Seminole 43PE over the Gulf, engine failure....
What you see above is what an engine looks like at 4500 feet above the Gulf of Mexico when it isn't working. What you don't see is that we did this on purpose. Part of learning to fly a multi-engine aircraft is learning what to do in the case an engine completely stops working. In a single engine airplane like the one I flew in Montana, when an engine quits, there isn't another one to keep you going. You learn about best glide speed and whatnot but in a light-twin engine, you have to learn how flying is different when you have asymmetric thrust. The best way to explain this is if you think about what would happen if both your left tires went flat and if you stopped, you died. You'd have to turn the wheel to the right to keep the flat tires from turning the car to the left. Since you can't stop, you'd have to add power as well. That's a very watered down version of what I have to do, but since you aren't learning to fly a plane, me telling you what I have to do is pointless.
So, today was my first flight in a twin. It was AWESOME. For those of you who flew with me in Montana, you know how those aircraft performed. This thing is SO much more powerful and much faster than the other airplane. Of course, having another engine helps. The first ten minutes of the flight were great. We got leveled off at 4000 ft and started right into our maneuvers. Unfortunately, it was really hazy which resulted in there being no horizon to the north, south and west. It's hard to do visual reference maneuvers when all you see is a solid white wall. So, steep turns were rough. We then did some slow flight, stalls and minimum controllable airspeed demonstration. And yes, as you see above, we killed and engine and restarted it. It's not nearly as scary as it sounds. Or, maybe I'll just say it was SUPER scary and I was really brave and thought it wasn't scary at all. You can choose whichever scenario you'd like, but I prefer the one that makes me look like a hero.
So, today, I gave myself a D. I struggled with some of the maneuvers and didn't do nearly as well as I would have liked. My instructor, on the other hand, said I did really good and that I should have no problem at all with the check ride. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself. Oh well.
Tomorrow I have a sim at noon and I think I'm going to go in early and practice maneuvers and checklist processing for a few hours before hand. I don't want to even get close to busting a check so I want this to be perfect. Hopefully I'll fly twice this weekend! The schedule says I should have my multi-engine certificate by the middle of next week. Crossing my fingers!! Thanks for reading!
What you see above is what an engine looks like at 4500 feet above the Gulf of Mexico when it isn't working. What you don't see is that we did this on purpose. Part of learning to fly a multi-engine aircraft is learning what to do in the case an engine completely stops working. In a single engine airplane like the one I flew in Montana, when an engine quits, there isn't another one to keep you going. You learn about best glide speed and whatnot but in a light-twin engine, you have to learn how flying is different when you have asymmetric thrust. The best way to explain this is if you think about what would happen if both your left tires went flat and if you stopped, you died. You'd have to turn the wheel to the right to keep the flat tires from turning the car to the left. Since you can't stop, you'd have to add power as well. That's a very watered down version of what I have to do, but since you aren't learning to fly a plane, me telling you what I have to do is pointless.
So, today was my first flight in a twin. It was AWESOME. For those of you who flew with me in Montana, you know how those aircraft performed. This thing is SO much more powerful and much faster than the other airplane. Of course, having another engine helps. The first ten minutes of the flight were great. We got leveled off at 4000 ft and started right into our maneuvers. Unfortunately, it was really hazy which resulted in there being no horizon to the north, south and west. It's hard to do visual reference maneuvers when all you see is a solid white wall. So, steep turns were rough. We then did some slow flight, stalls and minimum controllable airspeed demonstration. And yes, as you see above, we killed and engine and restarted it. It's not nearly as scary as it sounds. Or, maybe I'll just say it was SUPER scary and I was really brave and thought it wasn't scary at all. You can choose whichever scenario you'd like, but I prefer the one that makes me look like a hero.
So, today, I gave myself a D. I struggled with some of the maneuvers and didn't do nearly as well as I would have liked. My instructor, on the other hand, said I did really good and that I should have no problem at all with the check ride. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself. Oh well.
Tomorrow I have a sim at noon and I think I'm going to go in early and practice maneuvers and checklist processing for a few hours before hand. I don't want to even get close to busting a check so I want this to be perfect. Hopefully I'll fly twice this weekend! The schedule says I should have my multi-engine certificate by the middle of next week. Crossing my fingers!! Thanks for reading!
Chris, the very first time I was EVER in an airplane, I jumped out of it. That's right, I had never been flying before the day that I went skydiving. I was scared to death. Now I have flown many times since then, but never in such a little plane. I can only imagine what it's like to be in a smaller aircraft and purposely turn off an engine. I'll pass!!!
ReplyDeleteIt really sounds(reads) like you are having a lot of fun at the same time that you are putting so much time and effort into this...which is key to almost guaranteed success. Good luck and keep up the good work.