FINAL eXAms - British Airways Virtual

Airways magazinefeatureoff on the roll. All of this was granted, soI asked Paul to shut the door, I turned thetransponder to ALT and flicked on the landinglights. I lined her up on the runway andheld the toe brakes. Increased the manifoldpressure up to 2000RPM, checked temperaturesand pressures, feet off the brakesand manifold pressure up to 35 inches. I feltthe familiar ‘shove’ as those Ray-Jay turboskicked in, and we were off. I was expectingPaul to ask me to abort the takeoff, butI didn’t know when. We rotate at 77 knots,and at 70 knots Paul said, “Your rear doorhas come open.” I closed the throttles,announced ‘Stop stop stop”, and on Paul’srequest, continued the takeoff by addingthe power back in. Rotated smoothly at 77knots, gear up at 89 knots, and on with ournavigation route.I was lucky enough to have flown thatroute a couple of days before with myinstructor, so I knew what I was looking for.Visual check features included two powerplants and a pumping station. Everythingwent very smoothly, which is great for theconfidence. It’s important that if somethinggoes wrong in the beginning of the flight,you do not let it hurt your performancelater. I needed to be within 2 minutes of myETA at the disused aerodrome, and I couldadjust my ETA any time, except ridiculouslyclose to the destination. En route, I startedto think of places that he could ask me todivert to. Then I realised I was making thefundamental mistake – don’t think aboutwhat’s going to happen later in the test,concentrate on the now. If you have tonavigate, then navigate. When you divert,think about the diversion, not about the airwork or circuits that are coming up. Sureenough, with 2 minutes to go until my ETA,Paul said, “Once you get to the disusedaerodrome, divert to Hyder”. Now Hyder isa tiny town on a road which runs by quite alarge mountain. I’d not been there before,but knew what I was looking for. I knew Ihad two minutes to plan this diversion, sostarted immediately. Trying to write thingsdown, draw on your map and hold the planesteady in horrendous thermals is a challengein itself. This is what you have to beable to do in two minutes:• Figure out the true track to yourdiversion point• Figure out the true heading to yourdiversion point using the winds aloft• Apply magnetic variation to your trueheading to get magnetic heading• Figure out the distance to your diversionpoint• Figure out your groundspeed towardsyour diversion using the winds aloft• From the above, work out a time tothe diversion point, and therefore an ETA• Check appropriate altitude, fuelneeded to divert and visual check featuresI managed to complete that list withabout 30 seconds to go to the disusedaerodrome. I glanced down and realisedthat there were absolutely no visual checkfeatures on the way to Hyder, save for acouple of mountains. I went to plan B, andmarked on the map the halfway point of theroute, then took a radial and DME from GilaBend VOR. I figured that after six minutesof flying at a ground speed of an estimated165 knots, we should be on the 285 radialfrom Gila Bend VOR at 36DME.I explained to Paul that on reaching thedisused aerodrome we will be flying a teardrop and descending to 5500 feet, as ourmagnetic track dictated that we now usean odd plus 500 altitude. I set the headingbug, started the stopwatch and we wereon our way. Sure enough, after six minutesof flying I looked at my OBS which I hadset up for Gila Bend VOR earlier, and wewere on the 285 radial but at 39DME. Wewere on the correct radial, but too far away,which meant that we were right of track.Using Oxford’stechnique of10 degree driftlines, I figuredthat we wereabout 4 degreesoff course to theright and neededto adjust headingsix degreesto the left. I announcedthat toPaul, along witha revised ETA,and mercifully,we were pointedright at Hyder.As I lookeddown at mymap, Paul saidto me quitecalmly, “Your“We rotate at 77knots, and at 70knots Paul said,“Your rear doorhas come open.” Iclosed the throttles,announced ‘Stopstop stop”right engine is on fire”. I confirmed that theright engine was on fire, and placed theright throttle in idle. Immediate correctionis need for the aggressive yaw that youget when one engine on a twin fails. I wasdetermined to stay on my heading bug,bearing in mind that I was still being testedon getting to my diversion point, despitethis rather major problem. With almost fullleft rudder in (this rudder is heavy – it’sabout the size of a Warrior’s wing!) I carriedout the engine fire and shutdown drill.Mixtures both rich, props both full RPM,left throttle to 40 inches. Confirmed a rightengine failure, then idled the right throttle,feathered the right prop, right mixture toidle cut-off. Confirmed that gear and flapswere both up, right engine magnetos bothoff, right engine auxiliary fuel pump off, andright fuel selector off. With that, the rightprop came to a halt, and hung there in midair. Checklist not yetfinished, we have tolook after the workingengine. Left cowlflaps open, left ammeternot above 70amps, temperaturesand pressures in thegreen, gyro suctionstill good, and rightprop to 2400RPM.I breathed deeplyafter this was allfinished. We hadrevised this checklistpretty religiously forthe last few days,so everything justcame naturally. OnPaul’s command,it was time for theengine de-featheringand restarting drill.Basically undoing all the things you’ve justdone to shut the thing down. These enginesusually have a bit of trouble starting inthe air, and sure enough, on operating thestarter and primer simultaneously, I couldn’tget the thing started. I said to Paul that inorder to start it I was going to have to dipthe nose down slightly and sacrifice altitudein order to get some airflow over the prop