No Danger

(3)

My two favorite airplanes were the Super Cub and the Twin Commanche. The Cherokees, the Citabrias, the Cessnas, the Commanches, etc., etc., were all fun; but the Super Cub was like a glorious toy designed especially for precocious children. I could get the Super Cub into the air at 40 knots(?) 'indicated' with full flaps. I could land the Super Cub almost anywhere, and did.

I liked the Twin Commanche for its two 180 hp engines and its great speed (compared to the others). The Twin Commanche had a bad reputation of needing more than 3000 feet to recover from a spin, so I never spun it, although I spun most all the others. I suspected that the bad reputation derived from inexperienced pilots who lost an engine on takeoff and 'spun in flat.' But I was never tempted to spin the Twin Commanche.

One of my favorite 'tricks' with students in the TC was to turn off the fuel to one of the engines at cruising speed and altitude. I usually chose the right engine. In fact, I always chose the right engine. Anyway, the engine would quit, suddenly. The surprised student would instantly become disoriented as the airplane skewed into the dead engine. He (or she) would look over at me in shock as the situation became rapidly more complex. "Emergency procedures!" I would say.

The student would then remember the mantra: 'dead foot, dead engine,' and apply rudder to counteract the torque of the good engine. Next step was to apply full power and rich mixture and high rpm to both engines. Lastly, the student would turn on both of the electric fuel pumps.

This was the 'payoff point' for me: the 'dead engine' would suddenly come to life for a few seconds as the electric fuel pump blew the remaining fuel in the line into the faltering engine. As a result the student would have to compensate for yaw in the opposite direction as the 'dead' engine roared to life for a couple of seconds, only to die again, requiring yet another correction of the rudder to compensate. It was all so predictable for me but all so shocking to the student.

The rest of the procedure called for the student to 'feather' the dead prop. Once feathered, the prop caused much less drag, which required much less rudder pressure, and the flight proceeded for a while on one engine as the student dialed in the compensating trim.

After flying along for a while on one engine, to give the student the feeling of how a TC flies on only one engine, I would have the student start the dead engine using the electric starter. We would then proceed to Columbine airport and do a 'single engine approach' to the active runway (usually 30). The approach simulated an approach with the dead engine, which was actually throttled back to the point where there was no drag, but the engine was instantly available in case of an emergency. There was never any obviously dangerous moment.