I have been lucky enough never to have an engine failure, although I have had to return after engines have started surging etc. But one of my most memorable moments was an IFR flight departing at night in weather on the outer fringes of a cyclone for a 1.7hr ferry flight in a PA31. So rain showers, cloud from 1000'AGL to well over 10000' solid and moderate turbulence with some nastier stuff in between.
Shorlty after departure, running through my checklists and making the required calls on CTAF and to ATC , I found that the HSI was not rotating anymore and the a/c was still maintaining a turn towards the a/p heading bug. A quick scan confirmed that my HSI had failed though still had power and would not function in either slaved or unslaved mode. I disconnected the a/p and began troubleshooting on climb to planned 9000'.
While it would slave occasionally, it would not stay slaved and the a/p would begin a gradual turn in whichever direction the bug was, and with the turbulence it would only ever end up flying further off track.
In the end I had to hand fly the a/c, at night in IMC, in nasty turbulence off my compass, seeing as the copilots DG was not in a position for me to be able to include in my scan effectively. The whole time making sure i was scanning constantly and making sure I ignored any physiological illusions a was sensing.
At the other end of my flight, I had to conduct an NDB approach on compass almost to the minima and made a safe arrival in some of the most difficult flying conditions I have had the pleasure of operating in.
Afterwards I felt absolutely drained and slept like a baby after the required couple of beers a bloke needs after a hard days work!
At the time I was rather proud of myself for handling the situation as well as i did and felt that my previous training and experience had resulted in my being able to handle the situation as i did. I think i had somewhere in the area of 1000-1200hours total time and probably 100 command in the PA31.
No doubt one of the experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Also any flight on a clear night, or by day on top of overcast cloud, sunrise, sunset or on stinking hot days watching the CBs head for the Tropopause.
Turbz
