On 2008-04-24, Brian wrote:
Depends on what you mean by "the impossible turn". If you mean turning back
at 200 AGL, yeah, that one's pretty much impossible. If you mean 600 AGL,
it's pretty much possible in the average aircraft. (Hell, that's pattern
altitude at EFD!) The line lies somewhere in between.
It is statements like this that get pilots killed.

There are lots of true statements that get pilots killed...

Your right in that many aircraft it is possible. But the problem is it
isn't possible for many pilots when the engine quits. It is not a
maneuver that is routinly practiced. Any time a pilot askes me about
It I set up a scenerio to let them try it. I have yet to have a pilot
on their 1st try make it back to the runway from 500 feet. After a
couple attempts they usually can just make it back, Most of the time
we try this in a C-170 or C-172.

I did this on the first attempt in a Warrior with my CFI from 400 AGL. It's
one of the things I intend to try (at altitude) with a factory CFI when I
get the Zodiac.

Then the question is can they do it at any runway under any wind
conditions and can the differentiate between the ones that they can
and can't do it at.

True. You do have to do it precisely, and even then the conditions may
defeat you.

All to often I see pilots miss the runway when the power fails on
downwind. How in the world you expect these pilots to make it from a
climb at the departure end of the runway.

Even if they miss the runway, would they have landed on the flat part of the
airport? It seems to me that would be a better outcome than crashing into an
office park.

Part of the pre-takeoff mental checklist (hell, part of the written one, if
you're making your own) should be a decision about what happens if an engine
is lost on initial climb, and at what altitude the answer changes. This will
be different for every pilot, every aircraft, and every airport (for an
extreme case, consider an airport with an elementary school a mile off the
end of the runway, as opposed to one with nothing but farmland). Once the
decision is made, stick with it unless you have a VERY good reason to
change, and (this one comes from the Kings) don't change your mind more than
once.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)