Off Airport / Forced Landing Practice

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willisxdc, thanks for the reminder on failure modes per aircraft. I seem to recall issues people had with those fail modes being active immediately rather than within the time constraints provided. But maybe that gets fixed at the next update. Worth a try & perhaps with an insufficient fuel start as well.

Excellent diagram find, Nijntje91, thanks for posting! Practice yesterday had downwind leading directly into a large, heavily forested area, so didn’t take advantage of extending the glide in that scenario. But agree it makes sense to do so for probably many or most other situations.

Thanks again everyone for the input here!

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@anon50268670 I meant to ask, to what part of the wing does the “wing-striping” reference point refer?

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Not easy to find a suitable picture, hope this is adequate. I believe on the Cessna there is a point on the wing strut used for the same purpose. On low wing aircraft its usually located roughly 1/3 wingspan from the wingtip.

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The wing striping is used to indicate the correct downwind distance during a normal traffic circuit, when keeping the stripe on the runway and turning base when the threshold is 45 degrees behind the wingtip you have a sufficiently long base and final leg. Using this technique, when flying the circuit higher above ground you will automatically be flying downwind further out.

Off topic, instead of turning base when threshold is 45 degrees behind the wingtip, you could time height above ground / 100 x 3 (e.g. 1000 ft AGL = 30 seconds). And then correct timing for head or tailwind, thats the instrument way of performing a visual approach or circling approach.

During engine failure the strip roughly indicates the aircraft glide range in zero wind, you can draw an imaginary circle between the stripes on each wing and everything within that circle should be within glide range.

On downwind with an engine failure, keeping the stripe on the intended landing area indicates correct downwind distance, since you are gliding this means you need to fly downwind slightly converging to keep the stripe on the landing area.

This is all not an exact science of course as it is influenced by the pilots “eye-height”, it depends on your height, seating position, and sitting in the left or right seat. Furthermore the glide range is influenced by wind of course. Generally its a nice indication though.

There are a lot of rules of thumb or “keys” like that in aviation to make your life easier. To give some more examples of rules of thumb I use on a daily basis in the real world:

  • Top of Descent planning is altitude to lose / 1000 x 3 or FL / 10 x 3 (e.g. 10.000 ft = 30 nm).

  • Reducing speed on approach for a jet is 1 nm per 10 kts in level flight or 2 nm per 10 kts in a 1000 ft/min descent, (cut in half using speedbrakes).

  • Turboprops can easily lose their speed while maintaining a 3 degree glidepath, height at which to start reducing speed = speed x 10 (e.g. 250 kts = 2500 ft AGL), this will ensure you are stable at 500 ft AGL, in IMC add 500 ft to be stable at 1000 ft AGL.

All not an exact science again, it all depends on the aircraft type, weight of the aircraft and wind but its a nice approximation to give some rough idea. You then just add or subtract a couple miles depending on weight and wind. And you know at some point which aircraft are more “slippery” than others. Its a nice general technique.

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An especially fun emergency scenario is to hop into the Airbus a320neo, and turn on the engine fires in settings. Then, turn on developer mode and disable crashes. This makes it able to perform emergency water landings :smiley:

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And you think ditching is the safest course of action with an engine fire? The engine fire is the least of your concerns when attempting to land on water :joy:. Its not gonna benefit your chance of survival in any way, there are very few examples of successful water landings with commercial transport planes (only one?)…

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It is meant to provide an interesting scenario, not to be entirely realistic.

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@anon50268670 great info all around! I hadn’t specifically noticed the stripes before/or realized their purpose, but see them now. Thanks again,

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1000’ turning base is the main key. (This works with most light aircraft, except a few that like to sink like a brick, such as the Cherokee 6/Saratoga where you almost need 1000’ turning final!)

You want a wider than normal base leg, and a shorter than normal final leg. Then you can adjust in or out as needed.

The most important thing is to keep the nose down a little during that turn onto final to maintain your best glide speed.

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You are saying that you turn base at 1000 ft rather than abeam the landing area? We used to turn base abeam the intended landing area (threshold) no matter the altitude, ideally you would be at 1000 ft in which case (zero wind) you can fly a normal base and final. Below 1000 ft when abeam you cut base short, above 1000 ft abeam you fly a wider base. But yeah, I was instructing on the Socata serie (TB-9/10/20), they have the glide ratio of a piano.

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We never ‘striped’ our Cessnas, but for a normal circuit with the runway on the pilot side, you want the runway cut through about 1/3 from the top of the strut, if the runway is on the other side, it’s about the bottom 1/3 of the strut where it should cut.

On final, sitting at the correct height, the runway threshold should be about 3 fingers’ width above the dash if you place your fingers on top of it.

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1500’ abeam your planned touchdown point (1/3 of the way down the strip), 1000’ at your desired base position (closer if there is a strong headwind down the runway), turning left or right on base as needed to achieve the touchdown area - you may even need to fly a little past the runway if you are way too high somehow (perhaps stronger tailwind on base than anticipated), or cut in directly to the field if you are somehow getting too low (perhaps a stronger headwind on base than anticipated).

Once you are 100% sure of reaching the runway, only then add flaps/drag to bring that landing area closer to the start of the strip.

That’s how I’ve done it for 20 years.

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Yeah that’s a bit different than we used to do, my experience on Cessna’s is very limited. As I said, on the Socata’s we aimed for 1000 ft abeam the “threshold”. We then always turned to base and corrected base and final for being higher / lower than 1000 ft and for wind to achieve touchdown at 1/3 of the field, when landing assured select full flaps and battery switch off and aimed for the beginning.

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I’m sure there’s a few ways to skin the same cat.

In short everyone, leave room for margin, and that is generally on base to put you in the correct and most desirable position on final.

Always nail your glide speed, and always keep your eye on the field!

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@anon50268670 @Parorng @JPerez1690

All good discussion and advice. One detail that is being left out here is that it is of paramount importance for the VFR single engine pilot, in particular, to be constantly looking for possible landing locations. In heavily populated regions, (as compared to where I fly), even rural areas will have a plethora of landing spots. Fields, roads, even small airfields. When flying in mountainous or heavily forested country, the options are very limited.

Altitude is your friend in the case of an engine failure. Too often pilots fly in these sparse areas down where they can get a nice view of the ground. Its pretty down there, right up until something goes sour. I try to keep as much air under me as possible. Sightseeing is not my primary goal. Survival is.

The option of turning downwind when the mill fails is not generally an option in the bush. You need to turn toward the nearest option, now. There may have been one opening you spotted two miles back, into the wind. If you aren’t sure there is another option in other directions, don’t go looking. Concentrate on getting to where you know there is one.

Remember, cruising 1000 ft off the tree tops in your 172 will leave you with 1.7 miles to be rolling on the ground. Chances are you will be trying to put the structure between two nice big fuzzy trees to break your fall.

5000 ft will give you 8.5 miles to get back to your last confirmed safe spot. 9000 ft will give you 15.3. If flying in high country, 9000 ft ASL may only be 4000 or 5000 AGL or less in extreme cases. You need to be marking on your map, every viable landing spot you pass over. I draw a box with a red pen and put a number, 1 to 5, indicating what I consider the survivability if I had to land there.

Do not take this lightly. My instructor used to randomly pull the power off in or near the circuit. Great way to practice quick glide handling and getting the radio calls and cockpit securing details hammered into the brain, but of absolutely no value to prepare you for cruising up the Amazon at 1500 agl looking for some little village bush strip.

Bottom line? Get some air under your wings. Know where you would land at any given moment, IF the engine failed right now. Have a plan. Know your restart checklist by rote. Do not delay in getting the aircraft turned to the nearest option and trim that glide speed. Once that is done, now you have time to explore options and get the checklists done. If carrying passengers, do a solid briefing to give them the best chance at survival.

Once you are committed to putting it down, Be a pro. If the opportunity, (altitude) is there to pass over mid field, take it. Nothing better than having a last look at obstacles before they become a surprise. A mid field crossing also gives you a chance to confirm surface wind and you can turn left or right without endangering your approach. May need to land with a slight tail wind if you determine there are 90ft spruce trees at the threshold on your desired direction and some willow scrub at the other end.

You only have a handful of options available to you as the coughing engine begins. Don’t waste any by being too low, delaying decisions, looking for alternates. Time and altitude are passing with every second and each one of those seconds need to be useful.

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I have even been doing night instruction flight with single engine pistons, if I think about it now way too risky.

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My solo night Xcountry was done in October. Simple flight from CYDQ to CYXJ. Full stop in YXJ, pee break and back to CYDQ. On the return flight an expected cold front rolled in but set up a horrible inversion layer with warm pacific air and cold arctic air at about 7000 ft. The pacific air aloft started puking the moisture out and through the -15 arctic air. I was about 20 minutes into a 40 minute flight. Cruising at 5500 ft. (2200 agl)

The freezing rain started coating the airframe. At full throttle I was barely maintaining a 500 fpm descent. I called YXJ and they said it was freezing rain back their way so not an option. YDQ had a FSS but they were closed at 6PM, so no one to ask that way. The windshield was so iced over I would have had no chance of lining up on the highway without sticking my head out the side window, my only option if I had to put down.

About 3 minutes in the rain started letting up. I noticed the ice seemed to be thinning on the windscreen and I could hear hunks of ice clunking on the wing tops. At 500’ over the highway I noticed a 100 fpm climb. Good thing because I was coming up to the hi point of the highway and it was about 300 feet above where I was.

I set down uneventfully in YDQ, tied down, filled out my log book, locked up the flight shack and drove straight to the pub.

SE IFR over the mountains is likely 20% of my logged time. I would bet a third of that at night. I have always tracked my flights on a VFR sectional since then. It is an absolute must to know exactly where you are, all the time. Even in a twin turboprop at 25000 ft. an electrical failure will ruin your night. No nav. Just a compass and a map. Could you descend safely into VMC over the mountains? Only if you know exactly where you are.

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Yeah I’ve done a bunch of night VFR instruction - the only way to get up those precious required night hours.

I remember a bonanza had an engine failure over the hills nearby my airport. They didn’t stand a chance on a black night. Certainly gets you thinking…

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