Hooray, another flying day today.
We took off at 10.30, with Gary in the back and me in the hot seat. The lesson was 'Asymmetric 1', which means flying the aircraft at different speeds, configurations and attitudes while simulating the loss of one (but not both!) engines.
The aircraft rapidly yaws (skews) to one side and then rolls in the same direction, due to the asymmetric thrust produced when one engine is working and the other isn't. So the pilot has to control the yaw and roll with rudder and aileron respectively, and then complete the engine failure shutdown drills, making sure first of all that the failed engine is correctly identified. Otherwise you might shut down the good one and really be in trouble. A bit like amputating the healthy leg by mistake....
Anyway, Gary then flew again late this afternoon with me in the back. We flew out to the south of the Isle of Wight, just beyond the Needles, and practiced simulated engine failures after takeoff at around 300ft over the water. Cool. My turn tomorrow.
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