Originally Posted by
Whiskey Kilo Wanderer
It was an interesting exercise, although I don't want to think about what would happen if a four second delay was introduced (to simulate the pilot’s recognition of the problem and to start to react).
Safe Flying,
Richard W.
This is exactly the problem between what you can do in a practice session and what is realistically obtainable when the totally unexpected silence occurs. The pitch down to the glide attitude should be automatic but what to do next will always take a few seconds to process. Interestingly NASA research shows that even professional pilots who fly everyday typically have a 3 to 5 second reaction time when given an unexpected emergency.
That is why I fear that pilots who have practiced the turn back and say "well I have repeatedly practiced the turnback and can do it every time from an altitude of 500 feet" have perhaps an unrealistic appreciation of how it would work for real. The other problem with practicing turn backs at altitude is the "ground rush" you will experience with the steeply banked very nose down attitude required for a successful turn back. This often results in inadvertently applying back stick and leads to a stall spin. The only way to get over this is to practice the manoever at actual low altitudes which is insanely risky.
Finally I think it is important to qualify the turnback. The aim of this manoever should not be to get back to the runway, it should be to reach any part of the flat, level and mostly unobstructed ground within the airport perimeter. If you can make the runway that is a total bonus.
But as I said in my opening post I strongly feel that for all but the most experienced pilots if a total engine failure occurs below 1000 feet AGL you are invariable going to better off gliding straight ahead and turning only to avoid major obstacles, and that is what I teach my PPL's.