VMC Rollover, ever done it?

[HMR]

he brought both mixtures to idle cutoff...... i asked him about this later.. he said he did it as to not fight for control of the throttles with me.......

How much time does your instructor have in the Duchess? If he was paying attention he would have noticed your unusually low airspeed. It's not that uncommon for that C/B to pop when you're riding it hard. He should have known something wasn't right especially since the Duchess is VERY predictable in its' behavior. Asking you to do a 10 degree turn at that airspeed doesn't make much sense. You were guaranteed to stall. The BE76 has a very pronounced stall buffett before it breaks. Did you notice it?

As for pulling both mixtures... WOW! I've never heard of anyone recommending that for a stall/spin recovery. Sounds to me like he meant to pull the throttles, panicked, pulled the mixtures and then came up with a marginal excuse. Anyone with experience doing airstarts in the Duchess would never shut both motors down.

Be careful out there.

HMR (500hrs BE76 dual given)

 

[Rather-B-Flying]

he is reletively new to the duchess but has alot of seminole time...... i believe he meant to pull the mixtures.... every time we are doing slowflight, stalls, or vmc he has his hand on the mixtures ready to pull.... he is a very competent and through instructor...... but he is a pan am grad.. so who knows... (hahaha)

I believe he was looking for traffic..... it all happened so fast... i believe it was my error in intrepreting... i saw we were really slow... but it just didnt register....

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

he is reletively new to the duchess but has alot of seminole time...... i believe he meant to pull the mixtures.... every time we are doing slowflight, stalls, or vmc he has his hand on the mixtures ready to pull.... he is a very competent and through instructor...... but he is a pan am grad.. so who knows... (hahaha)

Thats a new one on me. When I guard the mixtures it's to make sure the student doesn't pull them....not the other way around.

Been a long time since I instructed, maybe its the hot new instructing technique.

 

[HMR]

...i believe he meant to pull the mixtures.... every time we are doing slowflight, stalls, or vmc he has his hand on the mixtures ready to pull....

Tell him to stop. The only time an instructor would have his hands "ready to pull" the mixtures would be on the takeoff roll. This is just a precaution if the student loses one on the roll and freezes on the throttles, the MEI can shut the good engine down before you veer off the runway. MEI's also use it to "fail" engines on the takeoff roll. This shouldn't be done much faster than 1/2 Vr.

There is NO EXCUSE for this practice during flight. If you were to VMC roll a Duchess the last thing you would want to do is kill both engines. The inboard engine might be your only hope for stopping a spin. This is serious stuff. If you were one of my friends, I'd be sitting down with you and your instructor for a little chat.

 

[Lead Sled]

Tell him to stop. The only time an instructor would have his hands "ready to pull" the mixtures would be on the takeoff roll. There is NO EXCUSE for this practice during flight. If you were to VMC roll a Duchess the last thing you would want to do is kill both engines. The inboard engine might be your only hope for stopping a spin. This is serious stuff. If you were one of my friends, I'd be sitting down with you and your instructor for a little chat.

Rather-B-Flying...
HMR couldn't have said it any better. The next time your CFI has his hands on the mixture controls other than during the initial takeoff roll I'd simply stop the training and return to the airport. Screwing around like that can get you seriously killed. It may be time to have a long hard talk with the chief instructor. That school can't possibly be your only training option. This is serious stuff.

'Sled