Fuji_Abound wrote:
I thought the stick throttle was part of the PPL – it was when I did mine.
Not where and when I did mine (1988) or ever since I instructed myself (1992 onward). There are so many things which can happen to a complex thing like an aeroplane that it is impossible to practice all of them within the 40 hours of a PPL. Beside all the real important stuff, e.g. how to fly, navigate and land…
I guess but I find the ones that always seemed to be covered (in terms of failures) either at initial training or re-current was stuck / broken throttle, fire in the cockpit, and stuck u/c (aside of course from fan stop and asy. in twins). I think they should be covered.
MedEwok wrote:
Couldn’t one just switch the ignition off? I guess it depends on the aircraft but that’s how my instructor turned off the engine on our Aquila, which has no manual mixture control, to create a power-off landing situation.
That I have never tried with a Rotax. Will a Rotax windmill, or will it stop?
Puling g will very effectively slow down an aircraft. In a normal light GA type (C-172 etc), I would simply pull g as necessary by doing tight turns until I can glide to a landing. Maybe also slow it down enough to apply full flaps at some pint. For higher powered aircraft, it may probably not work.
LeSving wrote:
That I have never tried with a Rotax.
You should
Will a Rotax windmill, or will it stop?
There is perhaps no universal answer, but I have never known one to windmill. Reduction gear is a strong factor. Correlating also to the difficulty of hand propping a 912, though I have seen claims of people succeeding to.
NB on ULM license tests here in BE it is quite common, almost a certainty, for the examiner to switch off the ignition at some point. On my license test, it was just after take-off (from a sufficiently long runway) perhaps 1 metre from the ground. On my subsequent test for carrying passengers, it was overhead at entry altitude. It is really scary to see that propeller standing still! My national federation organised a safety weekend on the very long runway of EBFN Koksijde, a year or two ago, where everybody were encouraged to switch off ignition at the end of downwind, just to get a feeling for gliding in. A wonderful experience!
Also: on a 912 (or 914) it is unlikely to get both carbs stuck at WOT° – if a cable breaks, like as not it will be one single carb’s. In such a situation, much better to shut down the engine than to let it run (very) assymetrically.
° Wide Open Throttle
I would worry about advising people to make tight high g turns under high power.
It’s fine if you’re right on top of your game, but could very quickly deteriorate into a spiral dive, which you are then not in a position to take the first recovery action of reducing power, and the wings could be off before the inexperienced pilot has recovered.
Timothy wrote:
I would worry about advising people to make tight high g turns under high power.
In a fixed pitch C-172 you got to do something, or the engine will overspeed. I discussed this several years back. It was a C-152 we actually discussed, but I think the same is true for a 172 and most similar types. A 2g turn or two every now and then is enough to slow it down for not to overspeed the engine.
The potential to load the engine by pulling turning G is very interesting, even though it may be unwise for unpracticed pilots. That’s not something that would not have immediately occurred to me… which I guess means I’d need to practice this carefully before needing to do it ‘for real’.
I suppose some smarty pants aerobatic pilot could theoretically achieve the same end by inverting the aircraft and pulling high G loads while descending fast, or some other means of holding G while descending.
A few years ago I had a constant speed propeller problem in which the engine would overspeed on takeoff, but of course in that intentional climb situation you could load the engine by pitching up and reducing airspeed.
I interpreted that suggestion as slowing down by doing S-turns, which works (the space shuttle used that method, albeit at some 6000kt, IIRC) and it is a good technique for slowing down in a forced landing which didn’t work out well and you ended up too fast to get into the only available spot. But I think one would have to do very aggressive S-turns if the engine was stuck at full power.
But if the discussion is a Cessna and not a Rotax engined plane, the mixture lever is the obvious way, I would think. UK PPLs are rarely trained to use that lever, but they could be.
Stuck at full throttle with C172/Pa28 or less, an initial climb to reduce speed to allow full flap, then sideslip to avoid gaining height until near an airfield should work. But a high powered aircraft would be a problem.
After the professional refitting of our Jodel DR1050, the throttle would not close enough to land. I flew down the runway to half way then pulled the mixture. I restarted twice to get clear of runway, shut down, and the firemen pushed the plane in. The engineer said that if I had used the mag switch as a blip switch, I’d have damaged the engine.(method used instead of throttle on some early engines)
Shortly after our last C of A annual, I was letting a potential new Group member fly it. After we turned final for 19 Oban, as P1, I took control. I found the throttle too stiff. There were 2 throttles levers, and I loosened his friction nut. The throttle then locked, with just enough power to safely make the runway chevronned bit. Connection in panel loose, allowing assymetric lever position.
Being lucky is as important as cowardice for a pilot. 
On my PPL at Thruxton, an engine stop with speed reduced until the prop stopped, then a dive to restart, was demonstrated in a DH82 Tiger Moth, which had no starter. In 1964 it was needed if I went on to do a CPL. Or so I was told.
On my PPL at Thruxton, an engine stop with speed reduced until the prop stopped, then a dive to restart, was demonstrated in a DH82 Tiger Moth, which had no starter. In 1964 it was needed if I went on to do a CPL. Or so I was told.
I did much of my PPL with an instructor at Shoreham, whose favourite trick was to stop the prop in a C150/C152 and say “and now we are a glider”. It takes a lot of nose-up attitude – about 30 degrees – and flying almost at stall speed. He did it with me, and with a pleasure flight trial lesson customer who many years later is now my office manageress And without a doubt with many others. He had to disappear rather quickly around 2004 (due to some non-airborne activities) and left aviation. But he was a competent instructor. Many will remember him, especially the young ladies, 1/3 of his age 
But he was far from being the only FI doing that…
I recall being told this stunt was mandatory for an FI rating back then.
Being lucky is as important as cowardice for a pilot.
For sure, but I think a good preflight, shining a torch under the lower cowling, should spot various nasties. This is possible only on some types however. On others there is absolutely nothing visible from the outside.
