| "Heavy metal pilots" are required to have extensive
training in single engine flight of a multiple engine airplane. Safe control of the
airplane can be tricky if one engine fails. One engine providing all the thrust and the
other engine causing a lot of drag can change the flight attitude drastically and can be
hazardous if proper emergency procedures are not followed. These drastic changes in flight characteristics introduce a very
important concept...Adverse yaw; due to asymmetrical thrust...or...Loss of directional
control... When the forces of thrust and drag push and pull in the same direction from a
point outboard of the fuselage, the wings act as a fulcrum leveraging the plane about it's
center of gravity with a multiplying force. In high power, low airspeed situations full
directional control input may not be enough to keep the airplane from rotating violently
about its axis. Proper emergency procedures can prevent this condition known as a
"flat spin". Recovery procedure form a fully developed "flat spin"
however is, officially, unknown. Exactly how single engine flight in a multi-engine plane affects controllability is what you must learn to be able to safely control the airplane and be able to land. Knowing at what speed directional control can be lost at any given instant is critical to flight safety if an engine failure should occur. This speed is affected by such factors as weight, center of gravity, and power setting, even atmospheric conditions such as wind can change this minimum controllable airspeed by the second. Study these elements carefully and you can avoid a hazardous situation before it occurs. We'll bring you more about multiple engine airplane characteristics and pilot training guidelines later.
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