There you were: Inside the foggles, it was zero-zero. You were taking off in your trusty 1972 Piper Aztec. Just as you rotated you lost an engine. The left engine, no less. Quick, what do you do? Well, if you did as you'd been taught, before the takeoff you probably at least mentally went through the takeoff briefing, "...in the event of an engine failure after rotation, I'll continue the takeoff and maintain VYSE, power-up, clean-up, identify/verify/feather...." Not bad if you can pull it off. The problem is that twin drivers cannot consistently pull it off. The NTSB's accident reports and local airport folklore all are replete with accounts of unsuccessful outcomes of a real or simulated engine loss at or slightly after rotation in a light, twin-engine piston-powered airplane—the dreaded V_1 cut. (Yes, while we recognize that the V_1 airspeed isn't too common in piston twins, for our purposes here we'll use it interchangeably with rotation speed, VR, and the point of no return on the takeoff.) Many of these fine pilots were likely carefully following the POH and their training. What went wrong? Let's take a look.
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