Multi-Engine Commercial Passed - Accelerated Course Thoughts

Bonchie

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Bonchie
The journey continues. Got my CFI late last year, passed my ME Comm yesterday.

Did the three day course with Thrust Flight in Dallas. $4K including the examiner fee was about as competitive as it gets for an accelerated ME Comm course and the plane is a nice 2002 Seminole.

If you are a decent pilot, the first flight is landings and the maneuvers and will feel easy. Second flight is intro to single engine stuff. Third flight is locking in the emergency flows, tightening up the single engine stuff and approach, maneuvers reviews. Fourth flight is mock checkride.

Checkride the third morning and done.

Really enjoyed it. Thrust Flight does the ME an hour north up at Denison so it’s laid back, not crowded, no delays on the ground, and easy airspace so you can focus on procedures. They also do a buddy system where you ride in the backseat for their flights and can essentially chair fly the procedures to help memorize them. That’s a good idea and works. I backseated for two flights and took a break the other two.

Are you likely to be buddied with a guy who’s doing zero to airline and has little real-world experience? Sure. But the school seems to do a good job of preparing them and I didn’t feel like they were doing the “pilot mill” thing in the sense that guys weren’t safe and proficient.

Times are 7 hours of stick time (including one hour for the checkride) plus 2.5 hours of a mock oral. Study beforehand, know the POH and how to do the performance charts and you’re golden.

Would recommend.
 
The journey continues. Got my CFI late last year, passed my ME Comm yesterday.

Did the three day course with Thrust Flight in Dallas. $4K including the examiner fee was about as competitive as it gets for an accelerated ME Comm course and the plane is a nice 2002 Seminole.

If you are a decent pilot, the first flight is landings and the maneuvers and will feel easy. Second flight is intro to single engine stuff. Third flight is locking in the emergency flows, tightening up the single engine stuff and approach, maneuvers reviews. Fourth flight is mock checkride.

Checkride the third morning and done.

Really enjoyed it. Thrust Flight does the ME an hour north up at Denison so it’s laid back, not crowded, no delays on the ground, and easy airspace so you can focus on procedures. They also do a buddy system where you ride in the backseat for their flights and can essentially chair fly the procedures to help memorize them. That’s a good idea and works. I backseated for two flights and took a break the other two.

Are you likely to be buddied with a guy who’s doing zero to airline and has little real-world experience? Sure. But the school seems to do a good job of preparing them and I didn’t feel like they were doing the “pilot mill” thing in the sense that guys weren’t safe and proficient.

Times are 7 hours of stick time (including one hour for the checkride) plus 2.5 hours of a mock oral. Study beforehand, know the POH and how to do the performance charts and you’re golden.

Would recommend.


Well done, I’ll follow that route soon too. thanks for the update and info.
 
Congrats!

next time you’re in my area, I’ll buy us a celebratory beverage!
 
The journey continues. Got my CFI late last year, passed my ME Comm yesterday.

Did the three day course with Thrust Flight in Dallas. $4K including the examiner fee was about as competitive as it gets for an accelerated ME Comm course and the plane is a nice 2002 Seminole.

If you are a decent pilot, the first flight is landings and the maneuvers and will feel easy. Second flight is intro to single engine stuff. Third flight is locking in the emergency flows, tightening up the single engine stuff and approach, maneuvers reviews. Fourth flight is mock checkride.

Checkride the third morning and done.

Really enjoyed it. Thrust Flight does the ME an hour north up at Denison so it’s laid back, not crowded, no delays on the ground, and easy airspace so you can focus on procedures. They also do a buddy system where you ride in the backseat for their flights and can essentially chair fly the procedures to help memorize them. That’s a good idea and works. I backseated for two flights and took a break the other two.

Are you likely to be buddied with a guy who’s doing zero to airline and has little real-world experience? Sure. But the school seems to do a good job of preparing them and I didn’t feel like they were doing the “pilot mill” thing in the sense that guys weren’t safe and proficient.

Times are 7 hours of stick time (including one hour for the checkride) plus 2.5 hours of a mock oral. Study beforehand, know the POH and how to do the performance charts and you’re golden.

Would recommend.
Did this include instrument or did you already have multi with instrument? I ask because my multi add on commercial is scheduled and I defintely want instrument with it...
 
Did this include instrument or did you already have multi with instrument? I ask because my multi add on commercial is scheduled and I defintely want instrument with it...

If you are currently instrument rated, there is no way to NOT have "multi-engine instrument" after your checkride. The only way you can have "Multiengine VFR only" restriction would be to NOT have an instrument rating, get a multi certificate, then go back and do you instrument rating in a single. But if you do already have an instrument rating, you will be tested on a single-engine instrument approach during your multi checkride, and therefore will confer multi-instrument privileges. You can't opt to not do a S.E. approach and therefore be only single-engine instrument. You used to be able to, I believe, but not any more (I got deep into exploring this option a year or so ago for a multi student who was having problems with the approaches).
 
A pair of fight instructors here have chipped in on an Apache. I'll probably have to go get my multi once they fix the hydraulics in it.
 
What airport is this at? I don’t see them in FF at SWI or GYI.

Their school is mainly at Addison. But the multi stuff happens up at GYI. They’ve got a hanger and office there.
 
Congratulations! I did my MEI this way in 2009 at ATP. The program flowed pretty much the same as you described. No time to spoon feed systems, speeds, procedures, etc. But if you study hard before showing up, it is a really quick and nice experience!
 
A Seminole on one engine is a somewhat gentle ride to the crash landing. Any piston twin will only make that crash landing somewhat more gentle, at best.
 
A Seminole on one engine is a somewhat gentle ride to the crash landing. Any piston twin will only make that crash landing somewhat more gentle, at best.

Not even close to true.

A Seminole is certainly no amazing powerhouse, but I operate one in Oklahoma and have shut down an engine many many times. Not once has it resulted in a ride, gentle or not, to a crash site. Typically levels off at around 4500 ft MSL on a typical summer day. 200-300 fpm climb at lower altitudes on one engine is normal.

Now if you're flying out of COS, that's a different story, but that's all part of the risk assessment that goes into flying any twin.
 
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