you park it, in that case?

I think the piece of information that you're missing is that most small
planes have a bar which connects to the front gear that allows you to
pull/steer the plane into any position you need... it can be somewhat
combersome if the ground isn't flat... but you get used to it pretty
quickly.

In either case, yes you do block the parking taxiway for a few
minutes... but this is rarely an issue.

Are small aircraft easy to pull or push by hand (as compared to a
car)?

It's plenty easy... as long as you don't forget to release the parking
brake like I did today.

Pushing a plane is easy, just make sure you don't push the spinner, or
if you put preassure on the prop, its balanced. It can be kinda
difficult to back an airplane into a spot, you generally have to look
underneath the plane, or under one wing then the other, to make sure
you line up correctly with the tiedowns... Fortunately, the former
tenent at my tiedown hand-spraypainted the tiedown centerline out 30 or
so feet in front of the parking spot, which makes life _much_ easier...
(I'm sure it wasn't legal, but I didn't do it)

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Robert M. Gary writes:

Sounds very odd since I've never seen a Baron that allowed you to
directly set the pitch of the prop. Maybe some strange MSFS thing.

There's a lever marked P on the throttle pedestal. It is present in
real aircraft also, and it has an effect on RPM. I suppose it
actually sets target RPM with automatic pitch adjustment, but what
does it do when you pull it back past the position that feathers the
props, and why does this stop the engine (at least in simulation)?

Since this sort of thing requires extra effort to simulate, I assume
it's not an artifact, and it must represent something in the real
aircraft.

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Mxsmanic wrote:
Robert M. Gary writes:

Sounds very odd since I've never seen a Baron that allowed you to
directly set the pitch of the prop. Maybe some strange MSFS thing.

There's a lever marked P on the throttle pedestal. It is present in
real aircraft also, and it has an effect on RPM. I suppose it
actually sets target RPM with automatic pitch adjustment, but what
does it do when you pull it back past the position that feathers the
props, and why does this stop the engine (at least in simulation)?

P=Prop RPM, not pitch of prop

I'm not sure what MSFS is trying to simulate. Usually when you pull the
prop lever back beyond feather the lever breaks off. The props are
stopping because they are feathered.

-Robert, CFII

Robert M. Gary writes:

I'm not sure what MSFS is trying to simulate. Usually when you pull the
prop lever back beyond feather the lever breaks off. The props are
stopping because they are feathered.

MSFS indicates a range from +100% to -25%. I'm trying to figure out
what the negative numbers below the feather position indicate. It's
hard to see what the prop blades are doing (although their movements
are simulated).

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"B A R R Y" wrote in message
...
Small aircraft are typically parked nose out, or with room to get out.
You start it up and move out.

Since my Grumman has a castering nosewheel, I like the fact that I can just
head into a parking space, lock one wheel, and pivot about until I'm facing
out from the parking spot... Yeah, it's probably a bit of a show off towards
those lowly Cessna pilots, but they get the last laugh when I have to land
without brakes on one side... grin

If you're in a hanger, you pull it out, by hand or with some sort of
mini-tug, set it 90 degrees to the hanger, and start it up.

On my aircraft, I can fit into my hangar either nose first or tail first...
I use an ATV for a tug and there's enough room to pull it in nose first and
leave the ATV hooked up so that I then back it out the next time I want to
fly... If the hangar didn't have a nice lip of concrete at the door opening
and an incline from the taxi area to the edge of the hangar foundation, I
wouldn't need the ATV... Pushing it by hand, I just can't quite get it far
enough up to speed that it can hop that concrete lip...