ME rating during commercial?

[Earl Williams]

I'm currently working on building hours towards the 250TT required fom the commercial. Since I had around 120 hours after my PPL and IR, I've been flying LOTS of XC's to fulfill the XC requirement, and am planning on knocking out the solo XC, and the night stuff, soon.

Since I still only have around 175 hours, and my CFI is not planning on working on the commercial maneuvers until around the 200 mark, I was wondering if I should maybe use some of this time to pursue my multi-engine rating? By getting my multi, I was thinking I could put some of this time-building to use by getting a rating, and would be able to knock out both the single and multi commercial.

Any thoughts, or experiences, on doing this?? Or should I just wait until after I get my commercial to work on the multi? (which seems to be what most people do)

As always, thanks for everyone's replies and advice
-Earl

 

[bigD]

Personally, I'd hold off on the multi until you can get you multi-commercial in one pass. Then you don't have to take the multi checkride twice. Also, from the look of your profile, you haven't done any work in a complex airplane yet. It'll be easier to step up into a twin if you're already comfortable in a complex airplane from the work you did on your single engine commercial.

I know that personally, even after 100 hours of complex/high performance PIC time under my belt, my first few flights in a twin were a lot of work. I initially felt like I was all thumbs. I can only imagine having to also learn about managing the props, cowl flaps, and gear on top of that. Not to say that it can't be done, but it's certainly cheaper to be learning the basics of complex airplanes when you're not paying for two engines.

Just some stuff to think about. Hope it helps.

 

[bobbysamd]

Multi rating

Maybe the best course of action for you is to get your Commercial-Single-Instrument out of the way and then concentrate on the multi. It sounds like you're training under Part 61. I gather that because you said your instructor plans to start you on the Commercial maneuvers at 200 hours.

Many Part 141 courses start students in the multis early and get them their Private Multi so they can log as much PIC multi time as possible. They then train for instrument in the multi. The Commercial multi ride isn't much different than the Private multi ride. But, they must suffer two practicals.

In your case, going from the singles to the multi and back to the singles with your experience might provoke an interference factor. Therefore, I agree that you should hold off on the multi and stay with the singles until you finish your Commercial. Plenty of people do it that way and go on to success.

Good luck with your training.

 

[Earl Williams]

Thanks!

Great advice! I assumed there had to be a reason why most people waited until after the commercial to get their ME rating. Having only a few hours riding right-seat in a complex (and no formal training on the systems, etc) I'm sure the transition to ME will be a bit easier with a foundation already in complex operations.

Hey Bobby...what's going on with our Broncos and these last second, game winning field goals against us????

 

[bobbysamd]

Broncos

It's okay that we talk football, although this is the Aviation Message Board. Pilots talk about things other than flying while on trips, you know.

I think what's happened is that after the season goes for a while and enough film is out that scouts and coaches figure out how to solve a defense. The Raiders sure did, and film of that game went to the Colts and Chargers. The Colts and Chargers figured out the Denver "D." They had been stopping the run, but not recently. That's become a big problem. Look how LaDanian Tomlinson stuffed it down their throats during the OT. Edgerrin James did a nice job of running the ball against them, too. We won't discuss how Rich Gannon dismantled them on Monday night.

So now, Coaches Shanahan and Rhodes must devise another scheme. In particular, Ray Rhodes needs to devise a way to stop the opposition on third down. I'm not a particular Brian Griese fan. Bottom line, for any coach, it is hard to win without having a quarterback. Mike had John Elway, of course. In San Francisco, he had Joe Montana and Steve Young.

By the way, Earl, good luck with the rest of your training.

 

[Timebuilder]

Bobby, I don't want to gloat over the Eagles' recent successes, using our second and third string (!) quarterbacks, but I have to wonder about this: what in the world made Denver pick up Ray Rhodes after he left Philly???

 

[bobbysamd]

Ray Rhodes

Well, Ray Rhodes is considered to be one of the premier defensive coordinators in the NFL. He and Mike Shanahan worked together in San Francisco when Rhodes was defensive coordinator there, so they've known each other for years. He improved the Redskins' defense in his one year as coordinator there after leaving Philly. The Broncos' defense improved slowly last year and had been good this season until recently. He wasn't a bad head coach for a couple of years at Philadelphia, but degraded and was poor as the Packers' head coach. He just may not be head coach material.

Gunther Cunningham, who was the Chiefs' head coach and their former defensive coordinator, was also available at the time Rhodes was hired. I might have hired him over Rhodes because Cunningham had coached in the AFC West for years and knew how to beat those teams. But, I wasn't dissappointed when Mike hired Ray Rhodes.

I really think that after the season gets going more and more film is disseminated about teams and coaches have time to study the film, they have more opportunities to devise strategies. Which means that new countermeasures have to be devised. Also, some teams start off slowly but improve during the season.

There's also no question that Andy Reid at Philly is one of the best head coaches in football.

 

[Timebuilder]

You're right about Andy. I started to believe in him last season. When he first arrived, I was a skeptic.

We play the Seahawks this weekend. Who does Denver play?

 

[bobbysamd]

Broncos-Jets

We play the Jets. Griese and Shannon Sharpe will be back. That will help, especially the latter. The Denver "O" line is not intact. Dan Neil is probably out this week, which means more shifting. When you look at it, the Denver offensive line has changed almost completely from last season. Only Matt Lepsis is where he was. There's a new left tackle, one guard has swapped sides with his backup becoming a starter, and the season's starting left guard, Ben Hamilton, is playing center because Tom Nalen is out. Although the line is well coached, the lack of continuity must hurt. Hamilton is really a center but played guard because he was better than the others. He may well be one of the league's best young centers.

The Jets' "D" is strong and they have a good young quarterback in Pennington. Must win for the Broncos, though I'm beginning to doubt that there will be a late January parade here.

Seahawks may not be all that easy for the Eagles. Matt Hasselback passed for a lot of yards last week and Shaun Alexander is an excellent running back. Defense is not the best, though, although Shawn Springs is a good CB.