Baron Engine Start
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I have experienced an issue where I am unable to start the left engine of the Baron. I have verified full fuel, engine condition is at 100% and no failures listed, fuel valves are on, fuel flow is normal. It seems like I have had this happen a few times but have been able to get it to start after a few tries. This morning the only way I could get the engine running was to load it on the runway with the engines already running. They died almost immediately but I was able to restart them. Any ideas in what I might be doing wrong?
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Baron's engines can be very temperamental. Be sure to follow the checklist for normal start. If that is unsuccessful, you may try the flooded start checklist (that sometimes works better than the normal one). Or if the engines were running recently, use the hot start checklist.
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Baron's engines can be very temperamental. Be sure to follow the checklist for normal start. If that is unsuccessful, you may try the flooded start checklist (that sometimes works better than the normal one). Or if the engines were running recently, use the hot start checklist.
@Randolf, thanks. I will give those checklists a try next time. Got in too much of a rush this morning.
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A follow up: What I found is that if I was following any of the checklists exactly I would often have trouble getting the engines started. The issue seems to be with the boost pumps. Running them for 2-3 seconds on high and then shutting them off nearly always resulted in the engines not starting. However, leaving them running in low would result in successful starts. As I type this it occurs to me that maybe I should try running the boost pumps longer before shutting them off.
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A follow up: What I found is that if I was following any of the checklists exactly I would often have trouble getting the engines started. The issue seems to be with the boost pumps. Running them for 2-3 seconds on high and then shutting them off nearly always resulted in the engines not starting. However, leaving them running in low would result in successful starts. As I type this it occurs to me that maybe I should try running the boost pumps longer before shutting them off.
@RoughLandings I just tried your modified technique, just setting pumps to low and starting with them turned on....seemed to make it much easier to get the engines started. Thanks!
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@RoughLandings I just tried your modified technique, just setting pumps to low and starting with them turned on....seemed to make it much easier to get the engines started. Thanks!
@SteveKane - glad it helped you! It was cold weather. I'll have to try it again somewhere warmer.
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A follow up: What I found is that if I was following any of the checklists exactly I would often have trouble getting the engines started. The issue seems to be with the boost pumps. Running them for 2-3 seconds on high and then shutting them off nearly always resulted in the engines not starting. However, leaving them running in low would result in successful starts. As I type this it occurs to me that maybe I should try running the boost pumps longer before shutting them off.
@RoughLandings said in Baron Engine Start:
Running them for 2-3 seconds
I don't know why but I always keep the pump(s) on for 5 sec and I never had an issue starting. I see that 2-3 is on the checklist so I will try that.
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I'm having a similar issue. The first engine starts without much issue (either left or right), but the 2nd one takes forever and I have to tinker with boost pumps, throttle, even mixture before I can eventually get it to start. I'll try leaving it on low boost, see if that helps.
