Multi-Engine Rating Lesson 3

No ground lesson today.  I got to the hanger early to pre-flight.  We took on fuel and we were off.  My pre-printed labels came in handy for passenger briefing (give prior to start) and take-off briefing (give after run-up)

I learned something new - passenger briefing as a flow.  Let me explain. Starting off from the back to the front goes much easier.

Starting from the back:

• Baggage limits and stowing, first aid kit in the back, fire extinguisher between the seats in the front, exits left and right, and exit through baggage compartment, ELT, 

...to the Front:

• Stay clear of controls, no smoking, no talking when radios are active. Make sure your seats are secure/upright, seat belts are on and the doors are locked.

Taxi onto runway:

• Steeper turn onto active so that I have most of the runway available

Departure:

• Rotate at 71
• Count commit time
• Retract Gear, Flaps
• Reduce climb angle to 90, Climb Power (at what Alt?)

Cruise:

• You'll be doing a lot of cruise checks - so better do it from memory (with checklist handy)
• Watch for your altitude 

Steep turns:

• Lookouts
• Clearing Turns
• Get into 45 degree turn right away
• Maintain altitude and know when to roll out (10 when left, 15 when right? - also know when to add/remove power to maintain altitude)

Reduced Speed Flight:

• Do HASEL checks (need to recover 2000 ft above - so if ground is 500 ft, 4000 is a comfortable height) 
• Have the Engine checks go faster

Stall Entry (Transition to a Clean then Dirty)

• Power down to 15" - watch for sink (hold attitude up to bleed off airspeed, adjust alt with power)
• Add Gear, go to 16" to maintain (adjust alt with power)
• Add Flaps, go to 17" - your nose is going to go down (put nose down, but don't gain speed - compensate with power)
• Cruise Check

Recover from Stall

• First nose down to build to 71 kts
• then add power (not abruptly)
• Cruise Check

Engine Outs

• Remember to ask for Feather
• Know the checklist for restart (no fire/no oil)
• Reduce speed to 85 (to save the engine from burning up)
• Cruise Check

Overshoot

• Counter intuitive, but push down nose to build speed to 71 kts (Vxse)
• ONLY then mix, power (abruptly), prop, gear up, flaps up
• If adding power without airspeed then GAME OVER!
• Climb out at 85 kts
• Cruise check

Landing with one engine

• Mix, pitch prop
• Leave gear down
• Feather 
• 85 kts
• Left hand for air speed, Right hand for power (expect to use rudder)

Multi-Engine Rating Lesson 2

Having diagrammed out the cockpit helped as I knew where everything in the checklist was (no longer searching for the carb heat or cowl and its position!)

The concepts were also not brand new - knowing what to expect helped.

The first thing I did before flying was to spend an hour on the ground with my instructor confirming the speeds from the POH (to be committed to memory) and details in the first two of the four question/answer worksheets (Multi Engine, Limitations, Landing Gear and Electricals).  I clarified a few things (Accelerate Go/Stop, Commit Time, Clarification on Take Off Briefings)

We were then off.

Taxing was still a challenge - I need to accelerate with one engine (opposite engine) to get the tires moving, then power down while turning - and straighten before I intercept the yellow taxi line.

Air exercises seemed to make more sense:

• All checks in to be made in "Flow"
• Steep turns (with visual checks and clearing turns)
• HASEL checks
• Stall - Clean, Dirty, Recovery
• Reduced Speed 
• Engine Outs

What became clear was that I need to commit certain checks to memory so that it can go faster (cruise check, engine recovery - i.e. after the identify, verify, gear down checklist)

I needed to lookup Steep turns as it goes fast on a Multi (need to get into 45 degrees quick and hold that altitude and regain heading quick)

Engine outs were easier but I need to be faster with the checklists.

After this lesson, at home, I printed out the checklists, indexed the POH (as the PDF pages are different from the physical book), created labels on take-off briefing, speeds and safety briefing.

I did some hanger flying so that I can be quick at the checklist items.

Multi-Engine Rating Lesson 1

The first multi lesson starts off with a ground class.  You'll get a TON of material to read before your first ground lesson.

It's best to get a lesson plan organized and not try consume all of it all in one go.  I decided to focus on a couple of things - the Introductory Power Point and a few chapters of the Sharper Edge Multi Engine book.

1. Start off with the pros and cons of twins

Cons:

• Engines twice as likely to fail (as you have two)
• Flies like a pig with an engine out (50% horse power reduction but 80% reduction in performance - yup, you might not even be able to climb with an engine out)
• Longer runway to land
• 2x more fuel burn (for typically only 25% increase in speed; so you get only 15 min. time savings going on a two hour trip)
• 2x more maintenance (you have two engines, two starters, two alternators, retractable gear)

Pros:

• Smoother ride due to higher wing loading
• Faster climbs
• Greater safety during night flying
• Instrument flying greater safety
• Inhospitable terrain greater safety
• Nicer visibility
• Quieter cabin
• Commercial flying - you can go Night and IMC (not allowed in piston single)

In a nutshell, despite the cons(mostly related to costs), a full blown emergency in a single becomes a non-event (if proficient in emergencies) and it's good PR (your friends and family have a better peace of mind) I've also been told that a high performance single won't have the range as you'd get in a twin when you add in FIKI capabilities (so check your typical mission)  I heard that Air Canada and WestJet are canceling their flights if you are canceling when you fly a Cessna 340 (pressurized and known ice)

2. Next, you'll learn about "critical engine" (unless you are flying engines that both rotate clockwise, there isn't a critical engine)  You might have one side driving electricals though.

3. Aerodynamics 

• You are getting more lift on the wing where engine is (so expect sink when you pull back power - you'll have to carry power right up until touchdown) - otherwise high sink, hard landings
• Speaking of aerodynamics - this is a bulk of the training on the twin - what happens in the event of a dead engine in various scenarios:
• on take-off run
• on take-off and climb
• on cruise
• on approach to land

I won't repeat the engine out details here - but reaction to a dead engine has to be committed to muscle memory by repeating 1000 times.

I found it useful to sit in the plane and go over it over and over again so that it's automatic - something that should be done between lessons 1 and 2.  What's also useful between lessons 1 and 2 go through all the checklist items (from start-up to shut-down) so you are not searching for buttons while in the air when you should be looking out and concentrating on heading, altitude and the workload.

You'll learn about the importance of Vmc (commit that to memory along with lots of other speeds) and the priority (#1 Priority is to maintain control, #2 Priority is to get performance from good engine)

4. Flight Test Standards

You'll go through what's required for Transport Canada flight test standards - all the oral aspects (what's Vsse, what is zero fuel weight and why is that important, what is commit point, how do you calculate accelerate stop/go distances), air exercises you'll be doing (reduced speed flight, stalls - clean and dirty, steep turns - with the importance of lookouts and HASEL), emergencies, flight planning details.

5. Now it's time to fly!

Starting with the walk around and going through every vent, antenna, gear hydraulics, oil/fuel levels.  Next, the startup procedures and taxing (which is a whole other challenge with two engines - don't ride the breaks!).  You'll then take off (nuances during take-off is to do a lookout every 1000 ft), cruise and get into air exercises, engine failures before you come in for a landing. Don't expect landing to be easy - as it requires full trim as you approach and land - faster speeds than what you are used to in a single.

Phew. Day 1 is quite exhausting as you are introduced to a whole bunch of new concepts, then you are thrown into the air with no familiarity of where everything is.

Before my 2nd lesson I decided to remember on where everything is by sketching it out.

It got much easier by Day 3 due to a lot of reading (terminology isn't as new anymore after the Day 1 intro) and "hanger flying". Unpacking everything (from the practical/oral to the flying) one at a time helped a lot.