Flight Training

Flying Light Twins – Getting Cracking With Critical

By Marie-Laure Parsy   |   Last updated on June 19, 2022

Flying Light Twins – Getting Cracking With Critical - Hangar.Flights

The moment has finally come! After more than a year relying on one engine, dreading the red when flying over the inhospitable, desert volcanic peaks of the Icelandic highlands, it’s time to level up the aviator scale and begin training for Multi-engine rating on our Twin Star.

The major part of the training focusses on getting proficient in managing the flight when one engine fails, both under visual and instrument rules. We start the multi-engine module with a Class-Rating on the DA-42 NG, a speedy bird from Diamond Aircraft Industries. During these 5 hours, we learn about the aircraft systems, its normal handling and dual-engine emergency procedures.

Then the fun kicks in! With one engine drawn swiftly to idle power, both control and performance are suddenly critically affected. Kicking the rudder in and banking towards the live engine, my pilot friend of the day fights hard yaw over the plains of Reykjanesbær for his entire slot. Stretching legs and cramping biceps to keep heading and altitude as best as possible, the hour is spent demonstrating the effects of drag on aircraft performance with changes of configuration and power.

With the sun rising slow over Keflavik, the entire peninsula at the South-Western tip of the island shimmers in gutsy gradients of amber and cobalt, natural machinations to distract our focus from the instrument panel.

Fast and nimble, stable and bold, the opportunity to train on our light twin feels as much of a privilege as the chance to witness yet another blazing of the earth from above.

Instagram: @introspections.nomades
Blog: 66 degrees high

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Marie-Laure Parsy

About the author

Marie-Laure Parsy

After training as a Researcher in Structural Biology and Biophysics at Oxford, I am undergoing a professional reconversion to combine my love of flying with a sheer passion for exploration. My goal is to fly STOL operations, primarily in the polar regions, but for the next few years, I will be operating the beautiful B737NG for a major European carrier :)

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