Myself and a fellow instructor got into a discussion about determining the zero thrust power setting as we both felt that school SOP ( 13 in of MP in a Seneca 1 if I remember correctly ) was too high. So we went flying and established the recommended two engine out glide speed and recorded sink rate vs power setting. When the results were plotted we found a kink in the curve where sink rate noticably decreased with additional power just above 11 in of MP. Therefore we adopted 11 in as the zero thrust setting. Anybody got any other ideas on how to determine this value ?
I am firmly in Chucks camp on the question of actual feathering.
I have had to make 3 actual single engine landings in light twin engineaircraft. 2 were the result of mechanical failures the third was when a engine feathered during a multi engine training flight would not restart. I feel the requirement for a actual in flight shut down needless created a unsafe condition in this instance. I now do all the engine feather shut down drills on the ground with airplane parked. This includes moving all levers and switches ( except for the landing gear ! ) as per the checklist. I have found this is equally effective at teaching a student how to feather an engine,
In flight I block the prop lever above the feather detent with my hand. The student still retards the prop lever to the stop ( my hand ) and then I set zero thrust. As for the argument that students have to see an actual feathered prop inorder to be safe
then using that logic I should set fire to the carpet so they can do the cockpit fire drills, crash on landing so that we can do aircraft evacuation drills , have an actual heart attack to properly teach cockpit incapacitation etc etc
What is so special about seeing a stopped prop
