Originally Posted by
Fostex
Well handled by PIC.
If the cause of the loss of power was carb ice then it was definitely not well handled by the PIC. Given that the least likely case for the development of carb ice is with full throttle operation, there was carb ice, probably a lot of carb ice, present at the start of the take off run. Therefore the engine would not have made the minimum static full throttle RPM of 2280 for the C 152. This should have resulted in a low speed reject.
I find it disappointing that few pilots verify full power is being developed at the start of the takeoff run. This will not be redline RPM but the POH specified static RPM which will be considerably less than redline. Note this is for fixed pitched props. For variable pitch props the engine should make field baro MP minus half inch, on takeoff.
I think one of the generalizated failings of flight training is that much time is spent on how to react to an engine failure yet very little on how to ensure the engine doesn’t fail in the first place. A review of accident reports where there was an engine failure shows that approximately 80% of the engine failures were caused by the actions or inactions of the pilot
This engine failure falls in the 80% group because appropriate and timely action by the pilot will always succeed in addressing a power loss caused by carb ice.