Yesterday, I finished my piece about flying with Maurice by giving him thanks for a great flying lesson. It got me thinking about other great lessons I learned in airplanes with other flight instructors and I thought of another, with an instructor by the name of \u201cEd.\u201d Yeah, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll call him, Ed.<\/p>\n
One day, the company dispatched me to pick up one of our twin Cessnas from the paint shop. On the way back in, they gave me a call and asked me to divert to another airport to pick up Ed and his student, whose airplane broke down in the middle of their training sortie. When I found the two of them, they had terminated the training flight and now they were just passengers. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Since Ed was my senior, I deferred command to him. He settled into the right seat while his student strapped into on the seats in the rear of the airplane. \u201cNaw, it\u2019s your airplane,\u201d Ed said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
We fired up, taxied out, and went through the pre-takeoff checks. While I was handling the flying, Ed was backing me up with the checklist and running the radio. I looked around and asked the student if he was ready and got a thumbs up and then asked Ed if he was ready. He nodded the affirmative and asked if I was ready. I nodded and he gave the call that we were departing Runway 5.<\/p>\n
I eased the power on and swung out onto the runway. When I lined up, I squeezed on takeoff power and we started to roll. Gauges for the left engine looked good, so did those for the right. We rotated, I raised the gear, and then it happened.<\/p>\n
At about 500 feet agl, one of the engines sputtered. Not a great sputter, just a little popping. Like something wasn\u2019t quite right. I knew exactly what I needed to do, but I hesitated. I hesitated because it was something that had never happened to me in a multi-engine airplane and I found myself taking time, too much time, to think about it.<\/p>\n
Now let me explain: in training, a multi-engine flight instructor can be a pain in the butt. He or she sits in the right seat doing dastardly things like easing back one of the throttles, or a mixture control, or doing something to make one of the propellers stop supplying thrust to the effort of flight.<\/p>\n
Now, let me emphasize: the instructor usually takes away all the power. Now I was sitting in an airplane that was doing something…, well…, funny. There was a slight popping of the power, but there was no swing toward the inoperative engine.<\/p>\n
This had never happened before. In the past, all of my experience with engine problems with a twin resulted in a loss of power and a determined turn in the direction of the engine that stopped running.<\/p>\n
There was just that moment of hesitation… It was something I didn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the slight grin on Ed\u2019s face. When I looked at him, and he knew I was looking at him, he gave up all pretense of being sly with the mixture for the right engine and busted out laughing.<\/p>\n
He thought it was funny. And, it was.<\/p>\n
But more importantly, it was one of the best lessons in flying twins that I ever had. It reinforced the idea that if anything happens, ease the mixtures forward, place the props full against the firewall, and open the throttles all the way. Then you can start trouble-shooting as to why it was making the funny noises.<\/p>\n
The other great lesson for me, one I would like to pass on to others, is that hesitation can last a very long time, even if it takes only seconds. Surprise in the cockpit is never a good thing and recognizing when something is amiss can be a lengthy process, even if time is measured in seconds.<\/p>\n
And that was one of the best lessons I have ever learned. Thanks, Ed.<\/p>\n
-30-<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, I finished my piece about flying with Maurice by giving him thanks for a great flying lesson. It got me thinking about other great lessons I learned in airplanes with other flight instructors and I thought of another, with … Continue reading