Page 25 - Twin and Turbine December 16

by Thomas P. Turner
400 Feet
• Begin a climb, initially straight ahead
• Configure the airplane for climb
• Prepare to navigate the published or assigned procedure
• Report the missed approach (and, if you’re a stickler for regulations, the reason you were required to miss)
Let’s look at each of these requirements, and consider what can be done to reduce workload.
Advance power: If possible, set the propeller controls for climb power before reaching the missed approach point. That way, if you need to climb out you have effectively made your engines a single- lever power design: move the props to climb before final let-down.
What about mixture control? Many pilots fly at lean- of-peak (LOP) at least some of the time. Common LOP
practice is to set mixture for cruise and leave it there through landing. A mishap trend is emerging, however, where LOP pilots are having power failures at the beginning of a go-around or missed approach. If the mixture is very lean, advancing the throttles (adding air) causes it to go leaner still, reducing power output on a fairly steep curve. If the mixture is not advanced sufficiently the airplane will continue to descend, and the engines may quit altogether when you need them most...in IMC only a couple of hundred feet above the ground. Sure, some instructors teach advancing the mixture first, then throttle, when missing an approach. The principle of workload reduction suggests, however, that you advance the mixture controls before beginning your approach, so there’s one less thing
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DECEMBER 2016
TWIN & TURBINE • 23