As of today, I have an Airplane Multi-Engine rating on my Flight Instructor certificate. It seems like a good time to solicit comments on this multi-engine training page. What do the pilots here think the lesson plans need in terms of improvements?
Now we just need to find a rich fool to buy a DA42 and lease it to East Coast Aero Club…
Speaking of reach (and fat) fools – at 239 lb am I too heavy to start private pilot training? Is losing 30-40 lb first, which would take longer than the pilot’s training itself, a good idea?
No, you’re not too heavy. You’d likely be too heavy to learn in a Cessna 152, unless your flight instructor were Tinkerbell. But you’d have no problem learning in a Cessna 172, unless your instructor were Jabba the Hut.
With some aircraft, if you only have two heavy people in the front seats, the aircraft will be out of the CG forward limits. Usually it is not a total weight issue so you just have to put some weight in the back of the aircraft to balance it out. Several of the aircraft I have flown have this characteristic and since this is a multi-engine discussion, the Seminole is one of them. In that aircraft, one of the things that contributes to the problem is that the battery is way up in the nose.
Phillip,
Why would your putative rich person be a fool to buy a new DA42? Diesel, turbonormalized, known icing for less than a Malibu. Am I missing something?
Thanks,
Alex
Alex: There isn’t anything wrong with buying a DA42 for personal use, as long as you’re comfortable with the tight cabin, non-adjustable seats, and thin air. Leasing the ship back to a flight school, especially one in New England where the renters seemingly disappear for 5 months/year, is another matter…
Phil,
Do you guys have a weight limit as far as student’s go when training on the R22? I spoke with a fellow recently who owns an R22HP and he says that even though he weighs 270+ he can fly it w/ ease. He says he can carry passengers as well and still have good performance. (!)
He mentioned the fact that he was knowingly violating Robinson’s limitations as far as seat weight goes and I was surprised when he went on to state that his heli performed well w/ that much weight plus 150+ pound passenger.
What’s your school’s position on student weight? And I would assume part of the rule is based on how much the CFI weighs?
Regards,
Mark D
How about a brief discussion about the “technicalities” i.e. what’s needed for instrument M.E., adding M.E. to commercial etc in your blurb.
I think you need some FIKI twin, a DA-42 or even a good old seneca and take people into cold clouds to show them icing in person. Much more educational to see it on an airplane than to read about it…
Mark (off-topic, but relevant to flying anyway): Anyone who weighs more than 200, we suggest to train in the R44. Paul and I are both 200 and Mike is around 180, so anyone over about 215 would be impractical in the R22, I think.
I’m not surprised that a 270+150+1/2 tanks can fly with reasonable performance, at least in the winter. Lateral CG isn’t very critical in the Robinsons. The seat limitation may come from the degree of crash protection available in the event of a mishap. The seats are designed to crush and absorb downward loads. If you put an elephant in an R22 seat, you wouldn’t expect the seat to be of much use in the event of a hard landing.
kg: thanks. I will add.
Phil,
The reason for me asking about the weight issue was the question posed a couple posts before me wherein the poster asks about being too heavy to train for his/her private.
I find it amazing that almost everyone now (male) weighs 200+.
Maybe we need to start a thread on dieting.
Regards,
Mark
Since the subject is ME Flight Training, may I stress the sentence in your Multi-Engine Flight Training page that states: “Note the anemic climb rate.” Be aware that the best “climb rate” you may see is a negative climb rate. You may be descending at Vyse but that is as good as it gets. Please don’t try to maintain altitude by pulling back on the control. Accept the fact that you are descending and there isn’t anything that you can do to change that fact. Just enjoy that your aircraft is still flying and plan to land in a controlled manner (just like a SE aircraft).