AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2021 - 88

Is your
checklist
missing
something?

P&E PROFICIENCY

THIS HISTOGRAM PRESENTS THE of 26 pairs of glides with the difference in time to descend

through 800 feet. Since glide distance is proportional to time spent in the descent, it can
also represent the distribution of glide distances in a no-wind condition. On average, glide
distance is improved by approximately 8.3 percent by stopping the propeller. The improvement would be greater by feathering a windmilling propeller on a multiengine aircraft as
well as for slowing it a single-engine equipped with a controllable-pitch propeller.

Learn more
aopa.org/pps
or call
800.872.2672

88 | AOPA PILOT June 2021

Most of the ingredients for the emergency procedure involve minimizing drag
including the first and most important step:
push forward to ensure positive aircraft
control. Failing to do that first precludes
the opportunity to address the others.
While I might typically add the disclaimer that one should always check their
operator's manual and heed that advice, it
should also be read with a critical eye. I
found it odd that the in-flight engine failure procedure for a Beechcraft Baron B55
involves the same items but airspeed was
last on the list. I am a big fan of assembling
my own checklist and, were I to do so for
this airplane, I would reposition achieving
and maintaining VYSE to be the first item of
the procedure.
The old joke about multiengine training
is that we pay rental fees for two engines
but much of that time is spent with only
one engine running. With so many lossof-control accidents because of engine
failure in a twin, this training emphasis
tries to prevent such events in the future.
By the time the candidate gets to the practical exam, she is spring-loaded to push
forward on the yoke at the first sign of an
engine failure and continue with the emergency checklist.

CATHERINE CAVAGNARO

Available for membership levels with Pilot
Protection Services coverage

1. Achieve and maintain at least VYSE
(blue line) airspeed. If the engine failure occurs shortly after takeoff, this will
require an authoritative push on the yoke.
Increasing to VYSE improves roll stability
and the control effectiveness to counteracts yaw. It also reduces induced drag that
is considerable at higher angles of attack
(see facing page). Even if the aircraft cannot maintain altitude, the descent angle
should be small.
2. While identifying and steering the
aircraft gently toward the most favorable terrain, clean it up aerodynamically.
This includes retracting the gear, flaps,
and cowl flaps as such unnecessary drag
has a profound effect on increasing available area in an engine-out situation (see
" Overextended, " May 2021 AOPA Pilot).
After identifying (and verifying) the inoperative engine, pull the propeller control
back to low rpm and into the feather
position to stop it. Finally, maintaining
coordinated flight usually takes a small
bank toward the operating engine and an
inclinometer ball slightly deflected toward
the good engine.
3. Only if time and altitude permit, one
might troubleshoot to diagnose and remedy the problem.

http://www.aopa.org/pps

AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2021