Spudder, Spudder, Spudder

[Tonala2k]

let's say, Hypothetically, a CFI at 4000' AGL reduced the student's throttle to zero. Student does everything just right. No airports in the area, but a great field to land in. On their way down the CFI pays strict attention to the Oil temp to watch for excess cooling. The oil cools from about 180 to 150. With out any significant drop in oil temp the CFI doesn't run-up the engine during the decent. At 500' AGL the CFI, content that the student judged the landing just right calls a go around. One last quick flow check and throttle full Spudder, Spudder, Spudder. Enough power to hold level at Vx with full flaps, but a concern that the engine is ready to miss one firing too many.

would this hypothetical situation have been an onset of over cooling of the engine, or maybe vapor lock?

This question was recently poised to me and I'm unsure what exactly would cause this to happen.

 

[Catnhat]

3500' altitude loss at 500fpm? Six and a half minutes with throttle at idle and prop windmilling, I'm thinking you fouled the plugs. (Hypothetically).

 

[AirBadger]

This happend to a student and instuctor at my school. They were practicing off field landings and the student increased power to go back up but the engine just quit, forcing them to land in the field anyway.

 

[VNugget]

Carb ice?

 

[The_Russian]

Plug fouling.

 

[CalifDan]

I'm just curious how someone gets to be a CFI and does not have some idea of the things that would cause this problem. The answers are all above, so won't repeat. Back in the "old days" when i learned to fly we "cleared" the engine once each turn or about every thousand feet on the way down in that kind of manuever. As I recall, the problem was more prevalent in Cessna trainers than in some others, but that did not prevent us from checking the engineonthe way down in the Cherokee 140 I learned to fly in.

You did not say if this "hypothetical" problem cleared itself with the application of carb heat, leaning to clear the fouling, or by just landing in the field. It seems to me that the application of full power, at full rich with carb heat on could also cause the problem.

 

[Tonala2k]

The Aircraft would hypothetically be fuel injected. After several seconds of flying level and the mixture leaned the engine would be running great again. Wouldn't dear think it would be okay to run a carberated engine that way. But clearly there wasn't a lot of hypothetical thought.

Just wanted to put this out there. It sounds obviously dumb, but obviously it gets over looked.

 

[Kream926]

this happens to me a lot in the 152 even with carb heat, clearing the engine and walkin the throttle in on the go around. i usually say "go around" at about 700' agl so by the time we hit 500 we are climbing...

on a side not i tell my stu's to simultaneously pitch for best glide and hit the carb heat on in all the carb airplanes. just think about where the heat comes from for the carb heat