The West Coast is paralyzed with snow
and I am house bound so stand by for a rant
For the flight test and in the real world when it suddenly gets really quiet the obvious first things to do are to lower the nose to the glide attitude, trim and point the aircraft at some crashable surface.
For the flight test and in the real world the next thing is to do the IA's (Immediate Action) drills, also commonly called the "cause check". These should be a few simple checks because in the flight test you know the engine is not going to start so you don't want to waste time and in the real world you want to do a gross error check on the systems which are easily correctable and will get power restored, like carb heat for carb ice, changing the fuel selector to a tank that has fuel where you have inadvertently run a tank dry, boost pump on (if fitted) in case the engine driven fuel pump has failed mixture full rich where you have forgotten a leaned out mixture and applied a lot of throttle a quick check of the engine instruments, especially fuel pressure and something obvious like no oil pressure and finally that the mags are on both. This check should be done as a flow. That is a consistent pattern that moves from one item to the next in a logical order. For a C 172 it would be start at the fuel selector move up to the power controls (carb heat,throttle,mixture) and then a counterclockwise circle around the panel ending at the switch panel along the bottom left side of the instrument panel. (As an aside I have rearranged all the C 172 normal and emergency checks to follow the same flow)
-Fuel both quantity check
-carb heat on
-mixture full rich
-engine inst check
-primer in and locked
-mags both
If you practice this in a parked airplanes a few times it can be done quickly and accurately every time and without unduly distracting you from flying the aircraft, and as the physical layout and muscle memory guide you through the pattern there should be no need to consult a written checklist. This where real world and flight test start to diverge. The flight test guide requires you to consult a written checklist. On any forced approach conducted at a lower altitude (3000 AGL) or less every second head down reading the checklist is a second you are not
flying the airplane, not good. So on the flight test you want to minimize the lost time by having the checklist allready out on your knee board or face up in a side pocket. Whip it out quickly read through it, get the tick in the box and get back to what actually matters,
flying the airplane.
Again we now have the split between real world and flight test. If you are at a lower altitude then real world and flight test no resumption of power means shut down check and fly the forced approach procedure. But if you are cruising from A to B on a real flight chances are you are higher than 3000 feet. If you at 5500 and have a good landing area in sight than you have 3 to 4 minutes of gliding before you are at even 3000 feet, and obviously even more if you are higher than that. My advice is to make use of the time to see if you can get some usable engine power back. Assuming that the initial IA check found nothing obviously wrong run it again as follows (again with a C172 as an example)
-Fuel ..........try selecting one tank
-Throttle......start at full throttle and slowly reduce the throttle. Fuel restrictions and other problems may mean that the engine will only run at one particular throttle setting. When you have found it leave the throttle alone and decide what the new plan is.
-Mixture.......with a low cruise throttle setting start at full rich and then slowly lean the mixture. An induction blockage or carb float issues may have caused an excessively rich mixture and the engine will pick up if the mixture is leaned
-Mags.........Try selecting left and right in turn. Internal failures of a mag can cause one set of sparkplugs to fire at the wrong time upsetting the combustion process, selecting the other mag takes the bad one off line and the engine will now run normally.
-Fuel..........Try the other tank.
If none of these tricks work then it is going to suck to be you. Go to the shut down check and fly the best forced approach of your life. The shut down check should be the exact same flow as you IA, cause check, Fuel off, mixture ICO, mags off, and ideally remember to turn the master off after you have put the flaps down.
The only remaining item to be touched on is the mayday call and pax brief. Real world and you are at 10,500 feet and the engine expires, by all means get a conversation going on the radio to anyone who will listen, text a message of undying love to your girl/boy friend, leave a nice few last words on your mothers answering machine and give a complete pax brief in your best Air Canada Captain gravel voice. Real world and you are at low altitude and the best thing you can do for you and your passenger is make sure you
fly the aircraft to a controlled touchdown at a spot of your choosing.
ONLY if talking on the radio and doing the pax brief will not effect the flying part should you even consider anything other than turning on the ELT with the cockpit switch and then only when you are sure you have the field made.
Unfortunately the flight test requires the full meal deal even though you are in a low altitude forced approach scenario. I wish I had ten bucks for every forced approach exercise I have seen that started out well but went to shit when the priority shifted from
flying the airplane to doing the mayday call and pax brief. The way to get around this on the flight test is to have the script very well memorized so that you can mindlessly rattle it off while concentrating on
flying the aircraft. One common trip up is articulating the aircraft position on the mayday call. The best way to handle this for the flight test is to pick a town/lake or other prominent marker at one corner of the area that it is likely you will get then regardless of the actual field you can say the same thing, something like mayday mayday mayday ABC ABC ABC engine failure forced landing north of sunspot. This means that when the pressure is on and you are concentrating
flying the airplane you don't have to break concentration to figure out how to describe you present location.
Finally I have some strong opinions on what field to choose but I have already pontificated on that subject on another thread so I will not bore you with the repetition.
ANC regards the priorities that its most important to FLY the plane before you worry bout the rest, especially communication. Whats that other saying? Skin, tin, paper? not quite the same guide but something to keep in mind.
