Thursday 19 December 2019

Not quite to plan....



Taxiing out to the runway in my Diamond DA62 using the X-Plane 11 flight simulator.  Just waiting for a Cessna 172 to take off ahead of me.  All systems looking good.
 ATC give permission to proceed and  all instruments are reading normal.
  I just watch the Cessna clear the immediate airspace before taxiing out onto the runway.
 Take off and check out the local landmarks to get a visual orientation on the route and then switch on the autopilot to take me to the first waypoint
 The DA62 is a modern twin engined 6 seat aircraft with an impressive array of instruments.  It is a relatively easy aircraft to fly and land, being very pilot friendly.
 At the waypoint  I disengage the autopilot and turn to my airfield approach to fly the aircraft in manually.  BANG!

Fire on engine 1 - smoke and flames - off fuel - off power to that engine, adjust trim nose down, look for a place to land.  Grass pasture ahead to the right, power off, flaps down 1 point, wheels down. MayDay call out.

Align the aircraft to avoid trees and obstacles.  Down with a bumpy landing, fire extinguisher to engine nacelle, OK - this was a good "walk away from the plane" landing.


Now what can I do on the sim with an aircraft in a field, one engine wrecked and not enough power to take off safely in the space available - call the AA?
Just restart the sim at a different location with an aircraft set to no failures.

The X-Plane flight simulator is designed to mimic real flying and there is a built in setting to trigger a failure at preset intervals.  Usually it is just a giro misalignment or a light out, but a major failure does not occur very often.  It comes as a surprise when it happens - glad I knew what to do.
(No repair bills on a simulator.)

Aerobask DA62 - good value sim model - highly recommended.


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