Engine-Out Energy Management

Moreover, the FAAs Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for private and commercial certificates specify that pilots are to have knowledge of EM concepts for many maneuvers. They include emergency approach and landing, soft-field/rough-field landing, normal approach and landing, short-field landing, various types of water landings, power-off 180-degree accuracy approach and landing and go-around/rejected landing. The word knowledge implies pilots should have, at least, a basic understanding of EM concepts and be able to apply these concepts to tasks in the FAAs ACS.

Michael J. Banner

Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Energy Management (EM), encompassing an aircraft's total energy from altitude (potential) and airspeed (kinetic), is vital for flight safety, preventing loss of control, and is a required pilot competency.
During an engine failure, altitude is the only energy source; pilots must efficiently convert potential to kinetic energy by maintaining best glide airspeed (VG) via precise Angle of Attack (AoA) control to conserve energy and maximize glide performance.
Executing a safe dead-stick landing requires meticulous EM, including immediate emergency actions, judicious deployment of drag devices for pattern control, and landing at the lowest controllable speed, ideally into the wind, to dissipate energy safely.

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Altitude and airspeed, represented as potential energy (EPOT) and kinetic energy (EKIN), respectively, can be thought of as constituting an aircraft’s total energy. Why do we care? Appropriate energy management (EM), maintaining a safe total energy state for all phases of flight, can help avert in-flight loss of control (LOC-I), the unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight and the leading fatal-accident cause.

Moreover, the FAA’s Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for private and commercial certificates specify that pilots are to have knowledge of EM concepts for many maneuvers. They include emergency approach and landing, soft-field/rough-field landing, normal approach and landing, short-field landing, various types of water landings, power-off 180-degree accuracy approach and landing and go-around/rejected landing. The word “knowledge” implies pilots should have, at least, a basic understanding of EM concepts and be able to apply these concepts to tasks in the FAA’s ACS.