Turbo Seneca Training Sortie

The Seneca is an aircraft I started flying when the Twinstar was withdrawn from our flight line, as it needed two new engines at considerable cost. At first I was not sure about the Seneca but as my hours in it increased, the more I came to like it. But recently this aircraft has also been out of action. You may recall an earlier post in which I described the right engine problems I had, which resulted in a diversion to Carlisle en-route Aberdeen. Following that problem and a repaced cylinder, I discovered that the engine had been removed and sent off for further work. Four months later it was back, and I needed a refresher flight to regain currency.

Stuart Chambers, my instructor, was enlisted to fly with me and I also had a French Instrument Rating student in the back. We positioned over Morecambe bay and following some general handling, Stuart threw in a few simulated engine failures. The first was a tricky one! He told me to set up a descent at low power and then "failed" an engine by retarding a throttle out of my sight. There was no perceptible yaw but the balance ball had moved a touch to the left. Gentle pressure on the rudder corrected it and told me the right engine had failed. I looked at the fuel flow gauge to confirm my choice and completed the touch drills for feathering the propeller. So far so good.

On the climb up to altitude, Stuart failed an engine again. Under high power the yaw is clear and once again I correctly completed the drills and held the correct single engine best rate of climb speed. We were up at 6000 feet and I wanted to fly instruments, so on contacting Blackpool I asked for vectors to the I.L.S. I tuned in the frequency, morse identified it, and began to follow the controller's instructions. As I turned onto a heading, it was clear we would be descending into the clouds at around 4000 feet. I did not look out of the window at all until we were on short final to land. The controller positioned me onto a closing heading for the localiser and a glance at our groundspeed on the GPS suggested a rate of descent of around 450 feet per minute. The glide slope came in and I lowered the undercarraige and deployed two stages of flap. This was the first instrument approach I had done in the Seneca and all went well. At one stage I was about to adjust the power, but Stuart said to leave it alone at 18 inches manifold pressure. He was correct, of course, and on looking up at 350 feet the runway was just a little off to the left.

So a good workout on a very warm day. My shirt was wet from the effort and the temperature. The Seneca is a very rewarding aircraft to fly as it is demanding and fast. In contast, the Twinstar is easier and more modern. I like them both.

Seneca Pilot's Panel

It's nice to have two engines!