how often do you practice PFLs EFATOs?

[liam548]

Those who have their PPLs I am curious as to how often you practice these either on your own or with instructors?

I know the more the better but wondering what people actually do?

:)
Liam

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Every time I get a couple of months out of currency and the club makes me do a C check :)

[Keith_P]

I plan on every 2 months regardless of currency. If I end up out of currency and take a check flight with an instructor then it's something I would want to include. The time you are out of currency on emergencies is the time you are more likely to come up against a real one.

I also try to ensure doing these with an FI or at least an experienced PPL in the right hand seat every few months as it's a bit contrived if you pull the throttle yourself.

[englishal]

Why not try Engine failures at an airfield (with their permission of course). Try approaching the AF from various directions at say 2000/3000 feet, pull the throttle and glide down to a landing. That way you'll know how the aircraft will react in a real EF...

Regarding EFATO (which is what the Q was about :O) - See above - but try it from 1000'. Any less and I'll probably be landing straight ahead +/- 45 degrees so there is not much to practice really.

[Robin Pilot]

Keith P: regarding being a bit contrived and therefore anticipated when closing the throttle yourself, I read a good tip elsewhere on Pprune whereby you close the throttle when you next hear an RT or a particular phrase within an RT. Adds a small amount of randomness to the whole exercise.

[Sciolistes]

I was rather nervous of the idea of practicing PFLs on my own for quite some time. But once you start it becomes very much part of the fun. Personally, although it is contrived to pull the throttle yourself, the benefit is learning the procedure and the techniques to judge the glide and increasing your capacity.

I wouldn't recommend adding randomness on your own unless you intend to finish the procedure reasonably high. You really need to ensure you're not going piss anybody off or end up illegal. For me that means having a very good look around first, which is normally only satisfied with a couple of orbits.