On Jun 18, 8:44*am, "Ol Shy & Bashful" wrote:
So what do you do? Over the weekend, a Bonanza driver was faced with
this issue and had a 2000' grass strip to land on. He and his
passengers were injured and the airplane was an apparent writeoff.
I've been on that strip many many times but intentionally. Well, I've
been on many such strips worldwide.
So, what do you do?

Well this is what I was trained to do. It works for me in practice ,
I just hope I have the presence of mind to do it when I really have
to.

turn excess speed into altitude and trim for best glide speed
try carby heat and mixture rich.
check wind direction
select landing spot
If height allows I aim for 2500 ft agl high point key at upwind end
of landing spot.
then aim for 1500 ft agl abeam landing pt on downwind.
if time permits I will try to get the engine restarted
check fuel and change tank if applicable
try left and right magnetos
try throttle at different positions
make a mayday call
give a passenger briefing
aim 1/3 into the field or runway
( better to be long than short)
turn base at 1000 ft agl
delay flaps until sure I am going to make it.
if still too high I will try slipping in
mixture idle cut off
magnetos off
fuel off
master switch off

Of course this all depends on altitude at which engine failure
occurs , if I dont have time I will ignore restart of engine, I will
do the mayday call and pax brief if I have time, but nothing will
take precedence over getting the airplane down safely.
I WILL NOT TRY TO STRETCH THE GLIDE. I would also prefer a field I
know I can make rather than an airfield I may be able to make.

Terry
PPL Downunder