You are flying an L-39 Albatross, which is a two seat Czech trainer, single engine – straight wing jet. You also have a crew member/engineer in the back (non-pilot). You are flying VFR/day over the desert, on a live range and lose your only engine at 3K AGL, 225 KCAS, clean configuration. You have a manual bailout capability with parachutes. There are some semi-straight dirt roads and what appears to be a 5K foot old dirt strip or target runway less than 2 miles away, but it is not on GPS or any chart. Additionally, it may have craters or unseen obstructions, it is tough to determine. There is also a large, straight highway that you estimate to be about 3-5 miles on your nose. Your engine has overtemped and did not restart on your first attempt, you suspect it is a fuel supply or engine computer issue, but at least you have control of the aircraft/glider.
Your glide ratio is 1.3 miles/1000′ alt @ 160kts. You are still at 225kts, 3K AGL and have about 2 minutes to live. What do you do? (considerations in parentheses)
A: Pull out your checklist and attempt to remove computer and normal fuel supply from the loop by using Emergency Fuel Supply. (Seldom used, requires a little time to go through)
B: Roll upsidedown, trim full nose down, jettison canopy, and bailout. (Min alt required 800′ AGL, but you have your doubts if you both will clear the tail and what will happen when you pull the rip-cord.)
C: Attempt a forced landing on a dirt road or the “target airstrip”. (Plenty of options with roads, they are long. You are too low for proper SFO to the dirt strip and it looks like it may be too high and fast for a straight-in.)
D: Go for the highway. (You may not make it there, and you could get taken out by a Kia if you do)
E: None of the above (describe below).
