Best Twin for ME instruction?

[Hung Start]

Well, if you are going to go there - Beech 18 round engine - conventional gear......

Ohhhhh,,, no doubt about that.

Hung

 

[Princedietrich]

Well, if you are going to go there - Beech 18 round engine - conventional gear......

Well, how about......

um....

yeah, I got nothin.

 

[AC560]

Well, how about......

um....

yeah, I got nothin.

Aerostar for the win.

 

[Hung Start]

Nope,, sorry

Jafi has the win.

Hung

 

[JAFI]

Aerostar for the win.

AC, I thought about the aerostar (in iceing) but the BE18 with the tail wheel and the (for lack of a better word - tired) round engines, non standard instrument layout, stick shaker - would be a worse primary trainer.

But, "A" for effort....

 

[LivestockTony]

What's wrong with a tail wheel? Or round engines? :laugh:

 

[Tailwheelman]

Beech 18 all the way. Seriously though, having flown the aztruck, the twin comanche, the seminole, the apache (150hp and the Geronimo) my vote goes to the Travel Air. I think it flies the nicest of the lot and in my 4 years of owning one it has been a relatively maintenance free bird. Aside from the training aspect it also makes a nice X-C airplane. I regularly get 165kts at about 18gph. Not bad for a light twin. Just my 2 cents

 

[JAFI]

What's wrong with a tail wheel? Or round engines? :laugh:

To me, both are wonderful. A friend of mine took a soon to be ME pilot on a frieght run in a BE18 one night. The kid was following him on the controls during the landing and taxi in. The kid decided he wanted to stop the aircraft (without telling my friend) and parked the aircraft nose down in the dirt, tail high in the air.

Tailwheel, IMHO all cabin class Beech's are great aircraft. When was the last time you say a travelair out for student rental?

 

[Tailwheelman]

Sheble (I think thats how its spelled) Aviation in IGM has four of them for ME trainers. There is a school in Dallas, I believe out of RBD, that specializes in ME training over a three day course that has 3 or 4 of them. There is also two schools in Houston that each use one. Thats the few I know.

 

[JAFI]

Sheble (I think thats how its spelled) Aviation in IGM has four of them for ME trainers. There is a school in Dallas, I believe out of RBD, that specializes in ME training over a three day course that has 3 or 4 of them. There is also two schools in Houston that each use one. Thats the few I know.

Wow, that's great. I have not seen one in 20 years.

 

[avbug]

It's a wonder that Sheble's airplanes make it back to the ground in one piece, let alone get airborne.

 

[Nindiri]

Aerostar for the win.

I did mine in an Aerostar because it's what the boss had. Brought up a guy from Vero Beach, can't remember his name now, but he was really good. It was a handful, but it made me really learn how to fly. The only downside was that Aerostars are always the center of attention, so every time I screwed up a landing, everybody at the airport was watching.

 

[saabservant]

I was fortunate enought to fly about 25 hours in 1997 in a travelaire owned by a gal who thought she'd fly it about 500 hours and then get hired by United! Only problem: she hated turbulence and flying in the clouds...she and her husband sold it later. Wish I had the money, a great airplane.
Ironically enough, eleven years later, I got hired at united, only to be furloughed 5 months later....

Have trained in the Duchess Be-76 for years, it is the best for training, I think. Version I fly has the unfeathering accumulators.
Did my ATP in a seminole, not even close to the Duchess.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Have trained in the Duchess Be-76 for years, it is the best for training, I think. Version I fly has the unfeathering accumulators.
Did my ATP in a seminole, not even close to the Duchess.

The newer Seminoles have unfeathering accumulators.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

Ah, the TravelAir... the eunuch Baron.

 

[flyin'gator]

i would love to fly a twin comanche. 200 mph on 16 gph would be a dream. here in jax though it looks like atp for the 4 hour quickie, or a crappy seneca 1 going for a mere $300 an hour dual. ouch! if i could only afford to do the rating in the beech 58- what a machine......

 

[J.Otto]

$300 an hr dual?

OMG.

 

[nosehair]

It's a wonder that Sheble's airplanes make it back to the ground in one piece, let alone get airborne.

...and yet they do,..consistantly,..what's up with that? ??

 

[avbug]

Coincidence.

 

[7574EVER]

i would love to fly a twin comanche. 200 mph on 16 gph would be a dream. here in jax though it looks like atp for the 4 hour quickie, or a crappy seneca 1 going for a mere $300 an hour dual. ouch! if i could only afford to do the rating in the beech 58- what a machine......

It really is a great airplane. I have about 300 hours in them (about 150 as instructor) and the only problem it ever gave me was when I couldn't get the prop out of feather and the engine restarted after demonstrating a precautionary shutdown and feather with a student. Ended up landing single engine. The student was sweating bullets; but, I had a smile on my face the whole time.

Treat a Twin Comanche right and she'll be great to you.....be mean or disrespect her and she'll bite you in the rear very quickly. Just like every one of my ex's. Actually, none of them actually treated me right at all. Damn...I guess that airplane is truly the love of my life!