Lesson #22 Forced Approaches II

Last lesson I learned how to do a successful forced approach. Basically set the aircraft for best glide and then pick a good location to land, then run the circuit by the numbers and land the aircraft on the spot that I'd chosen. During today's lesson I'd continue to practise forced approaches with my instructor, but with all the other important stuff thrown in to make it complete.

We started things off with a briefing. The first thing that a pilot with an engine failure needs to do is Aviate, this means fly the aircraft. The second thing a pilot needs to do is Navigate, basically find a suitable spot to land. The final thing a pilot needs to do is Communicate, tell the freaked out passengers in a calm voice to chill out and get prepared for landing, then call someone on the radio and let them know what's going on. I've oversimplified this process somewhat, but I'm going to run you through it shortly.

Takeoff and climbout was normal, we flew out to our normal training area which is located about 10 miles or so to the northwest. Our transponder was still giving us grief, it refused to work in Mode C during our last lesson, it was fixed this week but it's still not working properly. For those of you that don't know what Mode C is, it's a type of transponder that basically tells the tower/ATC your altitude. It's not required for our lesson, but it's nice to have.

We arrive over our training area and I'm just about finished trimming us out for cruise at 3,500 ft when Dave reaches over and pull the throttle back. I believe that he took some enjoyment in asking me what I was going to do now. I quickly pull on carb heat and trim Fern for 80 mph, which is best glide, I've got about 7 minutes to touchdown. I quickly find a suitable field and point us in that general direction. Actually, the hardest part about field selection on PEI is narrowing it down to one.

I then start my simulated passenger brief, I tell them that we're having some engine problems and that we're going to be landing in a farmer's field. That I've been trained for situations like this and there's nothing to worry about. As a precaution however they should slide their seats back all the way and remove any sharp objects from their pockets and place them on the floor. They also should remove their glasses and tighten their seatbelts. Then I tell them where our fire extinguisher is located and that there's a first aid kit in the back.

Next I make my mayday call, I tell the tower or ATC that we are declaring an emergency, that we've had an engine failure and will be landing in a farmer's field. Then I tell them where we are, our height, type of aircraft, it's colour and the number of people on board. Finally I switch the tranponder over to 7700.

If time permits, I begin my cause checks, going from left to right on the panel to determine if there's something wrong that can be made right again. I verify that the engine primer is locked, main power on, mags on both, carb heat on, fuel on both tanks, mixture full rich, then I check the engine's oil pressure and temp.

Next item on the to do list is to attempt a restart. I give the wings a good rock back and forth to dislodge anything that might be clogging the fuel pickups. Then I switch to the left mag and left fuel tank and crank the engine. If this doesn't work I switch over to the right mag and right fuel tank and attempt another restart. If time permits, multiple restart attempts can be made while running the circuit.

Just prior to touchdown, open both doors slightly to keep them from getting jammed shut. Next turn off the main power switch, switch the mags to ground and turn off the fuel supply. If possible perform a perfect softfield touchdown bringing the aircraft to a complete "shiny side up" stop.

My job's done, now I may bask in the praise of my passengers as they go on and on about my skills as a pilot. Next I swagger John Wayne like to the emergency vehicles as they scream up, these folks tend to get excited and they'll need to be calmed down as well...

Ok... I'll admit this last bit is a little "over the top", but I'm doing the writing here...

If time permits you can go through all the steps I've outlined above, else forget about them. As a pilot you need to always remember that your first priority is to fly the aircraft to your chosen landing site.

Dave ran me through a few simulated engine failures with me going through each of the steps. The first time I was a little rough and forgot a few things during the pax brief, but I got much better as the lesson wore on. As far as making my fields, I had no problems whatsoever as I was bang on nearly everytime, but I do have a habit of being a little high on final. For two of these forced approaches, we used the same two private landing strips from our last lesson, this allowed me to come right down to about 200 ft AGL.

My final approach of the day was by far my worse. I came in way too high and found myself cranking and banking so much on final that Dave even commented about our extreme nose down attitude, I quickly replied that we had full flaps on and that we were just a hair over 80 mph. (Stalling wasn't an issue as I was making sure that I careful not to load the wings too much). We overshot the field at about 500 ft.

My last approach didn't impress Dave, and I knew what was coming before he even started. He said that I shouldn't be putting myself in a position where I have to agressively manoeuvre the aircraft on final. Since we had plenty of time I should remember that I also have the option of making a slow turn to see what's on the other side of the aircraft, as well as what's underneath us. I can only imagine afterwards how I would have freaked out my already freaked out passengers, making turns at 45 degree of bank with the nose way down, coming in on final like the space shuttle. (I have to confess, it was fun though).

Anyways, it was time to head home. I had done six forced approaches during the lesson, each from a different height, with the last couple coming as complete surprises as Dave without any warning reached over and hauled the throttle back on me. Five of my landings would have been bang on and my sixth would have been possibly too long, my aggresive S-turns on final during my last landing would probably have freaked most passengers out.

Since our Mode C was on the fritz I called tower and told them that we would be entering the cz at circuit height (1,200 ft). The guy in the tower then asked what I wanted to do, usually they assume that your coming in to land after the standard hour long lesson. I replied that we wanted to land and that we were looking for the airport and traffic advisory. I received the info I need and Dave suggests crossing at midfield to join the downwind for runway 21, for a crosswind landing. I get on the radio again and let tower know of our intentions. A few minutes later as I'm just over midfield and about to make a left turn to join the downwind for 21, Dave asks me to report our position. I would normally have waited until I had straightened out on the downwind leg.

Just as I finished my radio call Dave reached over and pulled the power back to idle, "another engine failure" he declares with a smile, I comment somewhat colourfully about his timing.

I hold my nose up to bleed off speed as I finish my turn, then set her up for a best glide. Dave then calls tower to inform them of our simulated engine failure. I turn base early, and then final, running the numbers. I leaned over and dropped 40 degrees of flaps, then I remembered that this was going to be a crosswind landing and then pull the flaps back up to 10 degrees. I accidental left the switch in the raise position, Dave catches my mistake and puts them back down to 10 degrees.

The actual landing was soft, but messy. I touched down on my right wheel followed a few seconds later with my left, the nose came down about 5 seconds after that. It wasn't bad landing but it's obvious that I still need practise with cosswinds as I tend to lag behind on the rudder as I use the ailerons to keep us on the centerline. Practise makes perfect I guess.

Couple of things to remember from this lesson;

- If I have the time, I should use it to make sure that I get a better look at the area that I'm flying directly over for possible better places to land.

- Our flaps are electrically activated. I have to get into the habit of putting them up incrementally during my overshoots, instead of slapping the button up which raises them all the way.

- Turns at high angles of bank which most pilots quickly become comfortable with can really be unsettling to the occasional passenger.

With this lesson finished and my FI satisfied that I'm able to handle an engine failure, I'm now permitted to leave the cz and go out and raise havoc in the training area. My next flight will be a solo to practise my forced approaches and upper air work.