Andy wrote:

Michael Ash wrote:
Supposedly they do practice engine-off landings but I get the impression
that they really don't like the idea at all.

Not sure if that was aimed at trike and utralight pilots or power
pilots in general. My observation is that most trike landing are made
with engine at idle but I have not flown one.

Still, having the engine available adds a great deal of reassurance to the
pilot's mental state if he's not well prepared for a true engine-off
landing.

As a power pilot and instructor I practice and teach accuracy landings
with simulated engine failure. It's not quite as easy to land exactly
on the chosen spot as with a glider but it's just as much fun to try.

That's very good, and I'm sure that practice will save somebody's bacon
one day if it hasn't already. I just get the impression that this is more
of the exception than the standard practice. I could easily be wrong, but
then maybe the pilot in question was in the exceptional "didn't practice
it much" group in that case.

I don't mean to denigrate power pilots in any way, I just get the
impression that having your engine quit is a lot more stressful than just
not having one in the first place, and this sort of emergency could easily
put a pilot into a frame of mind where he loses confidence in himself and
just hits the parachute.

Some power pilots even look out of the windows as they fly!

No doubt. I just have doubts about this one guy, not power pilots in
general.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software