My vote goes for the Apache. (it came with 150/160/235 hp a side...the 235 was an early Aztec, so I wont count it.) You had to actually fly the thing on one engine, yet on two, it was a pleasure to fly. Stable. Handled well, although a little on the slow side. I flew a Seneca I, and I think it was the worst handling airplane I've ever been in!
Thoughts?

I did my multi-IFR on a BE55C Beech Baron. It was a sweet ride.

When I operated my school I had a Seguin Geronimo Apache, it was ideal because not only was it easy to fly and cheap for a twin but the thing really was safe.

With 180 HP and the long nose and big tail plus the wing mods it did not have a minimum single engine speed and would climb very well on one engine.

So my vote goes to the Geronimo Apache.

Cat

I did my initial multi on a Twin Commanche and my mutli IFR on a Seminole. I enjoying flying the commanche much more but for an initial trainer I think the seminole is best suited.

I agree, the seminole is a very well suited trainer. It Has good handling and is forgiving for a twin aircraft. The power is not extremly high but I would not say it is an underpowered aircraft. The counter rotating props made it fairly simple to control while single engine and the contols had a very light feeling to them in all phases of flight, keeping it from getting tiring while doing training especially single engine.

As far as just initial training goes, the Grumman cougar is another option you may opt for if you are short on funds. This aircraft was definately built for the puropose of training, having very little payload and a very weird center of gravity not suited for any type of commercial operation. It can be found at many training schools and many people have had experience with them at some time during their career. They are slightly underpowered for their weight but will still have no problems operating at mid level pressure altitudes. Once again it is a fairly easy aircraft to fly that is forgiving of the mistakes commonly made by pilots learning to fly multi. They are very economical to operate so you should find training in it alot cheaper than most twins. The only thing that is not great about them is they have a longer than most take-off roll and landing roll. At higher pressure altitudes and novice pilots, they have problem eating up 3000' of runway in the take off and landing.

If you have the money, there are many other aircraft that would be better than the above two, but for the average persons budget, they are great choices to train in.

Either one of the Olsens, if they are now of legal age.

You cant get a multi-rating unless you can handle both!

I did mine on a 310R... pretty sweet. And loud. And all those fancy little whizbang gadgets to poke... It was fun. I heard once or twice 'if you can learn to fly a 310 you can fly anything'. This was from other pilots who learned on the 310 and went onto bigger and better... i wouldnt be able to say first hand... as i haven't flown anything else... yet.

The 300/400 series Cessnas have a much less forgiving wing than the Duchess, Seminole, Aztec, etc.

Vortex generators make a tremendous difference, and are worth every penny, despite the fact that someone on the net figured out that, by weight, they cost more than gold!

I found the Duchess a good platform.

The BN-2 Islander............ slow...... heavy......... noisy......... goes into short short strips fully loaded, and comes out with a good chunk of weight. Plus the cockpit is nice and small too! A very stable plane

Got my rating on a Seneca but "learned to fly a multi" on the D18S

I find the Seminole just doesn't prepare you well enough for what a real engine failure in a more powerful twin would be like. I've been up in one once or twice for Multi-IFR practice flights, and you barely notice when an engine has been failed (except on the airspeed and VSI). But if you're overly cautious or timid, and just want the multi for the purpose of maybe once in a while renting a cheap twin, it would be a good choice.

I learned on a Baron, and that was an entertaining aircraft to try to keep going...

Beech Baron 55 (C-FRSC & C-GBNF).
Lots of fun, but props & throttle levers "reversed" compared to "usual" layout!
Was way faster than the C-152 I was used to!!!

Turbocharged Seneca II. Awesome. Simple controls and easy to handle. Also requires some sort of extra skill in handling the turbos with takeoff (not just cramming in full power), and cooling while IFR before approaches. The nice 500 fpm on a single engine is nice too. Only major problem is the stupid MP gauge being behind the control column when adding power for takeoff.

M

The Beech Duchess and the Piper Seminole were intended to be trainers, and are said to be the two easiest planes (twins) to fly (including the Olsens).
I did mine on an old Aztec (250 HP) and found it very easy to fly. I agree that the Islander is also pretty easy (both 260 and 300 HP), big wings, big control surfaces and long skinny fuselage. Beech 18 and Queen Air, not good trainers.

I have to agree with the old apache.. That's what I did my multi on.. If you could fly that on one, most of the rest were easy.. Of course I hadn't flown the goose at that time so maybe it would be a good trainer too... If you could afford it..

Like most training airplanes, I would reccomend one that challenges you.. If you want a float endorsement, why fly a PA18 when you don't have to do anything but hold the stick back and it will fly??? Try a 172 or a 140 where you have to learn how to handle the airplane so it will just fly.. Same with a twin.. Go with something that will put you in the worst case scenario, after that, the rest seem pretty easy...

If you really want an easy airplane to do a multi on why not just go for the Twin Otter, or maybe the 757???

I did mine in the duchess.. have been in the seneca II and a couple of the other beech twins. I'd vote for a beech any day just for the great handling and such. Heard the baron and travelair are good for fun too.

Did not like the seneca at all!

I learned in a Baron too. It was a great twin. Just enough to keep you busy, but not to wear you out. The single engine characteristics force you to do something to get the aircraft configured properly. There's no doubt when the engine fails. Once it's under control, it's fine to fly. The warning gets a little annoying though...

You could learn a few things from these twins:

Seeing as some of the posters here were trained when a multi hour rental cost 5-10 dollars I'm guessing, and with todays prices all over the place 225-350(not including the HO's which go upto 750)

my humble vote goes to "the cheapest plane."

I was doing mine at 225/hr IIRC on the duche

My father had done his back in the early 70's at 22/hr with an instructor. In a twin commanche

He made the same wages then that I do now... Go figure?

Did mine on a BE-95. Seemed easy to learn. And rented out at $250 Hr.

Mine was done on a Seminole. No matter the HP, an engine out is still an engine out. You sure do feel engine failure in the Seminole...180HP is enough to teach you how to deal with it. Its a simple enough airplane, it handles well, gross wt is only about 3800 lbs, a very nice, smooth aircraft...its a light twin, they are all pretty much the same until you get into turbos...

Best twin of all to train on ...is one that someone else is paying for!