Mustang Engine Failure

[George K]

Thank goodness for long runways.

Link to video

Three seconds between the failure and his reaction to pitch down.

[Copper]

We trained for that sort of thing, a lot.

I remember one time in particular, I was taking a final prep lesson with our chief instructor before going for my CFI check ride.

We had been flying for a couple hours, reviewing everything. We were making one final takeoff before heading home. The instructor shutdown the engine right about in the same spot as that P-51. He was kind enough to say "you just lost your engine".

I landed straight ahead with just enough runway to stop, there were a few moments of excitement.

Before takeoff I would usually ask a student what they will do if they lose the engine on takeoff. I wanted to make sure they planned ahead for it, if you lose an engine at a very low altitude there isn't much planning time. The correct answer is, land straight ahead.

The wrong answer is turn around and land on the runway.