Multi training

[docbishop]

Hi there,
for those with the multi engine qualification, what is the average hours necessary to be able to feel comfortable for the check ride, flight schools seems to pretend that after 7 to 10 hours one should be ready...is it realistic ?

[Chaxterium]

Quite realistic. I can't remember how many multi hours I had when I did my ride but I was definitely in that range.

EDIT: I just checked. I had 8.9 hours when I did my multi ride. It was a breeze.

[Cat Driver]

The time required to get the multi engine rating depends on several things.

How many hours you have when you start.

How much time you spend getting familiar with the airplane you will train on before you do the first flight, reading the POH and sitting in it getting familiar with the cockpit layout.

How much time you spend reading how to fly a multi engine airplane.

Who your instructor is.

If you have average flying skills and have flown a lot of hours in single engine airplanes you should get the rating in five to ten hours training plus the flight test.

It is not really that difficult a rating to do.

[BeaverDreamer]

I had 5.3 multi hours in my logbook when I did my flight test, it was a breeze

[cncpc]

The time required to get the multi engine rating depends on several things.

How many hours you have when you start.

How much time you spend getting familiar with the airplane you will train on before you do the first flight, reading the POH and sitting in it getting familiar with the cockpit layout.

How much time you spend reading how to fly a multi engine airplane.

Who your instructor is.

If you have average flying skills and have flown a lot of hours in single engine airplanes you should get the rating in five to ten hours training plus the flight test.

It is not really that difficult a rating to do.

Very good summary.

[dirtdr]

It took me 12 hours in a Cessna 310.

Likely could have been less, but it was fun training.

If I were to do it again, I would not use my own plane for it, especially in the winter

[Saxub]

I did my multi in like 7.5 hours including the ride.

[Meatservo]

I did my multi rating after being a "bush pilot" for a few years. I found that a Beech Travelair with one engined feathered handles a lot like a Beaver with a 16-foot Lund boat tied to the side. A bit better, actually. Piece of cake.

[docbishop]

tks for the answers !

[MrTurbine]

I had less than 4 hours when I did my multi ride. Just learn all the single engine procedures, know it like the back of your hand. The rest of it, it's just another airplane.

[righthandman]

Hi there,
for those with the multi engine qualification, what is the average hours necessary to be able to feel comfortable for the check ride, flight schools seems to pretend that after 7 to 10 hours one should be ready...is it realistic ?

Answer: Typically takes 8-10 hours including the flight test. Getting the rating is not overly difficult.

Commentary: Just getting the rating may not make you proficient enough to keep a sick twin flying on one engine shortly after take off though. Hopefully the first time you are challenged in this fashion you will have a lot more experience under your belt. Flying single pilot IFR in a light piston twin is the most difficult flying ever invented. (Night carrier landings are number 2 in terms of level of difficulty.)

[docbishop]

Hi there,
for those with the multi engine qualification, what is the average hours necessary to be able to feel comfortable for the check ride, flight schools seems to pretend that after 7 to 10 hours one should be ready...is it realistic ?

Answer: Typically takes 8-10 hours including the flight test. Getting the rating is not overly difficult.

Commentary: Just getting the rating may not make you proficient enough to keep a sick twin flying on one engine shortly after take off though. Hopefully the first time you are challenged in this fashion you will have a lot more experience under your belt. Flying single pilot IFR in a light piston twin is the most difficult flying ever invented. (Night carrier landings are number 2 in terms of level of difficulty.)

This makes me think of a retired US navy pilot from Iraq war, who once told me that night carrier landing were dreaded more than the actual fighting mission.....

[AuxBatOn]

(Night carrier landings are number 2 in terms of level of difficulty.)

Not sure if you are sarcastic or not but I doubt you even ever saw one night trap, nevermind with pitching deck and all. I have seen accomplished pilots with hundreds/thousands of traps come back white as a ghost after a night trap. Having flown SE in a twin piston, not one of the hardest things I have done, by a lot...

[Meatservo]

Oh give me a break, AuxBatOn. Hyperbole for ironic effect, or sarcasm, is a pretty common conversational tactic. You didn't recognize it? Get your programmer to introduce more colloquial english subroutines into your linguistic matrix for goodness' sake. While many humans will tend to over-use sarcasm, it's important to understand it if you wish to communicate with them more effectively. It shouldn't be much more difficult to get your head around than, say, a night carrier landing.

[PilotDAR]

I'm a little less light hearted about flying twins, but then a lot of my flying of them in recent years has been testing what they'll do with the critical engine not developing any power. In a few cases, I've been happily surprised. A few other times, unhappily surprised. Yes, with skill and wisdom, you'll be competent. Will that skill and wisdom come in 5 to 10 hours of training, that a flight test? Hmmm, 'not so sure...

I was lucky to do my multi ride in a borrowed 310R, with an examiner who trained on 310s (Seneca, back in the day). I think I learned more during the ride than the training which preceded it! One of the things I learned is that every now and again, even though you're flying a plane with two engines, if one quits, a forced landing ahead may still be your better option. I try to think that through before takeoff, as a part o my self or crew briefing.

I have found this document to be very thought provoking:

http://www.avhf.com/html/Library/Leave_ ... An_Out.pdf

I did nearly lose the right engine (though it did keep running) in that same 310 the following summer, while departing Meigs Field, Chicago. I think it was only that fact that I had a very flat Lake Michigan to fly over, and a climb was not urgent, which kept me "safe". Late in life, We lost the right engine while positioning a Piper Cheyenne II. Just the two of us up front, enroute climb. Honestly, that was a piloting non event.

[Schooner69A]

I'm was a little slower. (;>o) My twin rating in the venerable C-45 took over two months and involved around 80 hours.

Of course, that included an instrument rating...

[complexintentions]

It's tired, it's old, it seems to apply: "How do you know when there's a (military/navy/carrier) pilot in the room?"

Answer-"Oh, he'll tell you..."

[redlaser]

I did my rating on a multi turbo Aztec so I was comfortable at 15 hours, so depending on the aircraft times may vary, also having to do all the emergency situations require time, So don't rush it,

[Blakey]

The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and, a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.