Piper Seminole

kdwilkes

New Member
For those at FSI or anyone who has flown the Seminole, do you feel like you are at a disadvantage training in that aircraft because it only has 180 horsepower as opposed to the Seneca or other light twins? It seems starnge that there are single-engine aircraft i.e. Cessna 182 that have more horsepower than the Seminole.

Secondly, do you ever get a high performance endorsement while training at FSI? If so, what aircraft? If not, is this a disadvantage?

Thanks again for your replies!
 
Keep in mind it has (2) 180 HP engines, not just one. FSI also has Seneca's on campus for training as well. Also, the Seminole is used by a substantial majority of flight schools for twin training and is pretty much the industry standard.

Yes you do get a HP endorsement. They have Arrows on campus and you also get spin recovery training in a Zlin acrobatic plane. I might be mistaken but I believe it has 300 HP and is supposed to be a blast to fly!
 
He's right, the Seminole may be called the standard multi-engine trainer, although some do train in the Duchess ("The Dutch Ass") or the Seneca. I did my training in the Seminole and have since flown higher power aircraft like the Baron with little problem. HOWEVER, you DO NOT get a high performance sign off while at FSI. The Arrow and the Zlin both have the Lycoming I0-360 which is basically a fuel injected version of the 180 hp engine found in the Seminole and in the Archers and it produces 200hp. The Zlin engine has some special fuel/oil pumps for acrobatics. Note that the FARs state that a high performance aircraft has more than 200hp thus neither the Arrow or Zlin qualify. I happened to rent a plane and get my high performance sign off with an instructor I knew, all together it was just another lesson, nothing out of the ordinary.
 
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