Learn how to start an aircraft cold and dark in a flight simulator, including piston and jet sequences, common failures and practical fixes.
To start an aircraft from cold and dark in a flight simulator, load it at a parking stand with every system off, then follow its checklist: secure the controls, establish electrical power, configure fuel and ignition, start the engine or APU, bring generators and avionics online, and complete the after-start checks before taxiing.
What does cold and dark mean?
Cold and dark means the engines are stopped, electrical sources are off and the cockpit displays are unpowered. The aircraft is normally parked at a gate, ramp or hangar rather than positioned on the runway.
Within our Aviation & Real-World Flying coverage, the term has the same basic meaning as it does in the simulator. The exact switch positions vary considerably, however. A carburetted piston single, a turboprop and a modern FADEC-controlled airliner cannot be started with one universal checklist.
How do you perform a cold-and-dark start?
The correct method is to use the checklist supplied for the exact simulated aircraft, following the general flow from aircraft safety to power, fuel, engine start and after-start configuration.
- Confirm the aircraft state. Load at a parking position, set the parking brake or chocks and check that throttles are closed. Put mixture, condition and fuel-control levers in their prescribed shutdown positions. Physical controllers can override cockpit levers, so check both.
- Use the correct checklist. A checklist for a similar model is not necessarily interchangeable. Engine type, avionics package, add-on complexity and simulated failures can all change the procedure.
- Establish electrical power. Select the battery or connect and select external power. Check that the expected buses and instruments come alive. In an airliner, this is often when navigation or inertial-reference alignment begins; piston-aircraft avionics may remain off to reduce the load during cranking.
- Configure the fuel system. Verify quantity, tank selection, shut-off valves and any required pumps. Do not assume that visible fuel means it can reach the engine.
- Prepare for engine start. Set ignition, beacon and pneumatic controls as the aircraft checklist requires. Check that the propeller or engine area is clear, even when practising in a simulator.
- Engage the starter and introduce fuel correctly. A piston engine may need mixture, priming and magnetos configured before cranking. A turbine normally begins turning on the starter before fuel is introduced at a specified core speed.
- Monitor the start. Watch oil pressure, RPM and exhaust temperature or ITT rather than simply waiting for the engine sound. Cut off fuel if a turbine start becomes hot, hung or otherwise abnormal, then follow the aircraft's recovery checklist.
- Bring the aircraft onto its own power. Select alternators or generators, configure bus ties and bleeds, and disconnect external power when appropriate. Shut down the APU only after its electrical and pneumatic loads have been transferred.
- Complete the after-start checks. Configure avionics, radios, flight controls, trim, flaps, lights and anti-ice as required. Confirm that brakes and steering respond before releasing the parking brake.
This flow is suitable for simulation practice, but it does not replace the approved aircraft flight manual, pilot's operating handbook or instruction from a qualified flight instructor in a real aircraft.
Does the startup sequence differ between piston and jet aircraft?
Yes. The main difference is how fuel and ignition are introduced while the engine begins turning.
| Aircraft type | Typical starting flow | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Piston | Electrical master, fuel selector, mixture and prime or pump as required, magnetos, starter, then oil-pressure check | Over-priming, leaving the mixture at idle cut-off or starting with the avionics load connected |
| Turboprop | Starter engaged with fuel initially cut off, fuel introduced after minimum compressor speed, then temperature and RPM monitored | Introducing fuel too early and causing a hot start |
| Jet | Battery or external power, APU or external pneumatic air, starter selection, then fuel introduced at the required core RPM | No bleed-air supply, incorrect pack configuration or an unpowered fuel system |
Fuel-injected and carburetted piston engines also have different cold, hot and flooded-start techniques. Our complete Cessna 172 start-to-landing sequence shows a practical light-aircraft example.
Large jets add electrical buses, APU operation, pneumatic isolation, hydraulic pumps and navigation-system alignment. For a concrete example, follow the 737 battery, IRS, APU and bleed-air flow. Some modern aircraft automate ignition and fuel scheduling through FADEC, but that does not eliminate the need to monitor the start.
Why won't the aircraft start?
Most failed simulator starts are caused by missing electrical power, unavailable fuel, insufficient starter air or a hardware binding that moves a cockpit control back to the wrong position.
- Nothing happens when the starter is selected: check the battery master, external-power connection and selection, starter switch, failure settings and battery charge. A connected ground-power unit may still need to be selected onto the buses.
- A piston engine cranks but does not fire: inspect the fuel selector, shut-off valve, mixture, magnetos, pump and priming. Repeated priming can flood the engine; use its documented flooded-start procedure instead of adding more fuel.
- A turbine turns but never lights: confirm that fuel has been introduced, ignition is enabled, pumps are available and the starter has reached the required core speed. Jets also need a valid pneumatic-air source unless their starting system works differently.
- The engine starts and immediately dies: look for a mixture or condition lever returning to cut-off, insufficient idle, an incorrect fuel-tank selection or a duplicated controller assignment.
- The engine runs but the displays remain dark: select the alternator or generator, avionics master, inverter and bus ties required by that aircraft. Starting an engine does not automatically power every bus.
- The turbine temperature rises too quickly: cut off fuel and follow the abnormal-start checklist. Adding throttle is not the cure for a hot or hung start, and detailed add-ons may record engine damage.
A mistake we see constantly is moving an on-screen lever correctly while a throttle quadrant or switch panel immediately commands the opposite position. Temporarily disconnect the controller or remove duplicate axis and switch assignments if a control keeps jumping.
How do I make the simulator load cold and dark?
To load cold and dark, start from a parking stand and disable any option that starts the flight with engines running. A runway spawn commonly loads the aircraft already running because it must be ready for immediate departure.
More advanced add-ons may provide named panel states through an electronic flight bag or cockpit menu. Select the state before starting the procedure and allow time for it to finish loading. Saved flights can be unreliable after an aircraft update because switches or custom systems may no longer restore in the same state.
Platform controls differ, so use our specific instructions for setting up a cold-and-dark aircraft in MSFS 2020 or loading an unpowered aircraft in X-Plane 11 when the aircraft refuses to begin fully shut down.
Can auto-start replace the checklist?
Auto-start is useful when the objective is to fly immediately, but it is not a reliable substitute for learning the aircraft's startup flow. Default aircraft often support the simulator's general auto-start command, while complex add-ons may use custom systems that the command cannot operate correctly.
An automated start may also leave navigation alignment, flight-management programming, lighting or pneumatic configuration unfinished. If the engines run but warning lights remain or the displays are incomplete, work through the normal after-start checklist rather than assuming the aircraft is ready to taxi.