Starting Bell 407 with P3D

[RichieFly]

Hi,

I just bought the 407. I run P3D v3.4. I'm finding starting this aircraft is almost impossible; neither cold and dark or 'ready to fly' work.
I've read many posts about the 407 and starting from a cold and dark state.

Would someone in authority please answer my two questions?

Is there a definitive guide or set of steps to starting this bird from a cold and dark state?

Is it factual that one must turn weather off to start the 407?

Thanks,

Richie

[JonathanBleeker]

The 407 is one of the easiest of our helicopters to start. If ready to fly isn't working then I have to ask the following:

Does your default flight start with the engines running?
Are you running your P3D as admin? Right click on it, select Properties->Compatibility and make sure Run this program as administrator is checked.
Is your ACM/Menu manager set to run as admin? Do the same as above.

As for weather, it depends on the wind. Certain wind directions and speeds cause problems although I can't recall which.

[RichieFly]

Thanks for the reply.

I gather, then, that the saved flight used when starting P3D has to be in a state with the engine running?

If so, that's fine. I can manage this. Simstarter NG makes multiple configurations easy.

The weather then...it can be a problem, but doesn't have to be 'off'.

OK. I'll see what I can see and report back.

Thanks

[bobsk8]

Have done a great deal of experimenting with starting the 407.

1. Default flight should be a default aircraft with engine running.

2 Turn off weather like Active Sky until after you start engine. Also look at your default weather in your sim, and set it to Clear, other wise you may have wind that will cause starting issues.

3 Click start switch after running through normal start setup as outlined in the manual ( switches, throttle, collective, fuel valve, etc) , and then slowly increase throttle until it reads 80 ( won't start at idle) As soon as you hit 80, the starter should engage. Make sure the start switch goes back to off position ( middle position) when you release it after engine starts spooling up You should see MGT starts to rise and may go all the way up, and then drop back to around 550. . Leave the throttle at 80 until engine rpm starts building up.

4 When NP/NR indicators start rising, you have a successful start. They will slowly rise to the bottom of the green arc, at that point you can increase the throttle to full on.

If you do everything, and it spools up and then doesn't start, and the starting sound fades away, try just going to weather settings in your sim and select "clear", if you didn't prior to trying to start, you may find that when you do, it starts up at that point.

Works every time.