Originally Posted by
Big Pistons Forever
The point of teaching the PFL is so that if you have an engine failure for real you can deal with it.
Some things to think about in keeping the PFL exercise in perspective
1) 80 % of all engine failures are caused by the pilot with carb ice and fuel mismanagement/fuel exhaustion the biggest percentage. The best way to deal with engine failures is to not let the engine fail in the first place.
I've had 2 partial and 6 full engine failures. The partials were (1) fuel pump failure, (2) never explained, after 18 months of trying to fix it we gave up and sold the aeroplane with a lapsed CofA as a project. The fulls were (1)-->(4) Maladjusted carbs in newly installed engines, and (5) a blocked fuel filter, (6) mucking up a slow roll in an aeroplane with wet-bowl carbs. I have seen no evidence that your 80% is even close, certainly in my case it's 0%. Carb icing is fixable with carb heat - you have to try damned hard to get it far enough to fail.
2) When the engine has failed the insurance company has just bought the airplane. What it looks like after it has come to a stop is absolutely irelevant. What matters is nobody is hurt. Don't think of a PFL as a landing, think of it leading to a controlled crash
All of mine we got to use the aeroplane again, in my opinion flying it as a landing maximises the chances of survival anyhow. Deliberately flying it to a crash in my opinion is just improving the odds of a non-survivable landing.
So I'm afraid that I just don't agree with this oft-repeated "insurance company" argument. My backside is strapped into the aeroplane, and the better condition the aeroplane stays in, the better condition my backside is likely to remain also.
3) A steady 9 Gee deacceleration from 60 to 0 kts takes a ground run of 25 feet or one airplane length. Surviving the engine failure means avoiding the sudden stop caused by hitting an immovable object at flying speed. If the airplane hits approximately wings level and in a level flight attitude with a room for a bit of a ground run you will be OK. The take away is the field selection doesn't matter a whole lot. Making you selected touchdown point in control is what matters. Going immediately for the crap field that is close and has good approaches is way better than wasting time trying to find the perfect field.
I agree with all of this, but the reality is that we're looking for a good-enough field, rather than a perfect field.
4) The PFL exercise starts with a sudden and total engine failure. In the real world having a perfectly run engine suddenly totally stop without warning is the least likely scenario. You are much more likely to either have a rough running engine or a partial power loss or some warning the engine will fail soon if you are paying attention
Ish!
I've had rough running engines and cleared it (for example because I'd got myself into carb icing), or landed off a partial failure / rough running. But I've had several sudden stoppages - on the other hand all but one of those (the blocked fuel filter) were quickly restartable. Which emphasises how important it is after a real or simulated engine failure to go through restart drills, which brings me to...
5) If the engine stops as soon as you have set the glide attitude and pointed the airplane at a crashable surface, you should try to get the engine going again as there is a significant possibility that you were the reason it stopped.
YES !!!!!
This means learning and practicing an effective airplane specific "cause check" drill that will restore power. For example for the Pa28 it would carb heat on, boost pump on, change tanks , Mags checked. You should be able to do this without thinking in less than 5 seconds.
Couldn't agree more.
6) If you are really stuck with no power getting to your chosen touchdown spot boils down to seeing the desired flight path from where you are now to where you are going and being able to assess whether you are above or below that path and effectively correcting. The best way to learn that is to whenever possible do a gliding approach to land, ideally by closing the throttle on late downwind. Often you can't do that but what you can do is fly level on final until you think you have the field made and then close the throttle. What you want to build is your ability to see the gliding flight path and as a side benefit it will improve you landings
I also agree completely, although I would also agree very much with those above who recommend the use of military / glider style constant aspect approach to the landing. Rectangular circuits do not marry well with engine failures as they give far too little scope to make fine adjustments to flight path.
G