I had the distinct advantage to participate in the very reasonably priced 4-day Multi-engine Training program offered by Glass Cockpit Aviation, Inc as an add-on to my Single-Engine Commercial Instrument license and found the course to be extremely straightforward and comprehensive, the instructors to be extremely knowledgeable and competent, and the equipment, both the ELITE iGATE Simulator and the aircraft, Seneca 55134, to be a great training tool and platform! 

It is said that training to fly a multi-engine aircraft is really nothing more than learning to successfully fly a multi-engine aircraft on just one engine in all different phases of flight and they were right!  It was not long after I was introduced to and became familiar with flying the multi-engine aircraft in the ELITE Simulator on the afternoon of day one, after being introduced to theory in the morning ground-school session that I was given the opportunity to experience an engine outage and to begin to convert the theory into practice.  Using the simulator, I was provided the opportunity to get accustomed to the characteristics of flying the ME simulated airplane on just one engine and more importantly, to practice, again and again, how to react properly to an engine outage.

This aspect of training in the simulated environment was very valuable, making the simulator a very effective and essential training tool with which to drill this procedure until it became rote knowledge.  I had zero experience with multi-engine aircraft prior to taking this study but when I stepped into the actual aircraft on day two, I already felt comfortable and ready to take on the challenges of continued education in the real thing.  With the assistance of my very knowledgeable, patient and calming instructor, I made it through the remainder of my course over the next couple of training days and passed the ME check-ride with flying colors in just 6.5 hours of time in the Seneca.

I highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in obtaining their multi-engine add-on to their current pilot’s certificate, whether you are a private or commercial licensed pilot with or without your instrument rating this hybrid approach to training with outstanding instructors in both the simulator and the actual airplane at a great price is effective, efficient and highly successful!

Andrew Ramkisson
Program Manager

Commercial Instrument SE and ME Pilot