jeff trikeAerotrike Cobra 912, with a Rival-X wing.

1800 hrs as of January 2019

Topic 3: Leaving the pattern to early

Last updated by jeff trike Comments (4)

Categories: Safety

Topic 3) Leaving the pattern to early

The beginning of every flight is a mini-test flight.  You may think everything is perfect but did you really get through the preflight checklist?  I continue to annoy myself by occasionally forgetting to fasten my chinstrap, even though it is clearly on the checklist. This failure is almost always due to some last minute task gets me out of the trike like getting a battery or camera, before I start up the engine and taxiing away. I intend to run through the checklist one last time at the hold sort line before departing, but that doesn't always happen either.

Don't be in too much of a hurry to leave the pattern.  If you missed something, better to find out in the pattern than 5 minutes away from the pattern.

I always do one touch and go before leaving the pattern.  ALWAYS.  If your engine is going to
give you problems, the majority of the time it will be in the first few minutes.  A touch and
go puts two full power run ups and one landing jostle on your trike to shake any hidden problems that are best found in the pattern.  

What can go wrong?  I know a guy who had ethanol gas related problems that clogged his fuel filter.
Take off was fine and he headed straight out after takeoff only to have his engine die two minutes
later, a couple miles from the airport.  He made a great emergency landing in the desert, then
had to hike hours in 100 degree heat to get back to the airport, and round up a trailer and go
to rescue his trike.  It could have been alot worse. But if he had stayed in the pattern for
just one touch and go, his engine would have died in the pattern and he would landed on the runway.

Another guy took off on a warm 95 deg moring after 110 temps the previous day.  He took off
with no warmup and headed straight out.  He had just enough fuel in his carb bowls climb to
about 500 ft before the bubble of vapour in the empty fuel lines, evaporated by the previous days
high temperatures,  stopped his engine. I was still on the ground warming up when I heard him call "engine out" one the radio.  He had headed out just a little bit too far and almost made it back to the runway.  He make a rough landing on a plowed field instead.

Another incident, a pilot sent his seat belt through his prop sortly after takeoff.  Another sent the 912 oil tank cap through the prop a mile past the end of the runway.  Another had his engine seize up after his oil injector line was pinched closed and went down right after leaving the pattern.  After a while, you notice a pattern. A great deal of engine problems happen early in the flight.

So don't be in a rush to head out.  Go around the pattern once and do a touch and go to give your engine a chance to fail where you will be in easy reach of the runway. If you don't want to touch down again, then make an approach, and then and climb out again at full throttle to cycle everything hard before heading out.

You should be prepared for an engine out at any moment your flight, but even more so on takeoff.  
As soon as your wheels leave the ground, pull in to increase your airspeed before climbing out.  
If you lose your engine in a low level turn, you will not make it around.  Climb up to pattern altitude before turning.  If you have any difficulties climbing in the pattern, some thing is very wrong. Density altitude, too much payload, a binding throttle cable, clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump or something else.  Whatever the reason, land and figure it out.  Watch this video of density altitude problems following a straight out depature.  It is not pretty.

 

If you have an engine out shortly after takeoff, know that it difficult or nearly impossible to turn around and safely land back on the runway with a tailwind with less than 400 to 500 ft of altitude above the runway.  Leave the pattern and experiment with plenty of altitude above the ground (+2000ft) to find how much you altitude you will loose after a sudden loss of  power followed by a 180 degree turn, add some pad then burn that number (turn around altitude) into your memory. Figure out this altitude for yourself, many factors including pilot skill, wing performance, altitude and weather affect it.  Below your turn around altitude, landing straight on the runway following an engine out is probably your best option.

Comments

  • Noel C

    Great article Jeff.  Good practical information.  The idea of getting a handle on how much altitude you lose performing a 180 degree turn is a good idea in determining landing decision if you have an engine failure. (ie return to airfield or straight ahead landing)

    Thanks for the information.

  • Bill Pilgrim

    Hi Jeff, 

    Great stuff. One comment about the 180 back to the runway. Don't get some altitude and do a 180 and think that is your altitude loss, because firstly it is a lot more than 180 degrees to get back to the runway you took off from, due to the diameter of your banking circle and secondly there is a loss of altitude while your getting your head around your engine failure. Also don't forget your stall speed is increased the greater your angle of bank, so you need to have a good safety margine before turning back, otherwise look for an option straight ahead

  • white eagle

    yes 180 plus another 45 degrees or so but great information here.. i like to always start with as much runway ahead as possible and keep xtra speed in my climbout intill i reach a safe altitude and climb with option for enough room to set it back on the run way ahead if a e/o happened at mid field at that point climb for enough altituide to get back to the runway . if you have a well practiced pattern a e/o shouldnt be scarry at all. it should be second nature. staying in the pattern untill everything feels together is great advice. these things jeff talks about would save alot of lives its good sound advice and one less bullet in your gun.    

  • Jozinko

    Hi Jeff, yes, those are very important informations for all pilots.

    As you wrote, the most engine failures are become after take off. Because the engine is not good warming and in this time it Works on full power. Or a pilot didnt open a fuel... or didnt check a fuel level.

    The second chapter are pilots, who didnt check a things putted on trike, engine (bottle of beer, screwdriver, sunglasses, map, cap.....), or opened safety belt.

    I havent hangar and I must every time setup my wing and trike. And every time I DO IT MYSELF. Every one 1st take off I do alone and I do it on airport circuit about 10 minutes.

    Every one student in my school must to training an emergency landings. Some in open terrain, where he must to choose a good landing place, he must to know, from what direction is wind, what he can to expect behind tohose trees etc etc... a lot of emergency landinds we do from every one position on circuit. Very unpopular trainings are lost engine power just after take off in a small alt. Im teaching my students, to plan their route above a terrain so that they can to land, when the engine is out.