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Forced landing checklist

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mmatt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Messages
315
Location
Canada
I've been flying for the better part of 2 decades and much of that has been in GA type aircraft. I had plans on becoming a commercial pilot but stuff happened and I became a weekend warrior / fly for fun type pilot. Then it got super expensive and I had to give it up. I recently got back into flying the only way I could afford - ultralights. (I'm in Canada though so I should probably change that to LSA since Canadian ultralights can have up to a 1200 lbs gross weight)

Regardless, much like the ultralights in the US, there are very few regulations and even fewer qualified instructors; and I can't find any sort of checklist from the manufacturer. In light of this, I'm turning to you guys to help me come up with a checklist for a forced landing / engine out scenario. My planes are pretty basic and up until now I figured that if I lost the engine, I'd just concentrate on flying the plane and landing in the most suitable spot available to me, but now I'm wondering if there's more I need to consider.

I co-own 2 aircraft; a Beaver RX 550 and a Chinook Plus 2.


The Beaver (click for pic) is the more basic of the two. It features a pull start Rotax 503 with a single points ignition and a kill switch in the cockpit. There's no attempting to re-start if the engine ever quits. There is no fuel on/off since the fuel tank is below the engine and the fuel pump is vacuum driven so there's no switch for that either. It has only a windshield, no doors so there's no need to worry about unlatching them before touchdown. In this plane, aside from activating the kill switch so that there's no chance of the engine still be 'live' after the landing while you're troubleshooting, I can't think of anything other than the mayday radio calls if I have time.

Beaver forced landing checklist:
- maintain best glide (35 MPH)
- activate kill switch
- mayday radio calls
- fly the plane to the best suitable landing spot

What else would you add?


The Chinook (click for pic) on the other hand is a bit more advanced. It features a Blue Head Rotax 582 with electric start. It has 3 fuel switches (master on/off, left, & right) a hand prime pump, duel CDI ignition, and an enclosed cabin. Like the Beaver however, it also features a vacuum driven fuel pump so there's no switch for that.

Chinook forced landing checklist:
- maintain best glide (50 MPH)
- select field and begin approach
- check fuel (all on, sufficient quantity in tanks)
- check ignition (mags on both)
- attempt restart (turn key)
- if engine doesn't start, mayday radio call (maybe make the radio call earlier...? my thinking here is that if the engine starts, there's no need to get others involved)
- prime engine twice, re-attempt restart if time
- if engine fails to restart:
- fuel off
- ignition off
- unlatch doors
- land in best suitable location

What do you guys think? Where can I improve?
 
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