第一师水利水电工程处出台专业技术人员管理办法

Question

I can’t find a question that is exactly similar to this. A couple years ago, someone asked what to do if a 172 had an engine failure at 200’ and whether to add flaps or not.

My question isn’t about where to go. I think it is important to have lower the nose as muscle memory. I also think the landing site needs to be predetermined, whether on satellite view or looking out the window, anticipating an engine failure. That way flying the airplane and maintaining control take little time, and the “startle factor” is atleast mitigated a little.

With just a little more spare time, is it best to follow the rest of the procedure and shut the plane down, or can I very simple verify everything is set flow be done? I would hate to take the procedure so literally that one would go straight to secure, and miss something that could’ve fixed the problem.

But then again, trying to see if something can fix it can also lead to not having time to secure. Either way, whatever the procedure is, maintaining aircraft control is non negotiable.

Answer 1

You should have the engine failure drills internalized so effectively, through repetition, that you can run through the items, (carb heat on, mixture rich, mags, fuel valve - less than 5 seconds) while you fly the plane and look for a landing spot. In other words, as you look for a spot to put it down and pitch to best glide, your free hand is flying around doing this or that without thinking about it (including, critically, trimming to best glide speed, selecting fuel and mags off, cracking the door etc).

At that altitude, your options are going to be limited to the ground maybe 45 degrees to the right or left of your flight path. You are too low to mess around with flaps so if they are at take-off extension, just leave them, unless you have a landing spot right in front and lowering them more is necessary to avoid overshooting (this is why I hate electric flaps - sooo slow).

Or better yet, get good at controlling descent angle power off by side slipping. You can set a target landing point where you are a bit high for the existing glide angle, and side slip to compensate, increasing or decreasing the slip as required. This gives you the luxury of extending your glide slightly by removing the slip. It's like having glider spoilers. Leave the flaps until you are sure the spot is made.

The key to survival is to drill all the items so can you do them without thinking when a nasty surprise happens, leaving your brain free to plan the arrival as best you can, and fly the thing into the landing/crash. The worst results are always from losing control and hitting the ground vertically. People almost always survive if contact with whatever is there when you get to the ground is done while the airplane is still gliding and not stalled.