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Brainteasers
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October 6, 2005

Brainteasers
Interactive Quiz #99:
Step Up To Twins

Congratulations, Mrs. Hollow, it's twins. Twice the power at four times the expense lures the single-minded pilot into the multi-engine PIC seat with a multitude of multi-faceted questions. So grab a fistful of throttles and answer away.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions as best you can, then click on the "Score my quiz answers" button to see your score and read the explanations. If you don't like your score the first time around, you can change some of your answers and resubmit. To get the most out of this quiz, we suggest you keep trying until you get a perfect score.

NOTE: When more than one answer is true, only the most complete, correct answer will be scored as correct. The answers are assumed to apply within the United States unless otherwise noted.

1. Imagine for a minute that the price of fuel isn't an issue. (Ha! We'd like to fly in your fantasy skies.) You own a 200-horsepower Piper Arrow equipped with a constant-speed propeller, retractable landing gear and flaps. You hold a Commercial certificate with airplane, single-engine land category and class. You have a one-time logbook endorsement for "complex" aircraft as per FAR 61.31(e). Your flight review is current as is your medical certificate, and currency as per FAR 61.56. You lead an enviable life, floss regularly, and decide to reward yourself with a multi-engine rating, which you achieve (in minimal time, we might note) in a twin that's equipped with 200-horsepower engines -- two of 'em, one on each wing. After acing the checkride, the aviation fantasy continues and you inherit a non-pressurized, non-turbocharged twin equipped with a pair of 230-horsepower piston engines. Again, one on each wing, so don't look for centerline-thrust issues here. Because you received your multi-engine rating in an airplane with a total of 400 horsepower (200-hp per side), you do not need a "high performance" endorsement as per 61.31(f).
a. True
b. False
c. Ah, c'mon -- who's gonna die and leave me a twin?
2. As with any new license, rating or privilege added to your aviation trophy case, you must learn new terms and V-speeds. What does VMC mean? (Do not confuse with VMC -- Visual Meteorological Conditions.)
a. Minimum constant speed with critical engine feathered.
b. Minimum control speed with the critical engine inoperative.
c. Maximum climb rate with critical engine inoperative.
d. Maximum obstacle clearance (40:1 OIS) with critical engine inoperative.
e. Speed at which your MasterCard implodes while flying twins.
3. As your non-turbocharged, piston twin climbs -- gains altitude -- VMC will (_____).
a. decrease
b. increase
c. remain constant
d. decrease but always remain above stall speed
4. When operating a twin below VMC with one engine inoperative, if full power is applied to the one remaining engine the pilot should expect a yaw and (_____) toward the (_____) engine. Again, forget centerline thrust such as the Cessna Skymasters; they're just silly. Granted, actual VMC may be different from published VMC, but that's not important here.
a. skid, inoperative
b. roll, operative
c. roll, inoperative
d. skid, operative
5. You're still slogging around the skies in your new twin and failing engines left and right. Don't worry ... you have plenty of altitude. So, imagine your twin (one engine on the left wing and one on the right and not counter-rotating) with one engine out. With the wings level and the ball centered in the turn-and-slip indicator, the airplane will be in a moderate sideslip toward the inop engine. You're maintaining heading with wings level, but your VMC will increase.
a. True
b. False
6. When stepping up to twins, you may notice a blue radial line on the airspeed indicator. What does the "blue line" indicate?
a. Minimum controllable airspeed with the critical engine inoperative.
b. Minimum controllable airspeed with the critical engine feathered.
c. Best angle-of-climb airspeed with the critical engine inoperative.
d. Best rate-of-climb airspeed with one engine inoperative.
7. While digging through its hundreds of pounds of paperwork, you notice that your new King Air has an MEL. "Cool," you say to yourself and explain to your husband -- who regrets selling the Bonanza -- that the MEL stands for:
a. Maximum Equipment Loss, a specific inoperative-equipment document for a particular make and model aircraft by serial and registration numbers.
b. Manufacturer's Equipment List, a generic list of original equipment for that make and model aircraft.
c. Minimum Equipment List, a specific inoperative-equipment document for a particular make and model aircraft by serial and registration numbers.
d. Manufacturer's Equipment List, the type-certificated (TC) list of original equipment for that make and model aircraft. Items on this list must be operative.
8. Two engines means twice the safety, right? Not always, Mel. While you do get to burn twice the fuel to go slightly faster than your Centurion buddies, the twin-engine should have a pilot who knows how to instantly handle an engine failure. In the air is no time to learn the engine-out routine. In a modern, U.S.-built twin with identical engines on each wing, both turning clockwise as viewed from the cabin, which engine is considered "critical" in a low-airspeed, high-power scenario?
a. Right, because it's providing asymmetrical thrust.
b. Left, because its center of thrust is closer to the fuselage centerline.
c. Right, because its center of thrust is closer to the fuselage centerline.
d. Left, because it's providing asymmetrical thrust.
e. Neither is critical; you have two -- Duh!
9. Allow us to be completely subjective for a moment. Of the methods below, what is the best for identifying and securing a dead engine in a generic twin?
a. Notify ATC, Mixtures - up, Props - up, Throttles - up, Flaps - up, Gear - up, Identify dead engine, Verify: Throttle (on dead engine) - back, Prop (on dead engine) - back (feather), Mixture (on dead engine) - back, Engine Failure Checklist.
b. Mixtures - up, Props - back (feather), Throttles - idle, Flaps - down, Gear - down, Identify dead engine, Verify: Throttle (on dead engine) - idle, Prop (on dead engine) - full, Mixture (on dead engine) - back, Engine Failure Checklist, Notify ATC
c. Mixture (on dead engine) - back, Prop (on dead engine )- back, Throttle (on operative engine) - up, Flaps - up, Gear - up, Identify dead engine, Verify: Throttle (on dead engine) - up, Prop (on dead engine) - back (feather), Mixture (on dead engine) - back, Engine Failure Checklist
d. Mixtures - up, Props - up, Throttles - up, Flaps - up, Gear - up, Identify dead engine (slap your leg), Verify: Throttle (on dead engine) - back, Prop (on dead engine) - back (feather), Mixture (on dead engine) - back, Engine Failure Checklist
e. See smoke, yell "Fire!" bail out, call Avemco.
10. Here's a bone for you Mixmaster -- er, Skymaster -- owners. When your C-337 (or C-336) isn't in the shop, it can be used to earn a multi-engine rating. A pilot who earns such a multi-engine rating in a Cessna Skymaster will be legal to fly any piston, twin-engine airplane equipped with counter-rotating engines (CR).
a. True
b. False