Your climbing away from the runway at best rate speed in a high performance aircraft at 1500 to 4000 FPM and without warning the engine quits abruptly and completely.
The airplane begins decelerating very rapidly for two reasons.
Aerodynamic drag.
Kinetic energy is still being converted to altitude.
Think of a rocket in space after engine cutoff. There is no aero drag, yet it continues to slow down until it reaches max altitude. As it starts down it begins to accelerate slowly at first, then more rapidly as sink rate builds.
So, the plane in a steep climb will decelerate faster
than in level flight at the same speed and will continue to decelerate after you coast over the top of the parabola, until the sink rate power is sufficient to offset drag power. At this point the plane is at minimum speed, nose down and sinking. It could be below 1G stall speed. You must have discipline to sit there with a windscreen full of rising earth and wait for the speed to build before pulling much G. AOA would be very helpful here.
If everybody switches to this technique my gut feeling is we will see more spins from a higher altitude and more loss of life.
I’m inclined to
stick with the cruise climb. The same principles apply, but it gives the pilot more time to adjust to the emergency condition before speed gets dangerously low, and the change in pitch is less.
If you are committed to steep climb angles, practice a few engine cuts at altitude in climb conditions and report back to us. Keep the ball centered.