I just loved having an EFATO pulled on me. Apart from the first one I was never warned about them in advance. One trick I used to learn the drills/checklist and keep proficient with them was each time I stopped at a red light (in a car/automobile of course) was to run through the engine failure checklist.
Checklists are good if you can memorise them which really isn't that hard with a little bit of work. I once wrote down all the checked items from prestart, post start, taxi, run-up, T/O, climb-out, crosswind turn, downwind, base, finals, land, pre-shutdown & post shutdown (should have just said circuit eh) and it added up to something like 112 items. This is some 30 years ago and I still remember at least 110 of them.
I was watching a Youtube video of a guy taking his mate for a ride in a PA28 and I was shocked to see him doing the pre-start checked by reading them from a written checklist. EIGHT items (from my list) and he needed a written checklist and this was after he poured the fuel test liquid back INTO the fuel tank.
Sorry, went offtopic. I personally knew an Instructor (with a student) who experienced an engine failure at 800' on T/O (straight climbout to the training area) in the trainer "Designed by 10,000 Flight Instructors" (for you young 'uns, the PA38 ). He did a 180° turn and landed back on the runway. Having a 12,000' runway helped but he did say he lost about 500' in completing the turn. That could so easily turn into an uncontrolled spiral for an inexperienced pilot.
Originally Posted by BPF
IMO your only hope in surviving this kind of emergency is to have automatic reactions that have been cemented in the brain by consistantly repeating them prior to every takeoff.
Totally 120% agree with you on the above quote.
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