Start-up

The engines, APU and battery are worked from the pilot’s left console. The CPG cannot start the aircraft. Panel locations are shown on the cockpit tour.

Before you start

• Wear the IHADSS helmet. The AH-64D Pilot unit has it. Without it the monocle cannot be fitted and the head-aimed sights fall back to the aircraft’s nose.
• Close the canopy. An open door shows the CANOPY advisory.
• Ground crew, chocks and covers are not modelled. Make sure nothing is parked under the rotor disc.

Checklist

1. Rotor brake switch: OFF. It steps OFF → BRK → LOCK → OFF. With the brake set, the power levers will not go to FLY.
2. MSTR IGN switch: BATT. The UFD comes on. The MPDs stay dark until the APU is running.
3. HDU: fit the monocle from its stowage on the right side of the cockpit. See IHADSS.
4. APU pushbutton: press. The UFD shows APU START, then APU PWR ON, then APU ON when it is ready to start engines. The MPDs come on: ENG on the left, the DTU page on the right.
5. ENG 1 START switch: START. The switch springs back; the ENG1 START advisory shows while the starter turns.
6. Watch Ng on the ENG page. Above 23%, move the engine 1 power lever to IDLE. Fuel is introduced and the engine lights off.
7. The starter drops out at 52% Ng. Let Ng settle at about 68%, idle.
8. Repeat steps 5 to 7 for engine 2.
9. Power levers: FLY. With both engines at idle, moving either lever to FLY takes both. Nr comes up to 101%.
10. APU pushbutton: press to shut the APU down once both engines are at FLY. Left running in flight, it raises the APU ON caution.
11. Check the UFD and the WCA page: no warnings, no cautions.

Fuel only reaches the engine once Ng passes 23%. A power lever moved to IDLE sooner does nothing until then: the starter alone turns the engine to about 25%, and it lights off at 23%. If a start goes wrong, set that engine’s start switch to IGN ORIDE (or click it again while it is starting) to abort, and put the lever back to OFF. Leave the switch at IGN ORIDE for a while: the starter keeps turning the engine and cools it. A hot engine restarted too soon starts hot. See Engines and rotor.

After start

• Lights: set the exterior and cockpit lights for the time of day. See Lighting.
• NVS mode switch, at night: NORM to put the night vision sensor’s picture on your monocle. See Night vision.
• Displays: set up your MPDs, typically TSD on one and FLT or WPN on the other.
• ASE: on the ASE page, RLWR on, chaff to ARM, and the IR jammer or MWS on. They all start off. See Survivability.
• Weapons: the armament panel’s ARM/SAFE and GND ORIDE buttons. On the ground, weapons cannot be actioned until ground override is on. See Weapon action switch.

Locked-rotor start

You may start the engines with the rotor brake at LOCK, for example to warm up with the rotor still. The engines run at IDLE and the rotor stays locked. The RTR BRK ON/LK caution is held off for the whole start; release the brake before going to FLY.