I learned about flying from that: Rejected take-off in a Cirrus

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Aircraft: 2018 Cirrus SR22T GTS G6, Detail: IFR Training Flight, Airfield: Fairoaks RW24

On conducting a walk round of the aircraft two small pools of oil were spotted on the ground directly beneath both exhaust stacks. On inspection oil was leaking down the inside of the exhaust pipes.

Having had a similar issue on another Cirrus which was a sticking non return valve from the engine oil feed to the turbo charger it was suspected that the issue would not be a problem once the engine was running and it would allow a flight to the maintenance organisation to carry out further investigation. After a telephone conversation with the engineers it was agreed that was most likely the issue and after a good engine run to burn off any oil in the exhaust it would be safe to fly.

The engine runs were conducted as discussed, power checks were good and engine indications normal. We proceeded with the take-off.

At approximately 50kts and full power during the take-off roll the cockpit filled with thick white smoke which was entering the cabin through the air vents. The smoke was so thick it hampered forward visibility. The student correctly decided to abandon the take-off and come to a halt on the runway. I switched off the cabin fan, closed the air vents and opened the cockpit door to ventilate the smoke from the cabin.

Luckily this happened during the take-off roll and not after rotation as it could have been significantly more serious once airborne in densely congested airspace.

The successful outcome of this scenario was because the student pilot was a in fact an experienced airline pilot, he was used to making decisions under pressure and having practiced rejected take-offs every six months during simulator recurrent training the event did not startle him and he carried out the reject perfectly.

How often as owner operators of light aircraft do we practice a rejected take off? From high speed? I suspect never as we don’t wish to cook brakes and damage our aircraft, this is something I sympathise with, however it can leave you woefully out of practice and under prepared for a real emergency. Cirrus Standardised training helps with this by placing a lot of emphasis on the pre-take-off emergency brief: “In the event of an emergency during the take-off roll I shall close the throttle, apply maximum braking effort, keeping straight on the centre line, coming to a halt and setting the parking brake, where upon I shall tell ATC we have stopped on the runway and then I shall review the failure.”

The take-away: Ensure you have an effective emergency brief for your aircraft that you review with your passengers before every flight using touch drills. When one day you need it, your actions will be muscle memory.

Contact CK Aviation Services here, to book flight training.

 

Written by a fixed-wing instructor

 

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