Final Multi Engine Blog

Well, tomorrow is the last day of Multi Engine ground school. I took my end of course oral test today and did well. I take my final for the ground school tomorrow, and then if weather is good take my end of course flight Wednesday.

I have loved the Multi Engine Rating. This is the first time that I have ever read an entire text book. Although Kennedy is partially to credit for me actually finishing the text book. Over the course of my class, I have learned alot. I am assigned to blog about 2 things that I have learned. I'm sitting here trying to think of the two things that had the most impact on me.

One thing that we have talked about in this class that I have learned alot from is situational learning. As you learn to fly aircraft, you find out that there are alot of grey areas, and you as a pilot have a lot of responsiblity. A light twin airplane brings even more grey areas. Do I take off when I have less runway available then my accelerate and stop distance? How about an IFR flight with a MEA above my single engie absolute cieling? Learning the procedures and how to fly the aircraft is only part of the big picture. Taking time to think about each situation and evaluating it is a real skill that must be developed as a pilot.

Another thing that I have learned to think about in the class is engine failure emergencies. I came into this class with the ignorant opnion that multi engine aircraft were safer, because they had two engines. A real eye opener to me was that having two engines just doubles the chance of an engine failure and doubles the chance of an emergancy. With this in mind, you need to almost be twice as ready for an emergancy in a twin engine aircraft. It is always on my mind when I fly. What will I do if I lose an engine in this stage of flight?

My favorite part of the class was the sim session that we did in the Frasca. It was fun. It was also really great to help salidify the engine out procedures. I was great to fail the engine right after lift of and see what would happen without having to put myself and others at risk by actually doing that in the real airplane. Loved it.

The trip to actually look at the Seminole was great as well. I was glad that Frank had removed the floor panels and that we could take a look at so much stuff that you usually can't see. I was great for helping me retain the information as well as gain new insights on things like the flaps and hydraulic system.

I have enjoyed the blogging portion of our class as well. I have to apologize to Nicoles friends who keep checking our blog hopeing to see cute pictures of the kids and instead finding all this aviation stuff. It's helpful to sit and write down you thoughts and really contemplate a subject.