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Old 17th May 2011, 02:29
  #35 (permalink)  
Pilot DAR
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Age: 63
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OK it's a draggy bi-plane, I'm sure an engine out is an emergency situation and time would be short, but what is it we are supposed to know?
Yes, draggy biplane, and designed before the handling we're used to with today's planes, was established, and largely standardized. Though I have not flown a Moth in nearly 30 years, I recall that when you pull the power back in flight, they slow down fast. This is coupled with no stall warning system, and not the most "feel" in the flight controls I have ever experienced. Most of my Moth flying was on skis, on the ice of a frozen lake, so "making the runway" had a much wider margin for error!

Thus, when power is suddenly not there (no speculating here), the Moth will tend to maintain it's attitude, and just slow down, and stall. This tends to result in a wing drop. The "just let go to recover" technique is not really effective on a Moth, as a deliberate lowering of the nose is more necessary.

A power off arrival works just fine, but will more steep than today's pilots are typically expecting, and the time to flare, as the plane deccelerates, will be rather brief. As long as you're ready, it's fine. Just have your act together!

Back in the day, training was uniform, and very effective, as the students and instructors were military, and well regulated. Now, with that training regiment on type, a thing of the past, it's up to us to stay sharp, and expect different handling when flying very old aircraft.

There's an allure in the old types, Old types deserve some old training - not so easy to get in a new world....
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