Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
Not to change the subject, but what do you think of doing practice engine outs down to 50 feet? Legal or not? Obviously, you can't do them in non-accord with FAR 91.119. If you had a grassy field that was free of poles or structures though?
I read that other thread and I think that person busting their checkride for going below 500 was a bit BS.... Now going all the way down to 50 feet, I dont think its really necessary, cause if you dont know if you are going to make a field by the time you get to 500 feet AGL, you probably arent going to make it... I teach in an area that has a LOT of open fields/farmland, so we can go low, but I usually break it off at about 500 and then afterwards ask the student why they could or could not make it to the particular field that they picked, and if not what could they have done better... I dont see any need to go that low...
Now I think the main reason for that is that if you get that low and do experience a REAL engine out it could aggrivate the situation esp with a student and they could freak out and potentially stall/spin the plane... and we all know the results of these scenerios that low to the ground... Never good...just my opinion though...