Multi-Engine Guide
Chair flying / Single-Engine Approach and Landing

Single-Engine Approach and Landing

A normal traffic pattern flown on one engine — configuration earned rather than scheduled, blue line until the landing is assured, and a clear-eyed understanding that the go-around is probably not available.

Guided rehearsal is Premium

Pre-Takeoff Engine-Failure Briefing

  1. Runway, wind, and performance — takeoff distance, accelerate-stop, and single-engine climb for today's density altitude and weight
    Light twins are not required to have a positive single-engine rate of climb at any altitude. Know before you roll whether today's airplane will climb on one.
  2. Speeds: Vr, Vyse (blue line), Vmc (red line), Vsse
  3. Failure before rotation: throttles closed, brakes, stop straight ahead
  4. Failure after liftoff with runway remaining and gear down: close the throttles and land straight ahead
    The landing gear stays selected DOWN as long as there is usable runway or overrun to land on. Gear down means continued takeoff and climb is not recommended.
  5. Failure after liftoff with the gear up and no runway remaining: pitch Vyse, mixtures/props/throttles forward, flaps up, gear up, identify, verify, feather
  6. Climb straight ahead or with shallow turns to at least 400 ft AGL before turning back; obstacles and terrain off the departure end
  7. Who flies, who touches what, and the tolerance for any simulated failure — never below Vsse
    AFH: no engine failure should ever be introduced below Vsse; if none is published, use Vyse.

Setup

  1. Failed engine secured and feathered, zero-sideslip established, trimmed
  2. Fly the normal pattern — same altitudes, airspeeds, and key positions as a two-engine approach
    The differences are reduced power available and asymmetric thrust, so expect a higher-than-normal power setting on the operating engine. Pattern direction is irrelevant to controllability — turns toward the failed engine are perfectly acceptable.
  3. Brief the landing: committed to land, no go-around expected, touchdown surface if the runway is missed“Committed to land”

Execution

  1. Downwind: performance permitting, gear down — confirmed DOWN no later than abeam the intended point of landing“Gear down, abeam the numbers”
  2. Downwind: performance permitting, initial flaps ({n:approachFlapSetting}, typically 10°) and begin the descent from pattern altitude
    Every configuration change is conditional on performance. If it is not there, you do not take the drag.
  3. Base: flaps to an intermediate setting (typically 25°) if performance is adequate
    Adequate means airspeed is holding and sink rate is reasonable. If airspeed decays or the sink rate builds, delay further flap extension until closer to the runway.
  4. Never slower than Vyse — blue line is the minimum airspeed throughout the pattern“Blue line”
  5. Final: a normal 3° glidepath — use the VASI or PAPI; avoid a long, flat, low approach
    Slightly steeper is acceptable. Long and flat leaves you with no energy and no engine to fix it. Avoid large, sudden power applications or reductions on the operating engine.
  6. Once on final with gear and flaps out, you are committed to land — runway, another runway, a taxiway, or the grass“No go-around”
    Most light twins cannot climb on one engine with gear and flaps extended. Retracting them while holding Vyse commonly costs 500 ft or more. If the gear was lowered by an alternate means it may not retract at all, which negates any climb capability that remained.

Recovery

  1. Landing assured: slow to 1.3 Vso or the AFM/POH recommended speed ({n:singleEngineLandingSpeed}); final flaps now, or land with partial flaps“Landing assured”
  2. Anticipate the rudder trim change as the operating engine throttle comes to idle in the roundout
    Some pilots reset rudder trim to neutral on final and hold the pressure, precisely to avoid this change close to the ground. Either technique is fine — pick one and brief it.
  3. Expect float — one windmilling propeller is far less drag than two
    Precise airspeed control matters most here, especially on a short, wet, or slippery surface.
  4. Touch down, maintain directional control, and let it roll out — no reconfiguring on the runway

ACS tolerances

  • Airspeed Vyse +10 / −0 kt until the landing is assured
  • Altitude ±100 ft in the pattern; stabilized on a normal glidepath on final
  • Touchdown within the specified touchdown zone
  • Configuration changes made only when performance permits

Common errors

  • Configuring on schedule instead of on performance — full flaps taken before the runway is made
  • Letting airspeed fall below blue line while chasing the glidepath
  • A long, flat, low approach with no energy margin
  • Large, abrupt power changes on the operating engine
  • Attempting a single-engine go-around from short final
  • Being surprised by the rudder trim change as the throttle closes in the roundout