multi school problem...
 

so I was planning on going to prairie air service to get my multi-comm add on... well, they are backed up until may, and unfortunately i can't really wait that long. so unless anyone has a splendid suggestion *cough*, here is where i stand.

there are two schools in my area.

school one: 5.5 hours dual - $2300 (seminole, $418/hour) atd flight systems
school two: 15 hours dual - $3700 (twin comanche, $246/hour) career pilot school

which option would be better? going for cheaper total/less hours (more $$ per hour), or paying more total (less $$ per hour) for the 15 hours?

Never flown a comanche, but I do have a lot of time in the seminole and let me tell you that's a great plane to train in. Takes a licken and keeps on ticken! Are you going to get your MEI after? If you aren't I'd say take the most hours that you can get in multi.

the seminole is an awesome plane to learn in most of my multi time is in it ;) but $414/hour :eek: ouch!!I wouldnt do option 1 but If you have plenty of multi time, feel comfortable flying a light twin and getting an mei soon go for option 1 but if you need to fly a little more to learn, become comfortable, then go for option 2. Im doing my Multi Comm on a DA-42 is about 20 hours at $4300 at a part 142 school.

*$246 an hour is the norm on light twin rental w/ instructor

where this?

I'm sure you already know this, but the same advice as always applies:

Go to both schools, talk to instructors, take a look at the aircraft and, if it's on-site, maintenance. Then go with whichever you are more comfortable with.

All other things being equal, more hours are good, but that's a secondary concern.

(also, are those numbers "all inclusive" or just straight rate * hours? That seems awfully expensive for a Seminole...)

those numbers all all inclusive... groundschool, books, simtime, etc. i'll put links up for those who are interested

$418 for a Seminole is over-priced in my opinion. That and the Seminole isn't as great as everyone says. Its a cool bird, but the SE performance is horrible so I wouldn't want to get the ME add-on in the summer. Here's the scoop. If you plan on getting the MEI, you need 15 hours of ME PIC time to qualify. So I hope you have access to a cheaper multi or some good connections. The multi add-on is quick too. 15 hours is more than you need to get the rating. You'll feel more comfortable in the plane, but you can be proficient in 5-10 hours. I'd want the rating sooner and for as cheap as possible (provided the school is the right fit).

yeah see I wish I could get it cheap and with fewer hours but there aren't many options around here... only other option would be to go away from home for the week but then I'd be losing that money in housing costs anyway.

I did my entire flight training through ATD Flight Systems. They're a great bunch of instructors. Renting the Seminole itself isn't $418/hr, it's $220, plus the instructor rate in the twin is $50/hr.

The total cost for $2300 includes the ground school, supplies, the plane rental for the checkride itself(though the checkride fee for the examiner is still extra), and also training on the PCATD flight sim.

Bill Hays(the owner and the guy who does the sim portion of the training) does such a great job on training on the sim, it's the reason you can get your multi rating in such low flight-time.

Then(most likely it'll be) Reema Alexander will instruct you in the Seminole portion. I did all my training(private, instrument, commercial se and me) between both Bill and Reema and can say 1st hand both are wonderful instructors.

I don't know anything about the 2nd school, so my opinion is one sided, but wanted to give you some 1st hand experience being a former student through the 1st school.

Hope this helps.

How long ago did you finish up there? I've been flying out of 6B for about a year now.

I got my commercial multi this past May,but still go there to hang out and get some practice on their sim.