# 4.2 Description of Pedestal Panel

Here the Pedestal Panel with the sections “Engine and Propeller Control Panel”, the “Fuel Control Panel” and the “Engine Starting and Ignition Control Panel”.
In the VC there is a pop-up icon between the VHF Homing Indicator and the Transponder for opening a 2D window with the “Engine and Propeller Control Panel” , whereas “Fuel Control Panel” and “Engine Starting and Ignition Control Panel” are located in the center pedestal between the pilots' seats as in the real aircraft. You will have to move your view down (SHIFT+Num Pad 5) and to the right (CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER) to operate them with the mouse due to the armrest being in the way.
You may move directly to the detailed explanation of any item by left-clicking on it with your mouse, and you can return to this overview by left-clicking the detail-picture by the explanation:

As the Fuel System of FS2004 is greatly improved over former FS versions the fuel panel now operates pretty much like the real thing.
All covered switches (LP Cocks and Start Switches) can only be operated when the switch guards are flipped open. The guards secure the switches in the safest position and ensure that they are not accidentally operated as that could cause serious grief…
Now to the Pedestal Panel subdivisions:
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4.2.1 Engine and Propeller Control Panel

Before I go into details a general comment about the mouse drag hot spots for the engine control levers:
Apart from the Condition Levers which can only be controlled individually there are three mouse tracks per lever pair for ease of use: one for control of the left lever, one for the right lever and one in the middle which allows control of both levers simultaneously.
The power lever’s range is divided into two major sections: POWER and BETA.
POWER is the normal operating range in which the power levers directly control fuel flow to the engines and thus power output.
BETA range is a unique turboprop feature and is divided into two sub-sections: APPROACH and GROUND REVERSE. The power levers need to be lifted over gates to bring them into the BETA range and again to bring them into REVERSE mode as a safety precaution, as reversing propeller thrust in flight can quickly result in loss of aircraft control or loss of aircraft altogether. In this panel the lifting is accomplished by first bringing the levers down to IDLE position with the mouse, external thrust levers or by pressing F1, letting go of the left mouse button, moving a little lower into the desired range and left clicking again to pull the power levers over the “gate” and into the required position. Alternatively the FS2004 keyboard shortcut for reverse thrust (continuously pressing F2 until desired position is reached) may be used to bring the levers into the BETA range.
The white “BETA” lights in the annunciator panel will light up to indicate thrust levers are in BETA range.
In BETA APPROACH mode the fuel flow to the engines remains at idle and the power levers directly control propeller blade angle. The propeller levers should be in the HIGH RPM position in which propeller blade angle normally is around 10°. The power levers in BETA APPROACH mode reduce that angle down to approx. 0°. In this position the props produce considerable drag due to them now basically creating a solid disk which is pushed through the air. This can be used to control taxiing speed on the ground (not really necessary for this FS2004 aircraft) but is particularly useful for steep approaches with down to 2000 fpm sink rates, similar to spoilers. Due to the high drag produced in the APPROACH range it should only be used at indicated airspeeds below 100 kts. Above that speed the windmilling effect on the props will automatically drive them out of BETA range – which is indicated by the white “BETA” lights in the annunciator panel extinguishing and the airspeed rising rapidly again. When airspeed drops below 100 kts IAS the props pop back into BETA and the white annunciator lights come on again, as in the real plane.
Shortly before touch-down BETA range should not be increased due to danger of loss of lift. Additionally BETA range landings require great care and thus practise for the correct timing and radius of terminating the dive and initiating the landing flare as the ground approaches rather rapidly at 2000 fpm !!!
Back on the ground the power levers can be further retarded into REVERSE mode (by mouse drag or continuously pressing F2) in which blade angle is now further reduced into the negative pitch region and fuel flow is increased again to produce reverse thrust. This should be terminated before coming to a complete stop. As this FS2004 version now uses the turboprop flight model there is actual reverse thrust, which means the plane can reverse on it's own power if necessary, not just in slew (y) mode or by push-back (shift + p).
The power levers can brought back into IDLE (and above) position by either pushing an external throttle up again, by pressing F1 once or F3 for a moment or by dragging the levers up with the mouse.
The prop levers control propeller blade angle in relation to PROP RPM from HIGH RPM (10° minimum blade angle and approx. 1900 PROP RPM in the constant speed control range) down to the FEATHERed state for decreasing drag during in-flight engine failure (approx. 90° blade angle).
For take-off, landing and reverse operation they should be set at the upper HIGH RPM position and can actually remain there for the duration of the flight.
ATTENTION! You can overtorque and thus wreck the gearbox that drives the props in a lot of clatter if you set them to the FEATHERed state and add too much power, so make sure you never use the FEATHER position under more than IDLE power!
The condition levers start or terminate fuel flow to the engine (similar to the mixture settings in piston engined aircraft).
Contrary to the King Air in FS2004 the condition lever must be set in the “FUEL CUT OFF” position (down) when starting the engines. It may only be raised up to the “IDLE” position when Ng stabilises above 10%. Pumping fuel into the engine below 10% Ng will cause a hot start due to airflow through the engine not being sufficient yet to sustain proper combustion conditions. In the worst case you will melt your combustion chamber linings and ruin your engine, potentially causing engine fire. DON’T do it, as you will have to bear the consequences in this pretty realistic turboprop simulation… You will find more on this in the descriptions of the ITT and Ng indicators in the "Main Panel Overview" or in the aircraft checklists.
The condition levers have a notch in the IDLE position and are sprung loaded to snap back into FUEL CUT OFF position as soon as they are moved out of the notch. Control is either by mouse or by pressing “CTRL+shift+F4” for IDLE (on) or “CTRL+shift+F1” for FUEL CUT OFF position.
The double-slotted flaps are controlled with the flaps handle (or “F5” to “F8”) by left clicking in the appropriate region with your mouse. There are three positions which are also displayed by the Flap Position Indicator: Up, 1 (extending the inner four flap segments to 25°) and 2 (43° for the four inner flap segments). The outer flap segments extend approx half of the inner segments to give the wing a more forgiving lift distribution. The flap control rods in the real plane are linked with the horizontal stabilizer trim tabs to compensate for pitch change caused by the flaps. This compensation is also simulated in this FS2004 aircraft. Please take into account that the flaps take approx. 10 seconds for full extension or retraction and roughly half of that for one step.
ATTENTION! Never extend the flaps while the main door is open, nor open the main door while the flaps are extended, as extended flaps on the left side will collide with the door and sustain damage, thus becoming inoperative and causing unsymmetrical lift and drag. The effects of this damage are also simutated in this aircraft, not visually, but in the actual flight- and systems behaviour. A green advisory light marked “DOORWARN” in the annunciator panel serves as reminder of an open main door.
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4.2.2 Fuel Control Panel

When using the Fuel Panel please keep in mind that the covered switches (LP Cocks) can only be operated when the switch guards are flipped open. The guards secure the switches in the safest position and ensure that they are not accidentally operated.
I strongly advise you not to fiddle with the fuel tank selector in the FS2004 fuel settings menu as this plane has two active fuel selector switches of which only one is displayed in the fuel menu. All fuel selection settings can be done with this fuel panel.
The graphic layout of the fuel panel clearly shows the paths which the fuel can take right up to the arrows above the Low Pressure Fuel Cocks which symbolize the entry into the fuel control unit (FCU) which in turn is controlled by the power levers.
The Low Pressure Fuel Cocks sit between the booster pumps (which pump fuel from the main tank to the engine) and the fuel filters and provide so-called firewall shut-off in the fuel system. This can be important just short of emergency landings or in case of in-flight engine fire to ensure that fire hazard is reduced as far as possible. If the LP fuel cocks are turned off yellow caution lights marked “LP COCK” in the annunciator panel will light up.
Left-clicking into one of the lower green rectangles will open or close the appropriate red guard and allow switching of the LP cock by left-clicking into the upper green rectangle.
ATTENTION! If the engines are running when you turn the LP cocks off the engines will die due to lack of fuel supply (which is what they are meant for, but only in emergency situations)! The LP cocks set the FS2004 fuel valves to “off”.
The Main Tank Booster Pumps transport fuel from the main tanks to the engines. There are two of them in this plane: No. 1 must always be on when the engines are to be started or are running, No. 2 either serves as backup in case No. 1 fails – or in unison with No. 1 ensures fuel pressure on the feeding side is kept up in case of crossfeed to the other side.
The switches may be left clicked with the mouse to toggle between ON and OFF positions.
Crossfeed can become necessary in case of an engine failure in flight or leakage in one side’s fuel system. It is a passive crossfeed system that relies on a pressure gradient from one side to the other which will only occur when one side runs out of fuel.
In the real plane the External Tank Transfer Pump transfers fuel from the external under-wing tank to the associated main tank which is located in the rear portion of the engine nacelles. It’s switch has three positions: PUMP ON (fuel is transferred from the external tank to the main tank until the main tank is full – an automatic regulating switch in the main tank then turns the transfer pump off until there is enough space in the main tank again for fuel transfer to resume), OFF (self-explanatory…) and TEST (a momentary switch for checking that transfer pump works prior to takeoff – the green light shows it works).
In this FS2004 simulation these switches make the appropriate engine draw directly from the External 1 (aka LH external tank) or External 2 (RH external tank) tank when there is fuel in them and the main boost pump No. 1 switches are on. The green transfer pump light itself may be checked by pressing it with a left mouse click. When the external tank runs empty the green light will flicker and eventually go off. Simultaneously the yellow caution light labeled “EXT TRANS LH” or “EXT TRANS RH” in the annunciator panel will be activated. The caution lights however will extinguish when the external tank transfer pumps are switched off (which should be done to prevent them from running dry).
In case of an emergency the fuel content of the external fuel tanks may be dumped by clicking on the external fuel dump switch (No. 35) on the Copilot's Instrument Panel in the Virtual Cockpit.
IMPORTANT! The engines can only be started when one or both main boost pumps No. 1 are on, even though the main tanks may be empty and fuel is fed directly from the external tanks. Please check that enough fuel pressure is available on the appropriate side before attempting to start engines, otherwise they simply won’t start…
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4.2.3 Engine Starting and Ignition Control Panel

The Engine Starting and Ignition Control Panel is located at the bottom of this Pedestal Panel and is used for precisely what it is called.
Before the switch can be activated the guard must be flipped up by left-clicking into the green rectangle over the ENGINE LH marking (symmetrical for the RH side). This guard prevents accidental activation.
The Start Switch itself has the three positions ON, OFF and MAN. IGNITION and can be set in any of these positions by left-clicking into the appropriate area marked here in the green rectangles. When switched ON the combined starter-generator begins to accelerate the gas generator (which is displayed by the Ng gauges) and simultaneously two igniters in the combustion chamber are fired 4 to 6 times per second. The fact that ignition is turned on at the same time is the reason for having to wait until Ng rises above 10% before the condition levers are allowed to be set to the IDLE position and thus initiate fuel injection into the combustion chamber. When combustion sets in Ng quickly rises to above 51% at which point the Start Switch can safely be turned OFF again. This does NOT shut off the engine but only the starter and the external ignition which is unnecessary once the fuel flames in the combustion chamber burn consistently.
For starter assisted airstarts (in-flight) at airspeeds insufficient to drive Ng above 10% (i.e. below approx. 120 KIAS) the Start Switch may also be turned to the ON position.
For airstarts without starter assist (can be done anytime Ng is above 10%, i.e. at airspeeds exceeding 120 KIAS) the Start Switch may be flipped down to the MAN(ual). IGNITION position which only switches on the igniters. In the real plane this position may also be used in strong precipitation or heavy icing conditions to prevent combustion from being extinguished by loads of rain or ice particles sucked into the engine. In the near-perfect FS2004 world such conditions do not have this effect so this purpose of the MAN. IGNITION switch is rendered useless here ...
Whenever the Start Switches are not in the OFF position and there is no electrical failure yellow warning lights marked “IGN START LH / RH” in the annunciator panel will light up to remind you to turn ignition off again.
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