To turn it off or not to turn it off?

[DarkHelmet]

I believe that doing a simulated engine out with the engine at idle causes more drag on the aerie and makes you sink faster due to the drag caused by the prop spinning at a rate less than your forward movement.

The intention of this post is to open a discussion on the do's and don'ts off turning the engine off in midflight.

Some instructors teach it by flipping the mags off, others refuse to do it.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

[Big-D]

I bet Diesel has a story to share here

Shame, I am making fun of the man and he just returned from honeymoon - I asked him which is better: Flying or Honeymoon?

Took him very long to answer.....

Flying of course

D

[allcylinders]

The good thing about the simulation is that your glide rate is worse, which means that in a real engine out you will actually be able to get further than what you have been practicing.

I reckon (once I get flying again) that I will do many simulated engine outs with engine at idle before I get to stop the prop in flight, but a will stop the prop. If you don't have the full experience, you dont HAVE the full experience, and at least its at the airfield where you have a good landing spot. Practice practice practice.


My own opinion and 2 cents worth

[Dre'man]

I thnk let common sense prevail. To be proficient you will have to practice the realthing. Just make sure you have the space for any eventuality, overshoot, unexpected sink etc.

[DieselFan]

I bet Diesel has a story to share here

Shame, I am making fun of the man and he just returned from honeymoon - I asked him which is better: Flying or Honeymoon?

Took him very long to answer.....

Flying of course

D

Hmm with out going into too much detail... . You need to practice legit deadsticks. The difference is AMAZING. Also depends on gearbox, prop and engine. With the diesel it could feel like airbrakes...

Don't agree with mags off as it might not restart (Altho I must look at why and fix my puncture)...inflight atleast. The factor felt like 3x futher with prop stopped.

PS Big D sorry bout brekkies, had late night spring / winter cleaning. Woke up with babelaas feel and wx is so #$%$ lekker and in reply to which is better...flying doesn't leave u exhausted and I have a switch if I want silence

[C205]

We practiced dead stick and since there was no electric start, there would be no chance of restarting in the air anyway. Since I had about 30 hours in a glider before starting my MPL, landing without a engine was a piece of cake. Actually line up and land better without the noise behind me :D. Only problem is the trike has the glide angle of a brick compared to the glider

[Morph]

Start off in the circuit and when you turn to base and you know you will make the runway kill the motor and switch mags back on. Practise this a few times then move the killing of the motor to the downwind in line with the numbers. and eventually get yourself to say 1200 to 1500 ft above the runway on crosswind

It's important not to follow the same extended circuit you are used to, abreviate the circuit and get down on the ground ASAP, even if you land deep. Don't be tempted to try to stretch the glide

On 3-Axis keep you airspeed up, and once on final use side slipping if too high. Great fun once you get the hang of it

It's an amazing sensation coming in on that absolute silence.

[C205]

We start our excercise at 1000ft right overhead the airfield where we cut the mags, fly a downwind, base and lfinals, as long or short as necessary.

[Biggles]

I do a dead stick simulated forced landing everytime i go out alone. Set a time so I cannot choose over what terrian, drop to idle and try and put it down, abort just before round out and make a descision whether I would have survived or/and damage to aerie... so far about 90% would have been sucessful with no damages, one I did not even try... i would have been a dead duck and known it assoon as the engine died... opens your eyes to what you are flying over.

Things I have noticed is that a)there is a very real temptation to extend the glide b) steep turns loose you alot of height leading to a). The place you choose from on high might not be the best in the immediate area. I re-look at where I am going to land on the base leg. (Most destructors say pick a spot and stick with it... I find that on base you have a bit of time to re-evaluate.)

I was taught to switch off the mags when preforming engine off landings... there is a chance that the turning prop might crank hard enough to restart the engine at a most unwelcome time. Also to remember that if you are doing engine out from doing circuts you should let the engine cool after the climb before switching off... or landing with the engine at idle. Switch off the radio before you kill the mags and switch it back on when the engine is dead.

I am whole heartedly behind preforming sumulated engine failures. The more you practice the luckier you get!!!

[Tailspin]

Was taught 1000 feet above airfield, cut engine completely and go through the whole procedure including the restart, if she starts no problem make your landing if not still no problem land her anyway. Although rotating prop is a sort of airbrake and 90% of the time i try to keep engine running but sometimes I have not had an engine start from windmilling though

[DieselFan]

Ironically I felt more comfortable doing a deadstick at an unkown strip as with my idle approaches I found I normally applied a tad juice just in case. My deadstick was a kinda planned one. I was flying and thought what if my engine died now so I cut it. Tried restarting nothing. Started my long glide backwards to where my intended strip was, with many attempts at starting, said a few prayers and stopped trying to start her and maximised glide ratio, put her down lekker. Winds were around 20-30mph.

Tried starting on ground but nothing. Went to toilet. Primed carbs and started on the swing. Took off. Next day broke arm on road. Safer in air

Points I learnt.
- Glide is huge compared to idle.
- On my idle attempts at field you tend to fly circuits. In training forced landings were S's not circuits so you learn bad habits. So mostly just small circuits not true what ifs.
- Practice legit ones! I if practice too much on idle with poorer glide I might force my plane to land somewhere not as good when the real thing happens ie not used to actual glide ratio.
- With idle practices I was too worried about carb icing and concentrated more on that than the landings.
- It's quiet...perfect for prayer time.

Can't wait to get up and glide again - the rush, it's like your first solo.

[cobra]

Won't catch me touching those mag switches

[DieselFan]

Won't catch me touching those mag switches

Budwie? If every landing was deadstick we could save money on fuel and cut in front of others in circuit

[cobra]

Budwie? If every landing was deadstick we could save money on fuel and cut in front of others in circuit

Welcome back DF

Ag OK in that case I'm in

Did it on Saterday at Petit, by taking-off at the intersection hope they not to mad

[Dreamer]

Wont see me flipping those switches either, practice with the drag I say.if you bugger it up put foot and try again, if you get it wrong and engine is off well no time to "practice" again....