Engine Shutdown in Flight
 

Does anyone have an opinion on engine shutdown/feather and then doing un-feather/air start for multi engine training? The norm, good, bad, etc.

I always did at least one with every multi student. We would try to do it on a cool day or early morning at 5,000 agl overhead our field.
I would usually reach down and shut the fuel valve off without them noticing. Then have them run the checklist for a restart and then secure the engine. After that we would perform an air start.
I think the training is invaluable and you would be doing students a disservice but not performing at least one.

In some communities, even those that have done actual shut downs in flight in the past for various reasons (to include maintenance check flights), it has been put to the ORM test and decided that it is just not worth the risk anymore. I'm sure that better simulators which actually replicate flight conditions and handling are part of the risk management decision. I'm still undecided on the issue myself.

USMCFLYR

I like doing the engine shut down in flight... but not as a surprise. Simulated engine failures as a surprise are great, but I wouldn't cut the engine completely. That said, I do think it is worth every second you look out the window and see a feathered prop staring at you.
The entire process of securing an engine and restarting it should be completed at least once IMHO, and I agree love2av8, preferably on a cool day... and not at 500agl.

Did it during my initial multi, and during my MEI, and I would do it with every multi engine student I trained.

BUT - I was flying a Cessna 310, which has the power to maneuver single engine, and return to the field if necessary. You would never find me doing it in a Duchess, Seneca, Seminole, etc.

It's a risk/reward balance, but in my opinion well worth it to let the student see it just for a minute. If you do it regularly, make sure you alternate engines (shock cooling). I do it Mark's way...simulated all the time, but we discuss the actual feather/shutdown/restart before doing it in the plane.

You should be doing it in an aircraft that is intended to, like a Seminole, Dutchess, Twinstar(has more limits, but still perfectly safe to do so), etc. These usually have an unfeathering accumulator to push the prop out of feather. I've done this before in aircraft not intended for training, and that's where you can get into trouble, trying to go extremely fast in a dive to "spin" the prop better to help start, generally not worth it, or burning out the tired starter trying to get it out of feather, etc.

As far as single engine performance, it's been calculated that even if you had an engine failure in the rocky mountains at something like 14000', you'd always be able to "drift down" and always land at a paved airport. With an engine out at altitude, these aircraft "drift down" often (except the turbo ones), but they do so at such a slight rate that you are not very limited in your choices. It's basically many times the glider a single engine aircraft will ever be, so you have time to consider your options and usually get a good one. This is one of the more rare situation where the "nearest" function on the GPS is useful, because you can calculate how long to get there vs/how long to drift down to that altitude, and figure out if you'll make it, considering your performance gets better the lower you get.

I know of plenty of people that have gotten engine failures in those light training twins and returned back just fine. Not so much for the higher power twins. That should tell you something...

Most examiners are going to require an engine shutdown.

It's required in the PTS:


A. TASK: MANEUVERING WITH ONE ENGINE INOPERATIVE
(AMEL and AMES)
REFERENCES: FAA-H-8083-3; POH/AFM.
NOTE: The feathering of one propeller shall be demonstrated in flight,
in a multiengine airplane equipped with propellers which can be safely
feathered and unfeathered. The maneuver shall be performed at
altitudes and positions where safe landings on established airports can
be readily accomplished. In the event a propeller cannot be unfeathered
during the practical test, it shall be treated as an emergency.

I have trained lots of multi students and I shut down the engine at least twice during every phase of their training, pmel, instrument, meii, etc...the training is too valuable not to...a simulator is good but nothing beats the real thing!

I flew a C310R for my multi training. The most fun twin I've ever flown! My instructor would pull the "Oops. I dropped my pen" trick. He bent over to pick it up and then would close a fuel valve. My flight school transitioned from C310's to PA44's(sucked). We always shut one down in flight. No performance problems at all. Of course, this was at a flight school in the Midwest.

I agree it's perfectly safe. I did it in the C310R & PA44 all the time, no issues. I think every multi student should experience an in flight engine shut down, both expected & unexpected.

But a huge warning to any MEI pulling unexpected engine shutdowns.....GUARD THE RUDDER PEDALS! Do NOT let your student step on the dead engine!!!

I think it was part of the school curriculum, so I did a engine failure (cut mixture, etc), secure and restart, with all of my new ME students. I found it very helpful in helping the student see how important it is to remain calm, perform the memory items and run checlists. They also have a chance to better grasp certain elements of aircraft systems (prop). At the end of the day if or when they have an engine failure in real life, I would much rather them know what to expect and know what a feathered prop/failed engine looks and feels like from the training environment rather than not knowing how they would handle it and leaving it to chance. As instructors, we have to be as sure as we can before we send our students out there as newly certified pilots. I say Shut it Down!