DA42 Down in North Carolina

[Karl]

Edit. My original comment was that there was a bank angle limit.(Whilst flying asymmetric there is a limit of 10 deg bank.) For some reason I can no longer find it in the current FM. However the rest of my post is valid.

Exceeding 10 deg of bank during asymmetric flight can result in fuel starvation.

The fuel tanks in a Diamond are long and thin, the fuel is usually held at the lower end of the tank by the G imposed during a banking maneuver. However when flying asymmetric it is possible for the fuel to flow away from the fuel pick up at the bottom of the tank resulting in fuel starvation until you level the wings.

It maybe possible that after the first engine failure they exceeded the 10 deg bank angle and temporarily starved the good engine of fuel.

I will be very interested to see what caused the engine and flight control issues.

[Boatguy]

I reread the report.

1) These were IO-360 engines, not TDI or Austro. We know that because the report says "As part of the simulated left engine fire, the
left engine was shut down with the full reduction of the throttle, propeller, and mixture.

2) There was no engine failure, the CFI shut down the engine to simulate a failure.

3) They pilot said they could not pull back the stick, yet they did make a good off field landing. The report further states that in the post crash inspection "Flight control continuity was established from the flight controls to each control surface, which moved freely and correctly through the full range of motion."

Obviously something happened as no pilot is going to make an off field landing just for fun.

[jb642DA]

I reread the report.

1) These were IO-360 engines, not TDI or Austro. We know that because the report says "As part of the simulated left engine fire, the
left engine was shut down with the full reduction of the throttle, propeller, and mixture.

2) There was no engine failure, the CFI shut down the engine to simulate a failure.

3) They pilot said they could not pull back the stick, yet they did make a good off field landing. The report further states that in the post crash inspection "Flight control continuity was established from the flight controls to each control surface, which moved freely and correctly through the full range of motion."

Obviously something happened as no pilot is going to make an off field landing just for fun.

Phone or ipad (or something else) fall behind the stick to restrict aft travel??

[Paul]

My guess is that one of the Swiss cheese holes here is not taking advantage of the trim wheel to the fullest extent.