FAA Handbook
The multiengine pilot must keep in mind that the accelerate-go distance, as long as it is, has only brought the airplane, under ideal circumstances, to a point a mere 50 feet above the takeoff elevation. To achieve even this meager climb, the pilot had to instantaneously recognize and react to an unanticipated engine failure, retract the landing gear, identify and feather the correct engine, all the while maintaining precise airspeed control and bank angle as the airspeed is nursed to VYSE. Assuming flawless airmanship thus far, the airplane has now arrived at a point little more than one wingspan above the terrain, assuming it was absolutely level and without obstructions.
With (for the purpose of illustration) a net 150 f.p.m. rate of climb at a 90-knot VYSE, it will take approximately 3 minutes to climb an additional 450 feet to reach 500 feet AGL. In doing so, the airplane will have traveled an additional 5 nautical miles beyond the original accelerate-go distance, with a climb gradient of about 1.6 percent. A turn of any consequence, such as to return to the airport, will seriously degrade the already marginal climb performance.
Not all multiengine airplanes have published accelerate-go distances in their AFM/POH, and fewer still publish climb gradients. When such information is published, the figures will have been determined under ideal flight testing conditions. It is unlikely that this performance will be duplicated in service conditions.
The point of the foregoing is to illustrate the marginal climb performance of a multiengine airplane that suffers an engine failure shortly after takeoff, even under ideal conditions. The prudent multiengine pilot should pick a point in the takeoff and climb sequence in advance. If an engine fails before this point, the takeoff should be rejected, even if airborne, for a landing on whatever runway or surface lies essentially ahead. If an engine fails after this point, the pilot should promptly execute the appropriate engine failure procedure and continue the climb, assuming the performance capability exists. As a general recommendation, if the landing gear has not been selected up, the takeoff should be rejected, even if airborne.
As a practical matter for planning purposes, the option of continuing the takeoff probably does not exist unless the published single-engine rate-of-climb performance is at least 100 to 200 f.p.m. Thermal turbulence, wind gusts, engine and propeller wear, or poor technique in airspeed, bank angle, and rudder control can easily negate even a 200 f.p.m. rate of climb.
I'd suggest that should any FOI or ATO want to pull the mixture, the hospital emergency dept may be seeing an increase in broken arms.
Posted with memories of Les Morris.
Last edited by Brian Abraham; 30th Jul 2010 at 09:23.