Insights

Minimizing no-man's land

People resist change, particularly when a previous belief--right or wrong--is held with total confidence. When I was earning pilot certificates and ratings, my confidence was directly related to the confidence and logic displayed by my instructor. When another instructor, pilot, or publication disagreed with something that I had been taught, my initial reaction was denial. How could I be wrong? If it was good enough for an instructor I trusted, it was good enough for me. That attitude was in error.

In retrospect, training procedures occasionally conflicted with practicality. What was taught in flight school made sense, but it was not always acceptable to experienced pilots who had honed their skills in the school of hard knocks. In other situations, the complexity of classroom material hid the importance of simple, practical cockpit procedures that are mandatory in a properly managed airplane.

Multiengine airplanes are a perfect example. The most dangerous part of any flight is the takeoff because of the heavy weight and reduced performance. Engine failure in a single-engine airplane leaves you with few if any options. The same can be said for a multiengine airplane, but the preferred option is continued flight on the operating engine. You improve your odds by using proper attitude control and drag reduction during the initial climb.

During the takeoff roll, keep the yoke aft so that the airplane remains in a zero-pitch attitude. That takes some effort because of engine weight that will pound the nose-strut assembly to death if not minimized. Airframe wear and tear and the related maintenance costs are a major concern for professional pilots.

V_MC for small multiengine airplanes is the airborne minimum control speed designated by the lower red line on the airspeed indicator. If an engine fails at or below that speed, it is impossible to stop the yaw toward the dead engine without reducing power--a situation that must be avoided at all times. Therefore, at V_MC plus five knots during the takeoff roll, raise the nose and establish the takeoff pitch attitude--what I call the T-pitch attitude--and allow the airplane to lift off the runway when the wing is ready to fly. I trust the wing implicitly, but not the airspeed indicator in an airplane that has only one airspeed system. That's why I refuse to use the term rotation unless I'm in an airplane that has dual airspeed systems--I validate airspeed by comparing both during the initial takeoff roll. To do otherwise is insane, because competent pilots never trust a single source of information.

At liftoff, push the control yoke forward slightly to avoid the pitch increase that occurs for three reasons: The horizontal stabilizer's moment increases (force times arm) because the arm lengthens from the main wheels to the airplane's center of gravity. The horizontal stabilizer's down force increases because of the increased angle of attack when leaving ground effect (conventional tail, not T-tail)--the airflow is no longer inhibited by the ground. And the airspeed increases if the elevator is held in a fixed position as the airplane accelerates.

When you observe a positive climb, retract the landing gear, maintain the T-pitch attitude for five or six seconds, and then establish the two-engine, best-rate climb attitude. To understand why this procedure is important, quickly check airspeed just prior to that pitch increase, and you'll see that it's at or above the single-engine, best-rate climb speed V_YSE, denoted by the blue line on the airspeed indicator.

Yes, I said positive climb. The term positive rate of climb is used during instrument takeoffs in low-visibility conditions when you must use instrument references as the airplane lifts off the runway. To observe the subtle pitch increase at liftoff that I mentioned--a pitch increase that compromises your options--you must look outside the cockpit, where you can also detect a positive climb--the airplane is obviously climbing.

The five- or six-second interval is the time it takes for the landing gear to retract almost fully. I call that interval no-man's land, because an engine failure prior to reaching V_YSE is a critically dangerous situation.

When flying with another pilot, I give the following engine-failure safety briefing prior to takeoff: "If an engine quits before the gear handle is raised, the takeoff will be aborted. If the remaining landing area is too short for a safe landing, the landing gear will be retracted for a gear-up landing. After the gear handle is raised, the flight will continue at V_YSE."

If you minimize your time in no-man's land, you have enhanced the option of continued flight on the operating engine. Make that your primary takeoff objective.

Ralph Butcher, a retired United Airlines captain, is the chief flight instructor at a California flight school. He has been flying since 1959 and has 25,000 hours in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Visit his Web site.