Things I've learned from Youtube about Engine Outs

Bonchie

Pattern Altitude
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Bonchie
After binge watching like 10 engine out videos in a row, I've learned some valuable things:

1) Every youtuber who comments on these videos is a pilot that has had an engine out and they absolutely nailed the landing, did every single item on the checklist, and didn't bend a thing.

2) If you forget to unlatch the doors, you might as well just spin it in, because you missed the most important thing to do in an engine out situation.

3) If you didn't have time to pull out a paper checklist and verbally call things out so youtubers could confirm, then you didn't do the checklist and are a horrible pilot.

4) It's never ok to land in a field because it usually bends the airplane. You should always shoot for that narrow road with power lines some youtuber saw on the left side of the camera because then you could save the plane. We all know not bending the plane is the priority.

5) Spiraling down to then forward slip into a landing spot you know you have made means you don't know how to fly a proper pattern and should get more training.

6) If you have your engine quit at 350AGL but choose to turn 60 degrees into a field instead of landing straight ahead into the buildings and trees, you just broke the "30 degree rule" and are a terrible pilot. Get more training.

7) If you don't choose to stop flying the plane so you can instead tune the radio and yell mayday, you are not a good pilot and have made a grave mistake.

8) Props do not windmill, so if the prop is still turning, then the video is obviously a fake.

9) If you start to breath heavy or stutter, then you are a girl who has no future as a pilot. Real pilots don't have actual human bodies that react to stress.

10) Youtube commentators are all excellent at the impossible turn. So if you were above 500AGL but didn't attempt a turn back, then you have the airmanship of a crippled dog. Get more training.
 
Most pilots suck. The embry riddle mentality that permeates aviation with a completely unwarranted feeling of superiority is why we have less and less pilots every year.

Some people think because they read about something in a book, means they can do it better than someone who actually found themselves in the situation.
 
Some people think because they read about something in a book, means they can do it better than someone who actually found themselves in the situation.
This.

YouTube is no exception. It's just the nature of the beast.
 
Most pilots suck. The embry riddle mentality that permeates aviation with a completely unwarranted feeling of superiority is why we have less and less pilots every year.

Some people think because they read about something in a book, means they can do it better than someone who actually found themselves in the situation.

True. But I suspect most of those commenting are 20 hour at best students who never even soloed (if they've even flown at all) but think they know everything and exactly how they'd respond under the stress of an emergency situation.
 
True. But I suspect most of those commenting are 20 hour students who never even soloed (if they've even flown at all) but think they know everything and exactly how they'd respond under the stress of an emergency situation.

I've been in an airplane with 500 hour button pushers who have never actually "flown"
 
things I've learned about engine outs:

1) don't have them

I should add that to the list, because I also learned from youtube that engine outs never occur on well maintained engines and are always preventable. Stupid pilots :rolleyes:
 
...Some people think because they read about something in a book, means they can do it better than someone who actually found themselves in the situation.

this is why I recently recommended to a friend looking for an instructor to find one of the old guys in the area (sorry guys, I mean 'veteran CFIs') because even tho there are some smart kids around, easy to get along with, the old guys have most likely been thru it before, and there's really no substitute for experience in aviation. boobs help, but experience is where it's at. oops, sorry, I got old-school PoAish on y'all (aka fun).
 
I flew with one dude who thought you could always turn back to the runway and have time to do your paper checklist.

After finally having enough I pulled his engine at 500' and said prove it. He immediately locked up and stopped flying.


Like I said before I was happy I had a Captain in my airline training that forced me to fly the plane. I wasn't happy about it at first but I learned a lot that day.
 
I'd also wonder how many of those experts are speaking from a flying background that consists of MS flight sim or X plane.

I'd wager one of the reasons less folks are getting into flying is more to do with $$ than cocky green horns.
 
I'd wager one of the reasons less folks are getting into flying is more to do with $$ than cocky green horns.

Money is an issue But im thinking it has more to do with the commitment. People seem lazier these days, so committing to this hobby is a huge commitment both brain power and money power. A lot more can be done easier with less money so flying is not looked at by most. That's my thought anyway..

It doesn't surprise me much about youtube commenters. Most are kids sitting in their parents house playing flight sim all day and had never seen a GA plane in person. Dang if I had the internet in my teenage years Id for sure be a better pilot than I am now. hahaha
 
True. But I suspect most of those commenting are 20 hour at best students who never even soloed (if they've even flown at all) but think they know everything and exactly how they'd respond under the stress of an emergency situation.
Incorrect.
They all have thousands of hours... on Microsoft Flight Sim.
Most are instrument rated and fly instr approaches daily... on on Microsoft Flight Sim.
And some even hours hours on jets, 737's, even 380's... on on Microsoft Flight Sim.
 
Money is an issue But im thinking it has more to do with the commitment. People seem lazier these days
Agree. Had a friend that took his jr. high age nephew on his first flight. Nephew asks uncle to do a barrel roll. Uncle explains they're not in an acro plane. Nephew claims flight was boring - he'd rather fly the sim and do a bunch of stunts.

When we were young, you got out of the house for adventure. Only video games were pong and Atari. Flying was still romantic, and everyone was impressed.

Now, most kids would rather blow away aliens while munching on chips sitting on the couch. Unless a parent parents, kids will not seek real adventure, but rather settle for simulation.

What do your friends say now about you flying? Aren't those little planes dangerous?

And now, we add VR to the simulation. Cool stuff. But not going to help get kids (and adults) out into the real world.
 
And I'd wager if you took the little couch potato through a actual acro routine he'd be crying at the end of it lol
 
Incorrect.
They all have thousands of hours... on Microsoft Flight Sim.
Most are instrument rated and fly instr approaches daily... on on Microsoft Flight Sim.
And some even hours hours on jets, 737's, even 380's... on on Microsoft Flight Sim.

I just have to lol at the Microsoft flight sim people, X plane etc....it's not even remotely close to the real thing.
 
When the engine decides to retire in flight you do the best you can. Hopefully, your training & common sense will kick in.
In my multiple decades of flying I've only had one total engine failure. It was with a student in his own high-time Tomahawk & I won't bore you with the details except to say we & the plane were unscathed. I've also had a few partial failures & one electrical fire. Again, you do the best you can.

Speaking of Microsoft Flight Sim, I once had this cocky engineer walk into my FBO asking for flight lessons. We set up an intro flight & he stated that "I already know how to fly". I quizzed him further & found out he was a MFS junkie. Well, the first 5 or 6 lessons didn't go too well because he hadn't factored in airsickness. Yup, he had it bad. I also used to frustrate him when I'd throw a sheet over the instrument panel because he never looked outside the cockpit. He eventually got his PPL & flew quite well.
 
I recently had a potential teenage student call me about training. The first thing he said was he has over 8,000 hours of simulator time and he was pretty experienced. The actual flight went as well as you guessed.
 
The kids I've taught with previous sim experience weren't too bad actually. They just had a problem staring inside and I constantly had to remind them to look outside and I'd cover the instruments.
 
After binge watching like 10 engine out videos in a row, I've learned some valuable things:

1) Every youtuber who comments on these videos is a pilot that has had an engine out and they absolutely nailed the landing, did every single item on the checklist, and didn't bend a thing.

2) If you forget to unlatch the doors, you might as well just spin it in, because you missed the most important thing to do in an engine out situation.

3) If you didn't have time to pull out a paper checklist and verbally call things out so youtubers could confirm, then you didn't do the checklist and are a horrible pilot.

4) It's never ok to land in a field because it usually bends the airplane. You should always shoot for that narrow road with power lines some youtuber saw on the left side of the camera because then you could save the plane. We all know not bending the plane is the priority.

5) Spiraling down to then forward slip into a landing spot you know you have made means you don't know how to fly a proper pattern and should get more training.

6) If you have your engine quit at 350AGL but choose to turn 60 degrees into a field instead of landing straight ahead into the buildings and trees, you just broke the "30 degree rule" and are a terrible pilot. Get more training.

7) If you don't choose to stop flying the plane so you can instead tune the radio and yell mayday, you are not a good pilot and have made a grave mistake.

8) Props do not windmill, so if the prop is still turning, then the video is obviously a fake.

9) If you start to breath heavy or stutter, then you are a girl who has no future as a pilot. Real pilots don't have actual human bodies that react to stress.

10) Youtube commentators are all excellent at the impossible turn. So if you were above 500AGL but didn't attempt a turn back, then you have the airmanship of a crippled dog. Get more training.
Sad to say, that list reminds me of some PoA threads (although I concede that PoA threads are usually not as bad).
 
And now, we add VR to the simulation. Cool stuff. But not going to help get kids (and adults) out into the real world.

This is a vision into the future. VR will make this phenomenon worse. Flying, racing, hunting, social interaction, etc. There was a movie where people stayed at home and had their fake robotic/remote control bodies do the actual interaction with one another outside the house...can't remember it exactly, and never saw the whole thing.
 
Agree. Had a friend that took his jr. high age nephew on his first flight. Nephew asks uncle to do a barrel roll. Uncle explains they're not in an acro plane. Nephew claims flight was boring - he'd rather fly the sim and do a bunch of stunts.

When we were young, you got out of the house for adventure. Only video games were pong and Atari. Flying was still romantic, and everyone was impressed.

Now, most kids would rather blow away aliens while munching on chips sitting on the couch. Unless a parent parents, kids will not seek real adventure, but rather settle for simulation.
This seems to be a common view of 21st century young adults, but I think it's only partly true. Here in VT I see a LOT of young folks on the trails, people walking around immersed in their gadgets aren't rare but they aren't that common either. But very few can be seen hanging around the FBO (some of my students are interested, but mostly in military flying not GA), and KMPV just isn't that active with hobby pilots.

I think it's mostly a combination of flying being perceived as dangerous and as a rich person's hobby, and for people starting out in life especially these days, finances are generally very tight. Frankly I think both arguments are valid - though the first seems a bit of a lame excuse from folks who ride motorcycles - and there are a fair number of those (though nowhere near as many as in the midwest). To each their own...
 
After binge watching like 10 engine out videos in a row, I've learned some valuable things:

1) Every youtuber who comments on these .

2) . . . because you missed the most important thing . . .

3) . . . then you didn't do the checklist and are a horrible pilot.

4) It's never ok to . . .

5) . . . means you don't know how to . . . and should get more training.

6) . . . you just broke the "30 degree rule" and are a terrible pilot. Get more training.

7) . . . you are not a good pilot and have made a grave mistake.

8) . . . then the video is obviously a fake.

9) . . . then you are a girl who has no future as a pilot.

10) Youtube commentators are all excellent at the impossible turn. . . you have the airmanship of a crippled dog. Get more training.

I've found your problem! You are reading the comments with a purpose other than entertainment. When I bother to read comments, whether YouTube or after a news article, it's entirely for entertainment and laughter.
 
I recently had a potential teenage student call me about training. The first thing he said was he has over 8,000 hours of simulator time and he was pretty experienced. The actual flight went as well as you guessed.

I love those guys!
Every job needs comedy relief, and they are usually it.
 
Sort of like flying IFR in actual, ain't nothing like having a real engine failure (or two) to instill the real lesson.
 
In general I am not sure there is any percentage in filming an engine out or filming flying at all, not to mention posting it to YouTube. My sons & I felled some trees adjacent to the house this summer & I had one hard & fast rule: no videos. Filming just seemed to tempt fate, you could just imagine a clip of a tree falling onto a house going viral. Fate has a lot of temptations as it is, we shouldn't make it too easy for her.
 
The embry riddle mentality that permeates aviation with a completely unwarranted feeling of superiority is why we have less and less pilots every year.

There are many factors that contribute to dangerous attitudes, it isn't based solely on your education.
 
Here's my engine out in the patter in a Warrior a few years back.

 
FS experience is not actually that bad. I spent many hundreds of hours doing MSFS before I ever touched controls of C152. I found it useful except I still have habit of staring at instruments rather than outside reference to horizon while making steep turns ( took lots of grief from CFI for that during training ) . Other than that it prepared me and actually inspired me to get into real thing. I still spend some time with FS after 1600 + hours of GA flying.
 
I've found your problem! You are reading the comments with a purpose other than entertainment. When I bother to read comments, whether YouTube or after a news article, it's entirely for entertainment and laughter.

Replace "YouTube comments" with "anything online" and you've got it.

Got it. Engine discarded. Flying a sailplane.:)

My Glider buddies joke that every flight starts as an emergency and doesn't end until the Glider is back on the ground waiting to be hooked to the towplane again.
 
I had a Simmer on YouTube tell me that "any idiot can fly an airliner". He had "thousands of hours" on FSX and he can fly any IFR approach perfectly. He then went on to tell me how difficult his truck driving job is because "I can't just turn on the autopilot and sit there, I have to actually work". He had ZERO actual hours in a plane. Not even a discovery flight.

I gave up on humanity after that conversation.
 
Just remember brake for left, gas for right. To go up adjust the seat, to go down blow the horn.
 
boobs help, but experience is where it's at. oops, sorry, I got old-school PoAish on y'all (aka fun).

There's one instructor at my school who has suffered a total engine failure and has boobs... win win?
 
As a new student less than 7 hours of flight time between a Cessna 162 and a 172. I can say I hope that I do not have to ever deal with a true engine out, but I did have some fun last week. My CFI and I were flying, practicing stalls (power on and off). Then I noticed the engine running a wee rough at least in my opinion, after playing with the mixture it really didn't help. I just think the engine was complaining it was cold out and hadn't been flown in a while. But my first reaction was to point out 3 good landing spots none were runways and my CFI just laughed. After making it back to the airport we did several landing and still no issues, but I planned just in case. I have had some sim time over the years, but mostly I just love learning.
 
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