Who me? Yes, I'm a multi-engine pilot!

Hello from HOT HOT HOT Riverside, California. We have had record heat here, and that combined with the smoke from the brush fires, and making flying a bit of a headache. I'm sorry I've not posted in a few days, but I've been busy getting ready my PP-MEL (Private Pilot - Multi-Engine Land) checkride with the FAA designated examiner (DE). The good news is I passed my checkride. The bad news is that I’ve only got a few days to recover before I start my instrument flying procedure training. At this point, my next checkride should be in late September.

My checkride began at 6am on Sunday morning and initially consisted of the DE asking me a series of questions to identify my knowledge of the multi-engine aircraft I fly, as well as general multi-engine flight aerodynamics questions. For example, what happens to the aircraft when it looses an engine in mid flight? For your information, the answer is not "fall out of the sky." Or, what type of fuel system does your aircraft have? For those that are learning systems, I think its best to just draw each system out on big pieces of paper, post them on your wall, and stare at them for days. Surprisingly, if you do that, you will remember them with great ease. After the hour of “grilling”, he was satisfied with my answers and said those three magical words that every pilot likes to hear during the oral portion of the checkride...."Lets Go Fly."

After hearing those three words, the DE took care of some administrative duties (Starbucks), and I went out to the flight line and began to “preflight” the aircraft for our flight. For those that are curious, the preflight of the aircraft is one of the most crucial parts of any flight, regardless of the destination, departure airport, or duration of the flight. At a minimum, you MUST check the oil, fuel quantity, tires, and the outside surface of the entire airplane. A little fluid on the ground under the wing, or a rusted rivet on the tail COULD potentially cause a problem in flight. In addition, once in the cockpit, there are numerous checklists that must be completed to ensure your flight instruments are in working order. A faulty airspeed indicator, altitude indicator, or compass could create a safety concern. Simply put, the aircraft should be airworthy before the wheels ever leave the ground. An ounce of prevention during a preflight on the ground is worth its weight in gold once up in the air. Even 10,000 hour pilots who fly a 747 still do thorough preflight’s.

When my preflight was done, the examiner came out to the aircraft and the flight portion of the exam began. Although my DE was a very relaxed guy, I still felt nervous with him the plane. Up till this point, I had only flown the plane 4 times, so I was still a little "rusty" on everything I needed to do. In this situation, I found it best to just use the checklists and pretend it just another flight. Using established procedures outlined by the manufacturer, the FAA, and ATP, I started the engines, got the updated weather information, and got taxi clearance from the tower.

After taxing to the end of the runway, I completed the engine run-up checklist to ensure the engine was working properly at full power. Now that I felt we were ready to fly, I got clearance to from the tower to taxi onto the runway for take-off. When the plane began rolling down the runway, the examiner pulled one of my engines to idle and I IMMEDIATLY completed the procedures for a failed engine on take-off. At this point, the examiner was looking to see if I know what to do when the engine stops. Do I panic? Do I swerve off the side of the runway? To I yank the controls? When he was satisfied that I did not roll of the side of the runway and I knew how to brake the aircraft, I continued a normal takeoff roll down the runway.

At 75 knots, I pulled the controls back and rotated off the runway and began climbing at 88 knots (the speed that get the Seminole the best rate of climb). For the first portion of the flight, I practiced a few "pattern" (staying close to the airport in the established traffic pattern) maneuvers. These maneuvers included a normal landing and a landing with a failed engine. For the most part, landing with a single engine is not that much different than landing with two engines. At the low power setting of the working engine, the airplane operates similar to when has two operating engines working properly. The reasons for this are a bit complex to explain in this blog, just take my word for it and don't panic if you are flying with me and the engine stops. Mom, I promise this NEVER happens in real life..hahaha

Now that my pattern work was done, I was instructed by the DE to fly south towards Lake Matthews for the rest of my examination maneuvers. During the flight to Lake Matthews we climbed to 6000 ft, so I was thankful because it was a bit cooler up there. At 6000ft over the lake, I demonstrated my steep turns, slow flying ability, stalls, and flying with a single engine. As an added bonus, this also included starting an engine while flying after I purposely shut it down. To be honest, starting an engine mid-flight is a bit easier than you would think. As long as you keep your compass heading, airspeed up, and altitude level, there is a checklist that walks you through this entire procedure. I must say, its somewhat surreal to look out of the cockpit and see your propeller STOPPED while flying.

After my maneuvers were completed, I was instructed to complete a high rate decent from 6000ft to 2000ft. The high rate decent is used if you have a medical emergency or a loss of pressurization. After descending at 120 knots we arrived at the “hard deck” of 2000ft and I knew the checkride was coming to an end. I called the Riverside airport tower, requested landing clearance, and did a nice short-field approach for landing on runway 27. Essentially, a short field approach requires the pilot to bring the airplane in a bit slower than normal, a bit lower than normal, land directly on the runway numbers, and then apply max braking in an attempt to stop in the shortest amount of runway possible. This procedure is used at those smaller airports that are not designed to handle big jets.

After taxing back to the airplanes parking spot, I was told I passed the exam and congratulated with a handshake. Now, its time to learn how to fly the airplane just using instruments and not looking outside. Mom, this is totally safe....haha

Thanks for all your support.

Nick