Flight Training - May 2020 - 49

FINALLY!
A CARD
FOR PILOTS.

Once stable in level flight or descending at an acceptable rate, there might be
time to attempt a restart. If not, or if it
fails, it's on to "secure."
Secure. Typical items include
mixture to idle cutoff, adjusting the
fuel selector, and turning off magnetos,
alternator, and any other accessories.
After that, it's just a matter of keeping
the remaining engine alive and holding
altitude long enough to reach an airport,
fly a single-engine approach (IFR on
a particularly exciting day), and land.
Nothing to it, right?
The DA42NG's computers relegate
those procedures to the age of Model
Ts with manual spark advance. Microprocessors detect loss of power and take
corrective action. If thrust isn't restored,
the propeller feathers automatically, and
"securing" requires flipping one switch.
The pilot still has to manage airspeed,

directional control, and any airframe
clean-up, but the risks of stopping the
wrong engine or not feathering the prop
in time to maintain directional control
have largely been eliminated.
Whether this is a good thing largely
depends on where your flying career will
go next. Beyond making the checkride easier, the automation provides a more direct
transition to jets (where feathering isn't an
issue) or turboprops with autofeathering
capability. But if your next step up might
be flying a Beechcraft Baron or Piper
Navajo, you'll want to train in procedures
similar to those used in that aircraft. Also,
traditional piston twins tend to be older,
paid for, and therefore less expensive to
rent-but mastering their intricacies may
well require more rental hours. FT
DAVID JACK KENNY is a freelance aviation writer

living in Maryland.

MULTIENGINE TRAINING TRADITIONALLY HAS BEEN
CONDUCTED IN PISTON TWINS WHOSE ENGINE
FAILURES, REAL OR SIMULATED, ARE EASILY
MISDIAGNOSED AND EVEN MORE EASILY MISMANAGED.

JARGON
Feather

When an airplane engine fails, the windmilling propeller creates significant drag. In a
twin-engine airplane with the other engine
producing plenty of thrust, that's especially bad news-it can make the airplane
difficult, or even impossible, to control. So
multiengine airplane propellers are featherable. Feathering a propeller is stopping its
rotation with the blades streamlined into the
airflow, which reduces drag and allows the
airplane to motor on.

AOPA.ORG/FT 49

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Flight Training - May 2020

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