Originally Posted by
Jonzarno
Whilst I can't argue with the basic sentiment of this, I would be interested to know a bit more detail on how these failures are being caused. Improper mixture control leading to detonation / pre-ignition or failure to add oil suggest themselves but, although I know of one or two examples, I don't recall reading about many of these.
However, I am aware of a number of maintenance induced failures and would have thought that is probably a bigger problem.
Remember forced landing due to 'Engine Failure' just means the engine was unable to maintain power, not that it actually fell apart. So the first and second most common pilot induced engine failures must be either running out of fuel or mismanaging the fuel selectors to run the engine out of fuel.
Third is probably failure to apply carb heat when needed.
Other common ones would be running the boost pump and getting a rich cut, not checking the fuel for water, pulling the mixture rather than the throttle, leaving the primer unlocked, etc. None of these actually break the engine, just result in no/low power.
There are some more subtle ones, like taking off knowing (or not having checked) that the mixture is too lean to generate full power, both mags are not working, knowing oil consumption has dramatically increased, etc.