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The Beechcraft Turboprop PT6

Propeller
Auto-Feather
System

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Auto-Feather Purpose:

The purpose of the auto-feather system is to to provide an automatic quick feathering of a

single propeller during the critical stages of flight Take-off and Go-Arounds in particular.

Operation:

The operational modes consists of:

1. Arming the system

2. Automatic operation of the system in 2 distinct stages
3. Testing the system on the ground before flight.

Arming

1. Arming the system is accomplished by the selection of the Auto-Feather Arm switch
being placed to the on position.
2. When armed the electrical paths are completed from a single Auto-Feather circuit
breaker through the arm switch to the power lever switches.
3. When the power levers are moved forward past the switch point (Varies with aircraft
model typical 90% Ng) the electrical path is delivered to the Onside high pressure
torque switch
4. Since the engine is running the torque system will have provided more than the high
pressure torque switch is set at thus the high pressure and low pressure torque
switches are in the Pressure positions.
5. When the Power Lever is advanced and the switches are activated the system will
now be Armed This is indicated through the annunciator being controlled by the
Arm Light Relay.
6. The electrical power is delivered to the Offside Feathering Dump Valve Relay
7. The ground for the Feathering Dump Valve Relay is open at the Onside Low
Pressure Switch.
8. The system is now Armed - each Dump Valve Relay being powered through the
Offside high pressure switch circuit.

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A FreeBee Publication

Operation:

1. When an engine fails with the Power Levers in the forward position (High Power) the
torque will drop very quickly.
2. When one engine torque reaches a value just less than the high pressure switch, the
switch activates and removes power from the offside Dump Valve Relay.
3. At the same time it will remove power from the offside annunciator indicating the auto-
feather function is not available for that engine.
4. When the torque pressure drops below the low pressure switch setting the switch
activates and provides a ground for the onside Dump Valve Relay.
5. The relay will activate and dump propeller oil control pressure allowing the propeller
to feather.
6. Once a single high pressure switch is activated with low pressure, the offside is
automatically inhibited.
7. The system can be reset by starting the engine and once the torque is above the high
pressure switch setting and the power levers are forward of the switch activation
points.
8. The system is dis-armed by retarding the power levers below the switch activation
points. This means for example; the auto-feather arm switch can be in the arm
position during the approach and landing and in the case of a go-around as the power
levers are moved forward past the switch activation points the auto-feather system
will be armed indicator lights will be on showing the system is ready.
9. The system can be de-activated by turning the Auto-Feather Arm switch to the off
position or by pulling the circuit breaker.

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Testing

1. A test switch is provided for the testing of the Auto-Feather system on the ground
under very much reduced power settings.
2. The test switch bypasses the Power Lever switches this means that the
requirement to have the Power Levers at a very high setting is negated.
3. Each engine is tested individually to ensure correct system operation.
4. The Arm switch is selected to the on position.
5. Both Power Levers are advanced to give just over the required High Pressure switch
torque.
6. If the system is working correctly both Auto-Feather Annunciators should be
illuminated.
7. Then one engine power is reduced to under the high pressure switch setting but
above the low pressure switch setting. At this point the Auto-Feather Armed
annunciator on the offside engine should extinguish indicating auto-feather function is
not available for that engine.
8. The power lever is moved to a value just slightly below the low pressure torque switch
value. At that point the propeller will start to feather.
9. Since the power lever is set to a point just under the low pressure switch setting the
action of feathering the propeller will cause the blades to move initially in a coarse
pitch direction. As the do this they will take a bigger bite of air and the torque will then
increase. If set correctly the propeller will cycle on the low pressure torque switch.
(Remember this is different than the actual auto-feather actions because the engine
on the test is still delivering power.) You can pull the power lever back to idle and the
propeller will feather.
10. The final function check is performed by moving the offside Power Lever to a point
just below the High Pressure torque switch setting. When the high pressure switch
actuates the onside engine will unfeather / stop cycling. (See step 7)
11. The engines are once again set up as per step1 6 and the other engine system is
tested as per step 7 -10.
12. A final check should be completed by selecting the test switch to normal and the
engines run up to a high power setting above the power lever switches and checking
the auto-feather annunciators illuminate,

Rigging

1. The only rigging requirement is for the position of the Power Lever switches. An easy
way to check is to complete a power run on the engines and using a strip of masking
tape draw a line on the tape that corresponds to the correct Ng speed of the engine.
After shutdown this can be referenced to check the power lever switch activation
point and determine if any adjustment is needed.

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License

A FreeBee Publication

by FreeBee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License