I think that what you want, altitude or airspeed may depend on what aircraft you are flying. I have no experience on light twins, but more time than I care to think about on *big iron*.
Seeing as how a forced landing in a field is not an option on heavies, once I've cleared the obstacles, give me SPEED every time. If I've lost one engine, I may soon lose another. In that case my minimum control speed is 210 kts. If I'm at Vx to get away from the ground, I'm well below that. Also, there may be some damage that the *book* doesn't cover. As previously mentioned, if the American DC-10 (not Eastern) had kept the speed, they would probably still be here.
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[This message has been edited by quid (edited 18 August 2000).]