Instructor not concerned about engine failure, restarted, and continued lesson.

[UnAnswerd]

Hehe. It wasn't in flight. It was a little mishap on the taxiway...

Thinking back to my first few lessons, I remember a time when I was having quite a bit of trouble taxiing the airplane. My instructor would always say, "slow down with the throttle, not the brakes"! I remember he said this and in a bit of frustration I pulled it all the way back. The engine quit right then and there. My instructor seemed surprised and simply claimed "never seen that before". Regardless of this little mishap, we got it started again and took right off, apparently giving it little attention. I was just wondering what some of you guys might think about the safety of doing this. I guess it stands to reason that if during the runup everything stays good, then you're fine. Either way, just wanted to get an opinion.

 

[GravityHater]

if it was idling less than about 550 then it just needs to have the idle stop reset. or maybe you have to lean it on the ground more.

 

[viper548]

If the engine was cold, i'd buy into it. Did you abruptly reduce the throttle to idle or was it smooth? If the engine was warm and you reduce the throttle smoothly, it should still run at idle. If not, it needs to be looked at.

 

[UnAnswerd]

if it was idling less than about 550 then it just needs to have the idle stop reset. or maybe you have to lean it on the ground more.

I figured that's probably all it was. Carbureted engines probably have a tendency to load-up when we taxi with the mixture full-rich.

 

[Flying Illini]

You pulled the throttle back to idle and the engine quit? And it didn't do this the other times you pulled the throttle back? How quickly did you retard the throttle?
With the little info provided, I would probably have restarted and do the exact same thing to see if it quit again. It it did, the flight would be over...if it didn't, the flight would be over too...until a mech was able to look at it.

 

[Geronimo4497]

Very common. If the idle mixture is not set correctly (the correct setting changes from season to season with OAT variations), the engine may quit with the throttle all the way back. Normal idle should be about 550-700 RPM on the ground, once the engine is up to "normal" temperatures. Have a mechanic tweak the idle setting, and life should be good.
If your flight was the first flight of the day for that airplane, you may tend to see this "problem". Just watch your RPM when you are going to slow down without using the brakes (which I agree with for most small piston planes; the brakes are for runup only). If the power starts to drop below 500, just give her a little nudge of power and you should be able to catch it before quiting.

Obviously, a thourough run up should catch any problems. Fly Safe.

 

[9GClub]

After the mag check in the 150, I always pull on the carb heat, check for RPM drop, and then cut power all the way for a few seconds to make sure she's still crankin'...... isn't this standard practice for the run-up?

 

[UnAnswerd]

After the mag check in the 150, I always pull on the carb heat, check for RPM drop, and then cut power all the way for a few seconds to make sure she's still crankin'...... isn't this standard practice for the run-up?

I don't know. I've never taken the engine much below 1000rpm after the runup.

 

[hotwings402]

I had this happen and we took of anyways had a engine failure in the stall headed engine ran funny the whole time headed back to the airport and then another engine failure on final landed the ac deadstick then limped back into the ramp......Messed up carb maybe even the settings but a messed up carb can give you this.

 

[hotwings402]

BTW as above pull the throttle to idle on the runup with carb heat, it should never quit it is never normal, it is worse case scenerio as on the landing the engine will be warm and idle slightly higher anyways, idle can differ between ac on the C-170 its like 350 rpm very low.......