Alchemy
Well-Known Member
I earned my MEI today and it was definitely tougher than the CFII add on. We spent the bulk of the oral talking about the different reasons why pilots would want to obtain multi engine ratings, and the strengths and weaknesses of each type of student (private owners, professional pilots, instructors adding a rating, ticket collectors etc).
The only maneuver we talked about in depth was the drag demo; I was told to give a ground lesson on it. I descried the procedure for performing the manuever and used my lesson plan to help describe the objectives. I was asked why the drag demo was necessary, would I show it to the student before or after they had done a shutdown/airstart, and what should the student learn from it.
Suprisingly there were no questions on systems other than "does this plane have unfeathering accumulators" or on Vmc/Critical engine. I took my Multi-Commercial with the same examiner and we discussed those topics in depth on that checkride, so maybe he felt we'd already covered those items enough.
After that, I did the preflight, we did a normal takeoff, climbed to 7000 and did a drag demo. It went fine, although I had a tendency to get a littler faster than blue line at times, no more than 10mph at the worst.
We descended to about 4000 ft during the course of the drag demo, then I recoverd and climbed back up to 7000 where we did an engine shutdown (rt engine) and air start. Again, this was fine.
Next came the Vmc Demo. I lost directional control at a bit of a faster airspeed than I expected to, I think I was still 5-10 mph above redline when full rudder could no longer maintain heading. This caught be a bit by surprise, but it was still within PTS.
Now we descened back to the airport of origin and the examiner told me to teach him how to do a single engine landing. Before we got near the airport, he asked me how the instructor should fail the engine at low altitude. I said I'd usually use the throttle below 5000 AGL, and would consider using the rudder to simulate a failed engine in some situations. I also said that I might use the fuel selector at altitudes greater than 5000 AGL if there was an airport nearby. At this point the examiner slammed his foot down on the left rudder and I went through my engine failure steps.....he allowed me to have both engines back afterwards and we continued to the airport. His point was that he'd rather use the rudder than the throttles at low altitude since it's easier on the engines and isn't as obvious to the student about which engine has failued (they can't see you pulling a throttle back).
The examiner requested that I make a short field landing instead of the single engine landing, so I set myself up for a short field with a touchdown on the numbers (runway is only 3200ftx60ft anyway).
At about 100 AGL, the examiner says "GO AROUND". I oblige by pushing mixtures, props, then throttles full forward, raising the flaps then the gear, and pitching for blue line. Immediatly after I initiated the go around, the examiner stomped on the right rudder. I ran through my engine failure memory items, and the examiner stopped me right as I was about to pull the right throttle back to "verify".
We came around the pattern with both engines and I did a normal landing. That was it! I walked inside and got my temp, then headed back home.
It's nice to be done with checkrides for a while!
The only maneuver we talked about in depth was the drag demo; I was told to give a ground lesson on it. I descried the procedure for performing the manuever and used my lesson plan to help describe the objectives. I was asked why the drag demo was necessary, would I show it to the student before or after they had done a shutdown/airstart, and what should the student learn from it.
Suprisingly there were no questions on systems other than "does this plane have unfeathering accumulators" or on Vmc/Critical engine. I took my Multi-Commercial with the same examiner and we discussed those topics in depth on that checkride, so maybe he felt we'd already covered those items enough.
After that, I did the preflight, we did a normal takeoff, climbed to 7000 and did a drag demo. It went fine, although I had a tendency to get a littler faster than blue line at times, no more than 10mph at the worst.
We descended to about 4000 ft during the course of the drag demo, then I recoverd and climbed back up to 7000 where we did an engine shutdown (rt engine) and air start. Again, this was fine.
Next came the Vmc Demo. I lost directional control at a bit of a faster airspeed than I expected to, I think I was still 5-10 mph above redline when full rudder could no longer maintain heading. This caught be a bit by surprise, but it was still within PTS.
Now we descened back to the airport of origin and the examiner told me to teach him how to do a single engine landing. Before we got near the airport, he asked me how the instructor should fail the engine at low altitude. I said I'd usually use the throttle below 5000 AGL, and would consider using the rudder to simulate a failed engine in some situations. I also said that I might use the fuel selector at altitudes greater than 5000 AGL if there was an airport nearby. At this point the examiner slammed his foot down on the left rudder and I went through my engine failure steps.....he allowed me to have both engines back afterwards and we continued to the airport. His point was that he'd rather use the rudder than the throttles at low altitude since it's easier on the engines and isn't as obvious to the student about which engine has failued (they can't see you pulling a throttle back).
The examiner requested that I make a short field landing instead of the single engine landing, so I set myself up for a short field with a touchdown on the numbers (runway is only 3200ftx60ft anyway).
At about 100 AGL, the examiner says "GO AROUND". I oblige by pushing mixtures, props, then throttles full forward, raising the flaps then the gear, and pitching for blue line. Immediatly after I initiated the go around, the examiner stomped on the right rudder. I ran through my engine failure memory items, and the examiner stopped me right as I was about to pull the right throttle back to "verify".
We came around the pattern with both engines and I did a normal landing. That was it! I walked inside and got my temp, then headed back home.
It's nice to be done with checkrides for a while!
