Multiengine Pilot Course of Instruction

Multi Engine Flight Training Curriculum

Steve Sconfienza, Ph.D.

Airline Transport Pilot

Flight Instructor: Airplane Single and Multiengine; Instrument Airplane

cell: 518.366.3957

e-mail: docsteve@localnet.com

Prerequisites

Students should have experience flying complex single engine airplanes, be familiar with private and commercial pilot flight maneuvers, and be generally current (as per 14 CFR 61.57(a)); if instrument rated, be strongly familiar with instrument procedures and preferably current (as per 14 CFR 61.57(c)).

Students who are not current, have not recently practiced flight maneuvers, or have not qualified in complex/high-performance single engine aircraft (14 CFR 61.31(e) and (f)), will likely require additional instruction. To meet the skill and knowledge requirements associated with those qualifications, some of this instruction may be accomplished in a single engine aircraft.


Course Outline

General Course of Multiengine Flight Training

The VFR part of multiengine training consists of the following:

Instrument Multiengine Flight Training

Both the Private Pilot Airplane and the Commercial Pilot Airplane PTS require that an instrument rated multiengine student demonstrate instrument competency as part of the multiengine flight test: he or she will be required to demonstrate an enroute engine failure and a one engine inoperative approach by reference to instruments on his or her multiengine flight test.

Both tasks ("Engine Failure During Flight [By Reference to Instruments]" and "Instrument Approach–One Engine Inoperative") are listed as required; if the applicant does not hold an instrument rating the tasks "need not to be accomplished." (This eliminates the license issued with the "Multiengine VFR Only" limitation.)

For instrument-rated students, the instrument part of the training will consist of an additional lesson, which will prepare the student for the enroute engine failure and simulated engine-out approach by reference to instruments that has to be demonstrated on the flight test.

If the instrument-rated student does not have experience in instrument operations in complex single engine airplanes or is out of currency in his or her instrument skills, the instrument training must be conducted to bring the student to the standard in the Private Pilot or Commercial Pilot (as appropriate) PTS.

Lesson 4 will not be considered to be complete and the student will not be advanced to the final review (Lesson 5) and flight test until the student is proficient in the specified instrument procedures. If the student does not meet the specified instruments requirements, additional instrument lessons will be necessary.

Note: concerning the description of the approaches, one could fly a PAR approach for the precision approach or an ASR approach for the non-precision approach, but those facilities are rare; also, for the non-precision approach, an RNAV (RNP) approach would be acceptable, but RNAV-equipped aircraft generally available for multiengine flight training are those with RNAV (GPS) equipment.


Syllabus

Depending on the student's background, the multiengine training will typically require approximately 6 hours of flight training for a VFR multiengine rating and 8 hours for an IFR multiengine rating. The training typically consists of 4 or 5 flights of 1.5 to 2.5 hours each.

Lesson 1: Normal Operations

  1. Preflight inspection and cockpit orientation
  2. Start up, taxi, run up, normal take-off and climb
  3. Slow flight, clean and flaps down, straight ahead and turns
  4. Stalls, power on and off, straight ahead and turning
  5. Steep turns
  6. VMC demonstration
  7. Normal traffic pattern
  8. Normal and short-field takeoffs, and landings

Lesson 2: Emergency Operations (part I)

  1. Start up, taxi, run up, normal take off and climb
  2. Engine failure in cruise and at approach speed
  3. Engine failure in the traffic pattern continuing with engine out (Simulated) landings

Lesson 3: Emergency Operations (part II)

  1. Engine failure (Simulated) in cruise, troubleshooting procedures:
  2. Effects of airspeed and configuration on performance
  3. Engine failure (Simulated) on takeoff and climbout
  4. Aborted take offs

Lesson 4 (Instrument-rated students only):

Lesson 5: Prep for flight test

  1. Review of all maneuvers and procedures

Typical Training Schedule

(Note: two daily flights is based on scheduling and weather considerations.)

Day 1

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Day 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4 (for instrument-rated students)

or

Lesson 5 (for non-instrument-rated students)

Day 3

Lesson 5 (for instrument-rated students)

Flight Test


Flight Test

The following are the Areas of Operation to be examined during the Private Pilot and Commercial Pilot Practical Tests. Tasks are identified as they are listed in the PTS.

The private pilot and commercial pilot examinations are performed to their respective standards, as published in their respective Practical Test Standards. A local designated examiner will be solicited and will be charging the local prevailing rate for the examination.


Weather Requirements

The FAA specifies in the Practical Test Standards that multiengine maneuvers such as stalls and VMC be conducted as to entail no operation below 3000 feet AGL. Therefore ceilings below 4000 to 5000 feet can cause weather-related delays.

Occasionally — although not frequently — strong winds or turbulence (particularly, in this area, out of the northwest) may make meaningful training difficult; in fact, cross-wind conditions may exist as to make takeoff and landing hazardous. While it may be possible to fly under such conditions, it can make the learning process problematic.


References

The course is based on the FAA's Practical Test Standards (PTSes), available at https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/test_standards/:

Students should be familiar with the test standard appropriate to the license sought.