Raymond Julian wrote: > What technique are you using during your "engine quit on takeoff" > tests?
I take off and head about 20 degrees off to the right while climbing out at about 100-110 mph, and when I reach 500' AGL I chop the throttle to idle. I simultaneously start a turn back to the left and haul back on the stick to gain altitude and get to best glide speed, which is about 90 mph. That gets me about 130 more feet of altitude (according to EIS data). Starting that turn back when you have a lot of speed gets you going the right way in the safest manner, and prevents you from getting even further from the airport. Then I glide back toward the runway at 90 mph, continuing the turn as steeply as I think I can get away with at that speed, 40 degrees or so. Once I have the runway made, I drop the flaps and slip it in to put it on the end of the runway. On all attempts from 500', I easily made the runway, usually with an extra 100-150' feet of altitude to spare, so theoretically I could make it from 350' AGL, especially with any kind of headwind on takeoff. It takes about 38 seconds from full throttle to hit 500' AGL, so if the engine will just hold together for one minute on takeoff, I'm fairly safe. I could climb out at 80 mph, which yields a really steep angle and would work even better, but I quit doing that back when I figured out it wasn't good for the crank shaft or for oil temperatures during the summer. Folks with underpowered engines and slow climb rates will not fare so well. On my plane, I've already proven that the engine at idle and the engine switched off yield exactly the same glide speed, so these tests are pretty accurate. It should be noted that I spent about an hour one day at 5000' at near stall speeds doing really sharp circles to prove to myself what minimum speeds for certain bank angles are, so that's the first step in doing this kind of testing... Mark Langford, Huntsville, AL mail: N56ML "at" hiwaay.net website: www.N56ML.com
