777 engine start

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whenever a plane pushes on the ramp here at DIA, i stop to watch (unless my bags are really hot). i've noticed that the majorirty of the time, whenever a 777 starts up, they turn both engines at the same time, except when doing an air-start, which i've only witnessed once, and i think i can understand the logic behind that. does anyone know why the 777 crews start both engines simultaneously most of the time? is this a UAL thing or is it a universal-777 practice?

thanks for helping satisfy my curiousity.
 
Simply because the B777's APU, unlike most jets, has the capacity to turn both engines at the same time and the engines have an autostart/shutdown feature where they don't have to be as closely monitored by the crew.
 
you're right. a guy who plays on the hockey team we beat last night is a 777 driver, so i asked him the same question. on both counts, you're correct. he said the engine start sequence is something like turning two switches to on and then opening the fuel levers and the plane does the rest by itself.

computer.
 
The above answer holds true for the 777-200 and 777-300, but not for the 777-300ER with the bigger GE engines. We can only start one at a time with those as the APU can't quite handle starting the two biggest commercial aircraft engines ever made at the same time.

A little further to the above, Boeing prefers the double engine start, especially on the Rolls Royce engines because they say that during a single engine start the greater air supply to the individual engine can cause high N3 speeds, N2 lag, and igniting problems, potentially resulting in failed starts.

TP
 
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Ok, I found it, Free Turbine Speed...but what is free turbine speed?

[/ QUOTE ] The first turbojets had all their rotating components on a common shaft. Once turbofans were adopted, and the fan section became larger, it became evident that for better efficiency, all the components should not rotate at the same speed. It was better if the larger fan section did not rotate as fast as the smaller compressor sections of the engine. So, the solution was to use multiple shafts. The Fan section and low pressure compressor was connected to the low pressure turbine by a common shaft, which is referred to as 'N1'. A hollow outer shaft was then used to support the high pressure compressor and high pressure turbine. This is the 'N2' section of the engine. On two shaft engines, N2 is also used to drive the accessory gearbox located on the bottom of the engine through a tower shaft. The gearbox usually contains the engine oil pump, multiple scavange pumps that recover oil from various engine bearings, the generator, and the starter. During engine starts the starter will spin up the N2 section to pressurize the combustion chambers prior to fuel being introduced.

On the largest engines, two shafts was not enough, and a third shaft 'N3' is also used. This is the innermost high pressure compressor and high pressure turbine and is called 'N3'.

Most business jets only have two shaft engines, and this is also true of the regional jets as well. Although, there are some smaller engines that have a reduction gear box between the N1 shaft and the fan.

On the larger jets, 3 shaft engines are more common due to the increased size and cost of the engines. Efficiency is also much more important on the larger the aircraft.
 
So wait, they have to move a knob AND flip a switch! Gosh! No wonder they are getting paid more. We just have to move a knob, and the engine starts.

Well, they DO have autothrottles, so I guess it all evens out.


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you're right. a guy who plays on the hockey team we beat last night is a 777 driver, so i asked him the same question. on both counts, you're correct. he said the engine start sequence is something like turning two switches to on and then opening the fuel levers and the plane does the rest by itself.

computer.

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hey grant, how's the hockey going? Man, we really coulda used you on our team this year. As I'm sure you heard from Kevin, we sucked really really bad :-P. Hope all is well man.

[/end hijack]
 
we dropped our first 2 games, but then our regular goalie got back from his vacation and we're 7-0 since. i still suck. they bounce me between wing and D so everyone gets to see how badly i skate forward as well as backward. i think i have a goal and a couple assists for the season so far.
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