When I first started working as an instructor the Chief Flying Instructor told us to fail the engine using the mixture control when teaching the PFL exercise.
Being a low hour newbie I followed the direction. One day I was doing the PFL exercise ( C 150) and it was not going well. After 2 tries, both completely botched, we were about to start a third attempt when I decided this students head was not in the game and told him to just fly us home. When we parked he pulled the mixture out and the knob plus about a foot of cable came out just as the engine died
. It turned out the mixture cable failed at the termination fitting at the carburator end.
If I had done the last PFL the end would have stopped with no way to get it going and we would have turned a practice force landing into a real one.
After that lesson, I simulate an engine failure in both single and multi engine airplanes by retarding the throttle.
