Started Multi Training Last Night
 

Just a general FYI that as my second official mission after returning to the states (My wife was number 1) I started my PMEL last night with 1.4 in the books. This is just the first 1.4 towards my PMEL, CMEL and my instructor ratings but it is a start.

I have alloted for 6 hours per week until my end of contract in April to try to get it all done, I have a great plane and what i think is a good instructor so it should be a great time.

I flew the duchess and had a good time and really loved the power and the handling, it was a big change over my favorite bird, the citabria. It was surprisingly alot more stable and easy to handle than i thought and i dont think it will give me too many problems, my steep turns and other maneuvers felt smooth and the plane pretty much did everything I wanted it to do. We only did one "intro" engine out and i found out by what they meant "dead foot, dead engine" it was dead as a doornail to the extent of my good engine rudder requiring like 80lbs of pressure. I wont bore you all with the details of every flight since you have all been there and done that years ago, i just wanted to share my excitement.

I bought the oral test prep guide and the jeppesen multi engine pilot manual book to get me through the checkride, any other suggestions?

I am flying using VA benefits so I am lucky to be able to spend over 100 hours in this plane with about half of that being solo, it is garmin 430 equipped and has a electronic digital HSI/PFD/MFD with a nice lcd readout, it is nicely equipped, unfortunately the autopilot is inop:( It would have been nice to shoot an ILS with the 430 and the autopilot

as always, any tips, hints, or tricks to help me out are greatly appreciate from all of you, you are a wise bunch and I value your oppinions!

Don't get wrapped up in the avionics. A ME rating is about being able to handle a faster, more complex, airplane and handle it with only one motor. All the fancy avionics look cool, and will be a great help for IFR, but they aren't gonna do much for your when you're trying to learn how to do a VMC demo.

Good point UPS,
I am sure as soon as i start doing my VMC work tomorrow I will no longer notice the avionics since they wont help control the airplane for me

Learn the definitions of multi "v" speeds
 

You'll need to recite the definition of the single engine "V" speeds for your oral...so start now. Being able to recite the definition will also help you connect the mental dots when you fly the maneuver.

Have fun!

PS. check your mail :)

Mail recieved Paul, Thanks a ton!

Are you referring to VMC, Vxse, and Vyse?

Flight number 2 is tomorrow with 3 on Sunday and 4,5 and 6 Tues, Wed, Thurs

We will be doing an hour of ground prior to each flight to help it all sink in and I have always had good luck with flash cards so I hope that they will help me out with the seemingly endless things i need to learn about the twin. I might as well get used to learning systems though because it will pretty much follow me through every single step of my career.

Enjoy your training for your PMEL usmc-sgt. My multiengine training was some of the best flying I've done so far, especially when you start training on how to deal with single engine emergencies; engine failure below Vr, above Vr, when to abort or continue the takeoff.

My instructor has told me plenty of stories of students that are afraid to maneuver the aircraft while practicing single engine operations. For example, 30 degree bank turns or even steep turns because they are not used to flying an aircraft in that type of situation. As you continue your training just remember the two most important items when flying single engine: AIRSPEED & DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. If you have those 2 items under control you can literally do whatever you want to the aircraft. Heck, you will even be able to do a 50 degree steep turn…....but might not be able to hold altitude ;)

Enjoy! :)

Also, I hope you're not doing this training all at night. VMC demos in the dark doesn't give me the warm fuzzies...

I will not be doing my multi private in the dark DE. I fly currently from 1730-1930 and I still have a little light left at 1930 at least for a few more weeks. I also fly usually one weekend morning for a few hours so if it does start to get a little dark on us we can just make the my morning flights "Vmc day" I should be done in a few weeks though I am guessing. I am blocked for 2 hour flights roughly 3-4 times per week. Alot of my commercial will be at night though since it will start getting pretty dark by 1800, is that ok in your oppinion?

Man-o-man...when I started my PPL...I didn't even know WTF all that stuff was;) You are really lucky to get to fly nice equipment right off the bat.

Don't get consumed by all the fancy buzzers and whistles like the rest of the group said. It is AWESOME that the airplane has it...but remember...FTFA first...THEN worry about the avionics.

Good luck, have fun, and keep the blue side up!

Lax

Update:

Was scheduled tonight for 2 hours from 1700-1900 so i showed up and preflighted and waited for my instructor to land.

By the time it was time for us to go this stupid overcast came out of nowhere that was around 3200 with tops at 5200. We thought about climbing to 6500 to get over it and the extra .2 to find the clear wasnt really an issue for me but it was forcasted to come down and we were more concerned with the .4 extra while the tower vectored us all over for the ILS which I do not need so the flight was cancelled, kind of a bummer, it slows be down a bit but not that bad. I decided to stay and hang out in the plane and "virtually fly" while the hobbs isnt moving and get a feel for the layout of the panel and where everything i needed was and the owner came out and told me that one of his guys was stranded with a flat at an airport .7 away and if we wanted to fly and just do a XC he would give me a free .5 but i reluctantly sad no since at this stage after only 1.4 of multi I really dont need a 1.4 flight of XC in IFR. I like all the time I can get but there is no sense really throwing money away and not making headway in my training, especially since i can pay no less than 50% of my share of the flight It would have ended up being alot more than that. It would have been a $260 dollar flight with a free $70.00 but technically a wasted lesson at this stage in my training. soooo, that pretty much sums up my flight.

on the way home from the airport the bases had not come down and it looked as if it was clearing up so we would have been fine but, that is the way it is, if I had flown the tops would have come down to minimums right after wheels up.

I have taken some of my spare time and made flash cards and memorized the definition of Vmc and memorized all of the airplanes V Speeds my book "multi engine pilot manual" came in the mail today so I will read chapters one and two and try to stay ontop of the bookwork

Scheduled flights
Sunday 0900-1100
Tuesday 1730-1930
Wednesday 1730-1930
Saturday 0800-1000 & 1130-1330

Does Vyse increase or decrease with altitude, for a given weight?

As altitude increases the best rate of climb decreases. That is the case for Vy and I would assume it would be no different for Vyse. I would assume it would be attributed to the fact that their is less lift and that the airplane is generating less power at altitude so you would have to lower the nose to maintain a climb.

The same would apply to for an increase of gross weight.

I do not believe that the actual airspeed of Vyse would change much but i do believe it would have to lower.

I wouldnt be the farm on it though since i just read the chapter the other day. Can you give me a good answer that would be appropriate for the DPE?

Make sure your instructor doesnt want you to do anything ridiculously dangerous like single engine stalls - those should never be done.

Of course the most important part of multiengine flying is to control the airplane with one engine, ESPECIALLY if it happens after takeoff. I am sure your instructor told you this, but when losing an engine, the most important thing is to FLY THE AIRPLANE. A lot of times my students would dive right into the procedures (mix prop throttles full fwd, flaps up gear up ,etc.) without flying the airplane first! Take a few seconds to take control of the situation and the airplane and then do the procedure - you will stay right on centerline.

haha I kinda miss being an MEI. Sounds like you really enjoy it. Have fun with it and good luck!!

or.....is this a trick question where Vyse stays the same all the way up to the absolute ceiling, but you are only gaining 100fpm...I think i need to keep on the books. I have made flash cards for factors of VMC and the definition and all the Vspeeds and I am reading chapters on operations and systems and performance considerations out of the jepp multi engine pilot manual. Ill bring it up to my MEI tomorrow.

I feel pretty good about my first answer though.....can i phone a friend? (obscure who wants to be a millionaire reference)

"or.....is this a trick question"

HAHA. No, I just bought a PA23 Geronimo conversion and don't have any good numbers on it other than blue line is 95 mph. I want to see what it will do on one engine at 10K (probably driftdown) but was thinking blue line might only be accurate at sea level. I think the only way I'm going to get any accurate numbers on it is to go fly it.

haha..sorry UPS you can never be to sure with some of the questions that get thrown your way. I have seen your plane and it is beautiful, I see you work out of ONT but I am pretty sure you dont store it there.

I will try to find some numbers for that plane and send them your way. I have the POH, PIM for the Duchess but I will find something for you. Blue in the 76 is 85 so i dont think the two planes would have similiar numbers.

I believe that Vyse acts exactly the same as Vy as you increase altitude....decreases. There will be times when you fly that certain atmospheric conditions will the aircraft to perform better at speeds a little below Vyse, and when I say a little I mean only a few knots. Hopefully I'm right, and hoping that someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I'm not sure if you were referring to gaining 100 fpm to absolute ceiling. Absolute ceiling is where you cannot gain anymore altitude at Vy because the slightest change in pitch, roll or power reduction will cause you to loose altitude.

You are right. Vyse does act the same as Vy, and decreases with altitude. VMC, however also decreases with an increase in altitude. This is because all of the factors from the operating engine (torque, pfactor, slipstream, etc.) are decreased because propeller efficiency is diminished with a decrease in the concentration of air molecules as you fly higher.

Just think about it - air is more dense at lower altitudes, therefore the propeller takes bigger bites out of the air, being more effective. This in turn makes all of those factors greater in intensity.

Hope this helps a little - I miss teaching this stuff!!

Re: Training Blog!

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Update: This flight 1.7 total ME 3.1

Flew today. I arrived to the school at 0800 to preflight the plane and get a little studying done. We did a little groundwork and the MEI made sure that I knew all of the Vspeeds of the plane and that I was familiar with the systems and the performance which I was pretty good on, i studied pretty hard this week on my off time and made some flashcards which really help.

Took off at around 0915 or so and did a short field takeoff, my take on it is that it was pretty easy, no flaps just brakes, full power and go. Rotation was at Vx (71 kts) and the 50' mark came so fast that you almost do not have a ton of time to keep it at 71, by the time the gear was up I was over the obstacle and pitching for Vy (85 kts) We headed out to the practice area and did slow flight, steep turns, and power off and on stalls. Everything went well the only thing I need to work on is memorizing the setup for the stalls because there is a little more involved in the multi coming from the single but nothing that cant be handled with some studying and some more practice. My steep turns were not great but all within PTS, I will need some work on them as well, that little extra speed lets the plane fluctuate a bit more than the single but I felt good on those. Slow flight was no problem, got set up and held it just fine and manuevered well. The stall recoveries are nice because we were really only doing them to the buffet which made it a non event and it was quite subtle. After that we left the practice area for some short field landings. My short field landings are not short so obviously it is back to the drawing board for that. I am overly cautious to pull back on the power because for those that dont know, a twin will drop pretty quick in landing configuration at Vref when you chop the power. I need to work on flying it right down to my point while easing power back and then fully dropping the power simultaneously as i raise the nose. I dont think it is a huge issue because my landings are not poor, just not great. I am not worried though because it has only been 3.1 and like 6 landings total so it will come. One problem I have on landings is that as i am pulling back my last bit of power, even though I am pulling power evenly, there is some uneven thrust between the engines and it is causing the airplane to slightly yaw nose left just before touchdown which would sideload the gears. I am able to apply right rudder in time to get it back straight but I am not sure why it is doing it in the first place. Is this a common occurrence? The airplane is 10 hours shy of the 100 hour and one of the power cables seems a bit more stiff than the other and the mechanic said they would look at it. Anyway that is probably my biggest annoyance because I dont know if it is something I have to constantly compensate for on the flare with rudder or if it is just something I am doing wrong. I can fix the shortfield no problem because I know what needs to be done, but this...I am sure it is just innexperience and will work itself out. That was pretty much the flight, 3 landings and 1.7 in the air and a little ground.

I am flying again on Tues, Wed, and twice on Saturday and the stage check is Wed so it is coming pretty fast. I will try to keep these shorter because they are a little long winded

UND- you are absolutely right. I was wrong on the absolute ceiling, what I think I was talking about was service celing...correct?

Help me settle a dispute...I read in the manual that Vlo is 112 knots which says that is the maximum speed that the landing gear can be operated (extended or retracted) and Vle is 140 knots and is the maxiumum speed that the airplane can be operated with the landing gear down. My instructor says that the landing gear can be extended or retracted up to 140 knots but i dont recall reading it that way. I didnt argue with him though because he is the MEI and I am the student. any insight?
-shawn

"My instructor says that the landing gear can be extended or retracted up to 140 knots but i dont recall reading it that way"

Your instructor is incorrect.

Thank you,
I was 99% sure that is how I read it. His reasoning is that it is extended for an emergency descent so why would it differ for any other operations

the checklist reads:

But I am guessing that is for emergencies only. If Vlo could be exceeded then why would it exist?

USMC-Sgt,

It sounds like your training is coming along nicely, and more importantly is the fact that you're enjoying it. Keep up the hard work and studying and I guarantee you that it'll be worth it.

Pertaining to your question about service ceiling, you are correct. For multiengine aircraft the service ceiling is when you are able to maintain a 100 fpm climb. Another important altitude is your single engine service ceiling, and that is when you're able to maintain a 50 fpm climb while single engine.

Also, I agree with de727ups. I'm a little confused why your MEI instructor would instruct you to extend and retract the landing gear if it's above its performance limitation. :confused: You always want to double check and make sure what the gear limitation speeds are. I know for the Piper Seminole that the gear extended (Vle) and gear extension (Vlo down) are both 140 kts.

If the aircraft POH says that landing gear extension and retraction is112, and landing gear "Extended" is 140, you should stick to those numbers. The reason for this is because if you try retracting the landing gear above its max gear retraction speed you can damage the hydraulic pump due to more hydraulic pressure being exerted on the pump. This is due to the gear, particularly the nose gear being retracted faster due to the stronger relative wind at faster airspeeds.

Just to be sure you should double check to see if max gear Extension is the same as max gear Extended. If that's the case then the emergency checklist agrees with itself because you would be able to extend the gear at 140, not 112.