Flight Training - July 2011 - 30

CHECKLIST OR NO CHECKLIST?
Using a checklist is always a good idea, right? Maybe not. Although it’s always a good idea to verify your actions with a pretakeoff checklist, a true aircraft emergency is often not a good time to reach for your old friend. In general, use the checklist only if there’s time and it won’t compromise the safe outcome of the emergency. For example, the response to an engine failure shortly after takeoff should never involve a checklist, but one at 10,000 feet should. But even here there are caveats. Turn to a landing spot, perform the restart flow, and then verify. Don’t initially reach for the checklist. The variations on this are endless, but the important thing to remember is that going over a checklist takes time, and time is not something you’re always going to have.

to be safe. Then make a takeoff and, with sufficient altitude over the runway—300 feet or so—smoothly bring the power back (smoothly because abrupt throttle movements sometimes cause actual failures). Get the nose down, establish best glide speed—and slip, if necessary, as if trying to get the aircraft back down on the remaining runway. There should be no attempt to actually land, and the go-around should be executed long before approaching the

“OK, SO WHAT IF THAT BREAKS? WHAT WOULD I DO?”

other end of the runway and with lots of altitude. The purpose is to experience what it looks like to have a runway disappearing under your nose and get an appreciation of how extreme the moves have to be to get down from that altitude. Running off the end of the runway at 20 mph is better than an off-field landing. When an engine fails during climbout off the end of the runway, the urge to turn back is almost overwhelming. However, unless quite high, and with the right wind conditions, it is almost always the wrong decision. A way to develop an appreciation for what that maneuver entails is to start another faux takeoff from the same cardinal altitude used earlier. This time, climb up 500 feet, chop the throttle, and make a 180-degree gliding turn—then see how close you come to completing it before you descend to your original altitude. Depending on the airplane, you’re likely to find that 500 feet isn’t nearly enough. In fact, part of the exercise is to determine how much altitude is needed to make that turn. In a real situation, add at least 200 feet to that number for unforeseen complications. In an actual engine-out situation, the chance that your brain will function clearly and orchestrate a totally coordinated, maximum-efficiency turn is very small. Lots of excess altitude is likely to be lost to adrenaline-induced sloppy flying. A better tactic is to develop the habit of keeping track, on every takeoff, of those areas on the ground that offer a survivable touchdown point. The number and locations of reachable areas will increase considerably as your altitude and speed increase. Initially, they’ll be right on the extended runway centerline and quite close. But, as altitude is gained, the ability to deviate to either side to pick out the optimum touchdown area increases.

On your next takeoff, as soon as you’re high enough to see what’s ahead, begin playing “what if” games with yourself: “If it quits here, where will I put the airplane?” Practice doing that every second of every takeoff and soon, looking for emergency landing areas becomes second nature. An engine failure en route, at altitude, is not nearly as dramatic as losing it off the end of the runway because we have more time to deal with it. The primary task in an en route failure is planning the approach to an emergency field, which can easily be practiced by flying approaches to random fields in the practice area. Bring the engine back to idle (remembering both carb heat and to clear it from time to time) and set the goal of arriving opposite your touchdown point in what would be a fairly normal downwind position. Figure out how much altitude your aircraft loses in a 90-degree gliding turn, a 180, and a 360, and then use combinations of those to arrive at the appropriate altitude in the logical downwind position. By doing this the emergency landing will involve at least a little normalcy in the form of a routine power-off approach. Only the touchdown will be different. If an engine is lost while flying a stabilized, power-on approach, which automatically puts the airplane in a position from which it can’t reach the runway without power, things get very serious, very quickly. The changing tanks/fuel pump drill has to be executed instantly, and a landing site straight ahead picked out. Practice going through the drill at altitude until you can do it with your eyes closed.
FROZEN CONTROLS. Flight controls almost

never jam or become disconnected, but it can happen. Unfortunately, it’s often pilot-

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Flight Training - July 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - July 2011
