“Mixtures, props, and throttles firewalled. Pitch to put the nose on the horizon. Step on the rudder to stop the yaw and keep the nose straight. Check flaps up and gear up. Identify, verify, and feather. Airspeed to blueline, two-and-a-half-degree bank and, one-third to one-half ball into the good engine,” said PBaron wunderkind instructor, Doug Moss.
At least I think that’s what he said. I hadn’t heard these words in years. And it wasn’t like riding a bicycle. You don’t remember this stuff forever.
Flying a jet is easy compared to the PBaron. Not being precise after an engine loss during a Citation takeoff is often just embarrassing. Screw up in a piston twin, and it’s another story. I was soon to find out that the seconds from rotation in the PBaron (VR 81kts.) to single-engine climb speed (VYSE 115kts.) is a kind of “no man’s land.”
In the jet, we calculate every takeoff runway requirement with the expectation that one engine will fail. And we practice this event several times each year in the simulator. We hold heading with rudder, raise the gear, and don’t touch anything else. Successful completion of this drill is usually pretty easy.
It’s not that way at all in a piston twin. Loss of an engine on takeoff in a PBaron is an exercise in hands and feet and brains that must be accomplished with memorized precision. And if the engine fails during “no man’s land,” the decision may be to land straight ahead and off the runway.
Practicing all these scenarios in the Baron is just too risky twenty feet off the ground. Because we do them at safe altitudes, it’s hard to replicate as much of the stress induced near the ground. That’s where a good simulator is so valuable.
Doug peppered my brain with “what ifs” during five days of initial training. “The most important thing is to have a plan developed prior to every takeoff,” he said. “You were probably used to taking off in your jet with full fuel most of the time. But reduced weight in the PBaron is much more important to providing you with just enough extra climb performance to make it back to the runway. Think lighter weights and shorter legs.”
“Even the timing of gear retraction may save your bacon.”
He showed me his technique of keeping his hand on the gear selector until the aircraft had accelerated closer to blue line. Especially with longer runways, it might be possible to land on the remaining available if an engine decides to quit.
In flight, he showed me tricks he learned flying his PBaron. Like how to lean the engines while keeping the CHTs (cylinder head temperatures) happy. I likened the process to tuning a violin in a rainstorm.
“See that nut on the trim tab, said Doug. It’s not supposed to rotate. And that heat plate on the engine. If it’s loose, it needs to be welded.” I would never have known to ask.
And that’s where finding the best mentor or instructor is so important. Too often, we look for the cheapest or easiest way out. Whether it’s in a full-motion jet simulator or your own airplane, you should leave every flight saying,” I did not know that.”
Fly safe.
