Just read this on Pprune Aviation Safety Digest Library
Useful lesson for todays flying school instructors teaching ab-initio student pilots. Taken from the revised list of the Pprune sticky of Aviation Safety Digests library of yesteryear.
Dear Sir,
Reading 'T~aps for Young Players' (ASD 139),
Trap 1 reminded me of an incident that
occurred several years ago while still a student
pilot. My instructor also used the 'mixture control
to idle/cut off' technique for simulating
engine failure, as I had the habit of keeping my
hand firmly on the throttle to overcome his
annoying habit of constantly closing it.
After a session of solo circuits one afternoon, I
taxied to the apron, parked the aircraft and
commenced the shutdown checks. As I pulled
the mixture to idle/cut off, there was little
resistance and several inches of cable appeared
from the instrument panel. The engine stopped(Just) and I went in search of the Chief
Engineer.
Needless to say, after relating the incident to
my instructor, he never used the same technique
for simulating engine failures. Had the
incident occurred in the training area, it would
definitely have been a case of 'Taking over!'.
Yours sincerely,
Geoff Williams
Simulated is simulated, not 'for real'.