Flight Training - August 2024 - 13

ASI TIPS
BY IAN J. TWOMBLY
TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE
TAMING MULTIENGINE AIRPLANES
IT'S A PARADOX THAT SOME OF AVIATION'S MOST
challenging flying requires the least amount of training.
Seaplane pilots get ratings in a weekend but must
navigate a landing surface completely unfamiliar to
land airplanes. The same goes for flying a multiengine
airplane, which can also be learned in a long weekend.
When both engines are operating, the training
feels adequate. But as soon as there is a problem,
those few hours will seem woefully inadequate.
Learning to fly a multiengine airplane introduces
many new concepts and builds on some of those
already learned. Almost all multiengine airplanes
have retractable landing gear, constant-speed
propellers, and other systems found on complex
single-engine airplanes. But expect to learn more
complex fuel systems, new environmental systems
in the form of a dedicated heater, and possibly other
new features, such as auto-feathering, rudder and
aileron trim, and more. Regardless of the type of
airplane you train in, new operational concepts will
form the core of the course.
MINIMUM CONTROLLABLE AIRSPEED
When one of an airplane's engines stops working,
it creates a dangerous situation called asymmetric
thrust. Imagine sitting in the middle of a merry-goround
while a friend begins to push on one side and
you get the idea. Rudder counteracts asymmetric
thrust, but at some point the pedal is to the stops and
the airplane still wants to yaw. That's minimum controllable
airspeed (MCA). When the airplane is flying
faster and there is lots of airflow over the rudder, a
multiengine airplane will fly just fine on one engine.
But as that airflow slows down, the operating engine
begins to win the push and pull, and the airplane will
yaw, roll, and ruin your day. MCA is denoted by a red
line on the airspeed indicator.
IDENTIFY, VERIFY, FEATHER
The mantra-identify, verify, feather-is something
multiengine pilots can recite decades after their
accelerated weekend training. When an engine quits,
the pilot identifies the bad engine by noting which
leg is just chilling while the other is hammering on
the rudder pedal. She then verifies this is the correct
side by pulling back on the throttle of that engine
(dead leg, dead engine), hopefully noting that nothing
changes, and finally, feathers the propeller on that
same engine by pulling the propeller control all the
way back. It sounds easy, but imagine doing it at 100
feet above the ground looking up at rising terrain.
Staying sharp as a multiengine pilot is challenging,
given that most of us will never have to shut down
an engine and there are many areas to train. Time
spent with the manual, in the simulator, and watching
safety videos online will quickly refresh those skills
you learned over an uneventful long weekend of flying
around a multiengine airplane on one engine.
ian.twombly@aopa.org
FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2024
13
TAMING THE TWIN:
MULTIENGINE
OPERATIONS
The AOPA Air Safety
Institute and Sporty's
have teamed up to
bring you a wealth of
video training content
on multiengine flying.
ASI will be releasing
modules on the basics
of multiengine flying,
what to do when an
engine fails on takeoff,
in cruise, and in
instrument conditions.
airsafetyinstitute.
org/tamingthetwin
MIKE FIZER
http://airsafetyinstitute.org/tamingthetwin http://airsafetyinstitute.org/tamingthetwin
Flight Training - August 2024

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