The Swearingen-TEB incident: control issues with twins

I came in even later - what a thread! I have nothing of value to add
but would comment:
- That'll teach you to come in to this forum half-cocked and full of
hearsay(laugh here)
- All this asymmetrical thrust talk, besides getting the 6.5 hour MEL
rated pilot a bit hot, just makes 'ol Bob Hoover's Shrike routine glow
brighter in the gathering dusk.



Capt.Doug wrote:

Coming into this thread a little late cause I've been busy....

The aircraft that crashed was a Merlin 3A (not to be confused with the
long-body Metroliner series). Vmc is 107 knots. Best 2-engine approach speed
is 111knots (which is still too fast and floats a lot of runway). Vyse is
144 knots. The leading edge radius of the airfoil is small (sharper stall
characteristics which require a stick pusher). The vertical stabilizer is
small (in relation to the over-all design). Reverse thrust if highly
effective and full reverse thrust is prohibited above 40 knots because
assymetric reverse thrust will overpower the nose wheel steering. These
airplanes have yaw dampers and some have an additional thing called rudder
bias, but they are getting a bit old and some operators don't fix these
things.

Having over 5000 hours in the Merlin/ Metro series, I can say that
single-engine landings are not nearly as easy as in a piston trainer twin.
They have earned their various nicknames (Lawn Dart, Death Tube, San Antonio
Sewer Pipe...). The KingAir 200 is the same size but is much easier to
handle during single-engine landings because the KingAir has a larger rudder
and vertical stabilizer, more wing dihedral, larger airfoil leading edge
radius, and lower stall speed, and less effective reverse thrust. These
reasons are also why the Merlin runs 20 knots faster and 500 miles farther
on 15% less fuel. I fly non-stop from Los Angeles to Daytona Beach
regularly. The performance and economy are wonderful.

Someone who passes their multi-engine practical can likely land a KingAir
with one engine out. Not so with the Merlin 3. During normal 2-engine
approaches, if I inadvertently have 20% torque on one engine but only 10%
torque on the other, I will have to use significant rudder to maintain
directional control. Add an additional failure mode such as the propeller
going to flat pitch and even an experienced pilot will have a difficult
time.

D.