Great step-by-step of a real engine failure in IMC.
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Great step-by-step of a real engine failure in IMC.
Good job on all parts. Easy to fault him for wanting to get on the ground a little to early, but in a real life scenario, I think most of us would have done the same.
Very interesting, and well presented.
I couldn't help laugh when he phoned ATC to say he was down alive, and their first response was to cancel his IFR flight plan. But they must have been having nearly as much a white knuckle ride as he did.
I personally think that ATC was right to steer him to the airfield they did - because it wasn't surrounded by connurbation. The fact that he, and most of the aeroplane, survived, seems to bear that out.
In retrospect *perhaps* he could or should have killed the engine once on short finals, and *perhaps* he could have landed a little earlier by sideslipping off the last bit of height, as well as used that and/or S-turns to get rid of his excess speed.
But his main learning points about decision making and communication strike me as excellent. And clearly, regardless of any nitpicking I or anybody else can do, he AND ATC handled it damned well.
If that had been me, I'd pull it apart and criticise myself, but still feel very proud to have pulled it off.
G
I couldn't help laugh when he phoned ATC to say he was down alive, and their first response was to cancel his IFR flight plan. But they must have been having nearly as much a white knuckle ride as he did.
I personally think that ATC was right to steer him to the airfield they did - because it wasn't surrounded by connurbation. The fact that he, and most of the aeroplane, survived, seems to bear that out.
In retrospect *perhaps* he could or should have killed the engine once on short finals, and *perhaps* he could have landed a little earlier by sideslipping off the last bit of height, as well as used that and/or S-turns to get rid of his excess speed.
But his main learning points about decision making and communication strike me as excellent. And clearly, regardless of any nitpicking I or anybody else can do, he AND ATC handled it damned well.
If that had been me, I'd pull it apart and criticise myself, but still feel very proud to have pulled it off.
G
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Re the landing and overrun after an engine problem - BTDTGTTS (or would have done had I not had 2km of tarmac).
Engine glitch downwind, then as per that report I turned base too soon and came in too high and too fast. Stopped within the last, rather than the usual first, quarter of the runway.
Next time I'm within reach of a runway with an iffy engine: set up for a glide approach, engine to idle, land. As per training. But it does somehow seem to go out of the window.
Engine glitch downwind, then as per that report I turned base too soon and came in too high and too fast. Stopped within the last, rather than the usual first, quarter of the runway.
Next time I'm within reach of a runway with an iffy engine: set up for a glide approach, engine to idle, land. As per training. But it does somehow seem to go out of the window.
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Night Flying
Hi...excellent presentation and something that we can all learn from...keep calm and rely on your training...
I have only a VFR and was wondering if anyone has had an engine failure at night, in a SEP? How would you cope and how would you know if the black patch below is a field, lake, trees etc? If your navigation is spot on, then it would be an easier task to identify these but what if you are also lost and you don't know where you are (well, buses come in two and threes....!)
I have only a VFR and was wondering if anyone has had an engine failure at night, in a SEP? How would you cope and how would you know if the black patch below is a field, lake, trees etc? If your navigation is spot on, then it would be an easier task to identify these but what if you are also lost and you don't know where you are (well, buses come in two and threes....!)
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Yes....
Not really, the official terminology is similar to the UK. However, it seems to be omitted from almost all emergency transmissions in the US (Even commercial).
The common (though not correct) phraseology is
'I have/am declaring an [low, medical, engine out, low power, ...] emergency'
or
'Ah, this, uh, Cactus 1539. Hit birds, we lost thrust in both engines. We're turning back'
Not really, the official terminology is similar to the UK. However, it seems to be omitted from almost all emergency transmissions in the US (Even commercial).
The common (though not correct) phraseology is
'I have/am declaring an [low, medical, engine out, low power, ...] emergency'
or
'Ah, this, uh, Cactus 1539. Hit birds, we lost thrust in both engines. We're turning back'
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I have only a VFR and was wondering if anyone has had an engine failure at night, in a SEP? How would you cope and how would you know if the black patch below is a field, lake, trees etc? If your navigation is spot on, then it would be an easier task to identify these but what if you are also lost and you don't know where you are (well, buses come in two and threes....!)
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I have only a VFR and was wondering if anyone has had an engine failure at night, in a SEP? How would you cope and how would you know if the black patch below is a field, lake, trees etc? If your navigation is spot on, then it would be an easier task to identify these but what if you are also lost and you don't know where you are (well, buses come in two and threes....!)
Look for flood lights!! sport fields are your friends. Although a daylaight inspection of our closest sports field had very inconveniently placed, and very solid junction boxes between each light pole, very nasty if you chose to land between.
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I rarely fly at night - precisely because no matter what you do, there are so few options. Over water, you can (and should) carry a life raft, but there is no viable escape route for night flight.
You could wear NVGs
But anything short of 3rd Gen NVGs is pretty useless, the 3G ones cannot be legally imported into the UK (well not by Joe Public), and the whole cockpit / instrument lighting system would need to be revamped for NVG compatibility. Also, people who fly with NVGs have a lot of extra training.
In practice, most airports are closed at night anyway
You could wear NVGs
But anything short of 3rd Gen NVGs is pretty useless, the 3G ones cannot be legally imported into the UK (well not by Joe Public), and the whole cockpit / instrument lighting system would need to be revamped for NVG compatibility. Also, people who fly with NVGs have a lot of extra training.In practice, most airports are closed at night anyway
I very much agree, I basically do not fly singles at night outside the circuit anymore as I am not prepared to accept the risk. BTW a study of accidents in the USA suggest for non instrumented rated PPL's flying single engine aircraft the risk of a fatal accident is up to 25 times higher then for an equivalent flight during the day.........
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I rarely fly at night - precisely because no matter what you do, there are so few options. Over water, you can (and should) carry a life raft, but there is no viable escape route for night flight.
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You can check the altimeter against a GPS.
GPS altitude is normally very accurate.
I know one uses barometric altimetry for good reasons but all GPWS systems use GPS altitude and its accuracy as a standalone source, not subject to an incorrect QNH setting etc, is inescapable.
GPS altitude is normally very accurate.
I know one uses barometric altimetry for good reasons but all GPWS systems use GPS altitude and its accuracy as a standalone source, not subject to an incorrect QNH setting etc, is inescapable.
You can check the altimeter against a GPS.
GPS altitude is normally very accurate.
I know one uses barometric altimetry for good reasons but all GPWS systems use GPS altitude and its accuracy as a standalone source, not subject to an incorrect QNH setting etc, is inescapable.
GPS altitude is normally very accurate.
I know one uses barometric altimetry for good reasons but all GPWS systems use GPS altitude and its accuracy as a standalone source, not subject to an incorrect QNH setting etc, is inescapable.
My interest (engine failure in IMC) would be putting the aeroplane on something flat and large in one piece. I'll talk to somebody and declare an emergency, at which point I simply don't care about airspace busts or deconflicting with other traffic - that's all somebody else's problem.
So, I'd simply use GPS as my primary altimeter, particularly making use of my (up to date!) terrain and obstactles database. I'd also use it as my primary speed indicator - since it gives me groundspeed and distance, and either from there or my VSI I have RoD, it should be pretty easy to answer the vital question "will I get there, pointed in the right direction, with air still under the tyres?" without faffing around with mental arithmetic that I just don't have time for at this point.
Most other times, the altimeter is primary - but not this time. Ditto airspeed - so long as I stay adequately away from Stall/Vne, I'll start worrying about the airspeed around 1000ft when I'm sorting my approach out.
G
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The problem is that you still need a GPS moving map which shows you where you need to glide to, in a very clear manner.
I didn't watch the whole video above (it's a simulation, after all) but I recall there was another similar video going around where a Cirrus pilot used synthetic vision to get down through IMC, following an engine failure. Maybe it is the same one? SV should be very good for that purpose. You just need to be high enough above the terrain to start with
I have not been able to find a piece of software which would deliver SV on the winXP tablet I fly with, which is why I fly with that stuff I posted a pic of. It was laboriously generated from the Google Terrain map server, using a piece of software whose developers got sued (and otherwise threatened) because it hogs the server bandwidth so it no longer officially exists in that version.
One day, this thing might save my life.
SV does exist; my son had worldwide SV on X-Plane a few years ago. It involved about 6 DVDs with the NASA SRTM data. But that implementation was not viable for in-flight use. One needs something which you just turn on and off it goes.
I didn't watch the whole video above (it's a simulation, after all) but I recall there was another similar video going around where a Cirrus pilot used synthetic vision to get down through IMC, following an engine failure. Maybe it is the same one? SV should be very good for that purpose. You just need to be high enough above the terrain to start with
I have not been able to find a piece of software which would deliver SV on the winXP tablet I fly with, which is why I fly with that stuff I posted a pic of. It was laboriously generated from the Google Terrain map server, using a piece of software whose developers got sued (and otherwise threatened) because it hogs the server bandwidth so it no longer officially exists in that version.
One day, this thing might save my life.
SV does exist; my son had worldwide SV on X-Plane a few years ago. It involved about 6 DVDs with the NASA SRTM data. But that implementation was not viable for in-flight use. One needs something which you just turn on and off it goes.
If you analyse AAIB reports, ATSB reports, you name it - pretty much all pilots are incredibly reluctant to use the "M" word.
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If you analyse AAIB reports, ATSB reports, you name it - pretty much all pilots are incredibly reluctant to use the "M" word.
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I've recently installed a new panel in my aeroplane and we (me and my co-owner) were deliberating over whether to iclude SV in our spec.
My contention was "what on earth for, you can look out of the window" and then someone pointed me to this:
Aircraft Engine Failure IMC with Synthetic Vision - YouTube
and the decision was made for me.
I've just started test flying the aeroplane with its' new panel and after only three hours I lost sight of the runway on finals due to the low sun; a quick glance at the screen and there was the runway laid before me.
If you're in a position to install it I highly recommend that you do!
My contention was "what on earth for, you can look out of the window" and then someone pointed me to this:
Aircraft Engine Failure IMC with Synthetic Vision - YouTube
and the decision was made for me.
I've just started test flying the aeroplane with its' new panel and after only three hours I lost sight of the runway on finals due to the low sun; a quick glance at the screen and there was the runway laid before me.
If you're in a position to install it I highly recommend that you do!