The idea of intentionally stopping the prop has always seemed very irresponsible to me
but
I also wish that at some point I had an instructor bold enough to practice it with me. Is that weird of me?
Youtube thought that I should watch this old video...so I did
basically the summary is this;
student pilot solo, the throttle will not retard...stuck full throttle
he gets a couple of different suggestions from folks on the radio
ultimately a CFI tells him to practice killing and restarting the engine using mixture
successful dead-stick landing
Luckily he was in a good position when he made his first practice attempt! Could have gone badly had he not been in just the right position in the pattern!
My primary instructor, starting with the very first flight, taught all landings like this - downwind abeam the numbers.... throttle to idle. I'll call that my perch point
I personally think this was very wise, but also maybe just a bit misleading. Back when I was actively flying even as a student I was pretty solid making the runway and even spot landings because of this approach.
While I was listening to this video, I was thinking that if this had happened to me as a student, especially having had some prior solo experience and practice... I think that if I'd have set myself up at TPA on a normal downwind, and then pulled the mixture just a little before reaching abeam the numbers (because speed is higher)...that I probably would be able to slow enough and reach that perch point and a more normal downwind speed, and make it pretty much a normal landing. Easy peasy.
But the thing is, I never had practiced such a thing....would I cut the mixture midfield? would that have been enough time to slow it up? earlier? later?... and what effect would the stopped prop have on my glide through base and final?
I've always wondered though, how well would I have done if say for example the engine quit at some point in the pattern when NOT abeam the numbers.... or if I found myself at some altitude other than TPA when abeam the intended landing point say if doing an off field engine out into a clearing.
but
I also wish that at some point I had an instructor bold enough to practice it with me. Is that weird of me?
Youtube thought that I should watch this old video...so I did
basically the summary is this;
student pilot solo, the throttle will not retard...stuck full throttle
he gets a couple of different suggestions from folks on the radio
ultimately a CFI tells him to practice killing and restarting the engine using mixture
I thought that it seemed like a good suggestion for him to practice that a few times before he gets low.
His first practice attempt stopped the prop and he didn't get it restartedsuccessful dead-stick landing
Luckily he was in a good position when he made his first practice attempt! Could have gone badly had he not been in just the right position in the pattern!
My primary instructor, starting with the very first flight, taught all landings like this - downwind abeam the numbers.... throttle to idle. I'll call that my perch point
I personally think this was very wise, but also maybe just a bit misleading. Back when I was actively flying even as a student I was pretty solid making the runway and even spot landings because of this approach.
While I was listening to this video, I was thinking that if this had happened to me as a student, especially having had some prior solo experience and practice... I think that if I'd have set myself up at TPA on a normal downwind, and then pulled the mixture just a little before reaching abeam the numbers (because speed is higher)...that I probably would be able to slow enough and reach that perch point and a more normal downwind speed, and make it pretty much a normal landing. Easy peasy.
But the thing is, I never had practiced such a thing....would I cut the mixture midfield? would that have been enough time to slow it up? earlier? later?... and what effect would the stopped prop have on my glide through base and final?
I've always wondered though, how well would I have done if say for example the engine quit at some point in the pattern when NOT abeam the numbers.... or if I found myself at some altitude other than TPA when abeam the intended landing point say if doing an off field engine out into a clearing.
