“Oh $#@!! … ” That’s the thought that goes through every pilot’s head when they have an engine problem. Engine failures are one of the most feared emergencies we have in aviation, though they don’t have to be. With preparation and training, we can take the fear out of a failure and remember to fly the plane.
When we first start flying multi-engine airplanes we are taught a version of: Mixtures-Props-Throttles-Identify-Verify-Feather.
This works well in piston-powered planes. In King Airs, we modify it a little: Power-Props-Flaps-Gear.
For readers who have followed Tom Clements’ teaching, this should sound familiar. It is also referred to as “Your Four Friends.” It is the place to start when you have a suspected engine failure on your hands.
Power
Push both power levers forward until you are making maximum power. Respect your ITT and torque limitations!
Props
Both prop levers go full forward. Our props are more efficient at high RPMs with low airspeed. We want to get the most performance out of our remaining engine, and this helps!
Flaps
Getting rid of drag will help maintain speed. Retracting flaps will help here. If in doubt, bring your flaps up.
Gear
This is another drag reduction. When in doubt, retract the gear.
Let’s talk about putting this into practice.
We train to improve our skills and stay proficient. The safest place to do this is a simulator. It allows us to practice failures that could happen at the worst possible moment – low to the ground and slow – and we can repeat them until we get it right and continue to get it right. The downside of using a simulator is that we know it is not real. We know that if we make a mistake, we can reset and try again.
If we train in the aircraft, certain things should not be done because the safety margin is just too small. However, practicing engine-out emergencies in the aircraft at a safe altitude can be beneficial to your understanding of your aircraft and how you react to the emergency.
The reason in-aircraft training can be so beneficial in King Airs can be summed up with: “If you have flown one King Air, you have flown exactly one King Air!” With so many models, various avionics possibilities, engine differences and other modifications, each King Air really is different. This is where getting expert training in your specific plane, focusing on how it is equipped, can be so beneficial.
Getting back to single-engine training. Understanding your aircraft, how it behaves and its capabilities while operating with a single engine are important. The only real way to find out what your airplane’s characteristics are is to do in-aircraft training. We can read all the manuals and spend hours practicing in the simulator, but it will never replace actually doing it in the plane.
Prior to conducting single-engine training in the aircraft, I’ll do a brief on what we are going to do, the pilot’s responsibilities and the instructor’s responsibilities. We cover what altitudes we will fly, our minimum altitudes (5,000 AGL) and options for nearby airports. We cover procedures and memory items. All of this is done before leaving the ground.
Once we are in the air and in the practice area, we typically start with basic maneuvers, steep turns, stalls, etc. This is a good warm-up for what is to come. After we have completed our maneuvers, it is time for the in-flight engine shutdown. We do a quick recap of what is going to happen, make sure we are at a safe altitude and verify we are close to an acceptable runway in case it’s needed.
I start by making the “failure” a worst-case scenario. Rudder boost is turned off initially and the engine “fails” in such a way that autofeather is not activated. What I am looking to demonstrate is that the plane will remain controllable under the worst-case scenario as long as we pilots do our job. You do not need to react quickly, but you do need to react appropriately.
As we go through the engine failure procedure, we talk about how the plane is handling under the various conditions. We talk about how much trim is needed, show how banking into the good engine affects performance, observe what adding rudder boost back in does, and see how feathering the prop changes performance. Time is spent on single-engine performance and what your plane is capable of. Will it climb? What speed will it cruise at? How do configuration changes affect performance?
I see an incredible change in pilot confidence, especially in pilots transitioning from piston twins to turbines. I regularly see a pilot who is terrified of having an engine failure change to a pilot who knows they can handle the emergency. The only way for them to experience this is through in-aircraft training. With the differences between every King Air, training in your aircraft is the way to go!