Articles like the one by Mike Hart, “Takeoff Engine Failures,” June 2014, are the reason I think this publication is the best aviation magazine around. I routinely practice VX climb to 350 feet, engine to idle, hold nose up till VS then make a teardrop return to the runway. That maneuver, though, has none of the pucker factor that engine-out practice has from 100 feet!
Mike is right that without regular practice, a low-altitude, slow, nose-high power failure will certainly end badly. Start practicing at altitude, but there is no substitute for the severe nose-down view of onrushing concrete. You’ll be happy the first few times that this is practice and you have engine power available.
Gregg Solove
Albuquerque, N.M.
