Messing with fuel selectors during taxi is not a very wise thing to do. Releasing debris that may be trapped behind selectors, or having a selector fail without your knowledge in an intermediate position or an off position, can get you killed.
Our checklist mandated that this fuel selector check be done on
every taxi. This keeps "debris" from being there in the first place, making the fuel valves just another component that is moved regularly. Our feds and DE's approved of the procedure, too.
Mind you, moving the selectors in flight means being prepared to lose that engine entirely, just as Avbug said. Returning the selctors to "on"
before reaching the runup area virtually assures you that there is no lingering fuel problem, as the engines cannot run on the fuel remaining in the system downstream from the selectors long enough to complete the runup and taxi into position on the runway. Even so, be ready to abort every takeoff, and make it your mindset. Expect trouble.
Either check them before start on the preflight before a long taxi and runup, or don't touch them until you're over a safe landing site once airborne.
Yes.
Shutting down the engine during training is a real world sceanrio that CAN become an emergency. That's why sufficient altitude is require by our training syllabus (the aforementioned 3,000 AGL) along with easy reach of a suitable landing field. Altitude is your friend, since it gives you time to collect your wits, make a radio call, run the checklist, and prepare to follow your training. And we
are talking about training, here, so let's mitigate as much risk, and add as much time for learning and thinking, as we can. Altitude can help you to have that time at your disposal.
Block rudders for engine-out work and Vmc work, stick with zero thrust for most single engine work (using a throttle), and always warm up an idled or killed engine before going again.
Absolutely. Some have said that a rudder should not be blocked, but too many people die during multi training to put me in that camp. I think we had a discussion about that here, or was it on the old board? I don't know. I tried to limit my engine shutdowns to no more than two per hour in flight, and always warmed the engine before loading it again.
I don't know that I'd agree that going around will kill you...but it won't do you any good, and your odds aren't great of success. Especially at any significant density altitude of note.
The question of the ability of the Seneca I to go around on one engine is a good reason to
simulate the single engine scenario using throttle and zero thrust. That way, you have a better chance of having a learning experience instead of a final experience.
Multi pilots in this airplane need to remember that the single engine specs are
ideals, and are limited by density altitude, which can be incredibly low in the summer. Now, take that limited ability of the aircraft, and add in the element of shock and disbelief, and you have the fabled "swimming in glue" scenario that takes what precious little time you have to do everything perfectly during an unexpected engine failure, say for instance during or just after takeoff, and effectively reduces that time you have left to almost nothing. In training, you are expecting things to go "wrong" in a relatively safe and predictable way. After training ends, you no longer expect all those failures, and you can become complacent. Don't.
ALWAYS expect to lose an engine at the most critical times. Don't be one of this year's stats in an NTSB report.
wow. i thought the seneca did pretty well on one engine. granted, i never went around with one windmilling...but i got a pretty good rate with sim-feather. also, this was just 135 training stuff. i've never instructed in one.
The sim feather will give you a good rate most of the time, that's true. I never had a problem as a student or as an instructor, but to try and go around with the drag of a
windmilling prop is very unlikely to be a success. Don't confuse the powered prop in a sim feather with the draggy prop of an unfeathered DEAD engine. Get some altitude with the instructor and check your performance with one windmilling. It isn't pretty. Know the failure procedure and perform it methodically. Pilots HAVE feathered the wrong engine, with disastrous results.
Treat "blue line" as
gospel. If pitching to blue means you are descending, you ARE going to be landing shortly. It is far better, in terms of accident survivability to land bottom-down, and not on your roof due to a Vmc roll as you try to stretch your glide.
There are two publications which I don't have handy that should be required reading for twins.
Flying Light Twins Safely and
Always Leave Yourself an Out
