Originally Posted by
POBJOY
This thread is only confirming the problem that a low hour PPL has in dealing with a 'real' emergency.
Unlike the military that 'practice' this all the time the civil PPl has to be able to 'do his best' in the circumstances at the time.
His best insurance is BEING AWARE, and that although unlikely it is possible and therefore having a simple game plan 'tucked in his mind' will serve him well.
This has to be based on being at a relatively low altitude, and a possible low annual flying time.
The priority is maintaining control,and focussing on flying the machine down to the best approach. With the luxury of height there is the chance of a quick fuel appraisal before turning it off,but then the 'air restart' situation (probably never ever practiced) for a non aerobatic pilot will take time, and this is when you can start to loose control of the situation.
You have to decide on a system that suits YOU and make it as simple as possible.
While I definitely agree that the priority in
any emergency including an engine failure is to fly the aircraft, I don't agree with the premise that a full cause check should not be be done in most circumstances. So for example if the reason the engine failed was because you had the mixture leaned for low cruise, descended and then added a bunch of power causing the engine failure, you are implying it would be better to go ahead and crash rather then perform a 10 second cause check which would instantly restore full power
My advice, and it is worth everything you paid for it
, is for low time pilots who don't fly that often to practice the initial actions for the engine fail scenario once on every flight.
So when you are flying along at some random point in the flight say to yourself that the engine has failed and do the following steps.
1) Say to yourself I am pitching the aircraft to best glide attitude and trimming
2) Look around and pick the
nearest reasonably flat surface with a clear approach. Try to keep the search time to less then 10 seconds
3) Perform a cause check including physically touching each control to build the automatic muscle memory that will be save your butt when the pressure is on.
The cause check I teach (C 172) is as follows
- Fuel selector both quantity confirmed. ( fuel selector is touched , fuel gauges pointd to)
- Mixture rich ( Mixture knob physically pushed in)
- Carb heat on ( Carb heat actually applied)
- Mags both/left/right/both ( switched touched but not moved actions verbalized)
This entire drill takes bout 30 seconds and will make the vital actions that could save your life, automatic.
Finally a useful exercise is if you are downwind and cleared to land/ No 1, is to close the throttle completely when you are even with the end of the runway. The goal is touch down in the first 1/3 of the runway without ever touching the throttle. This is a fun exercise in its own right but is also a great way to develop gliding flightpath judgement.