IR Stuff! Help needed!

[naughtybutnice6792]

Can anyone tell me (or advise me) on Instrument Rating stuff!!

Some places do it on the BE76 (Beech Duchess), some do it on the Piper Seminole and some do it on the Piper Seneca. I realise that it must be personal preference, but which do people generally prefer?
Also, the sim work - can someone help me in understanding the different sims?! The FNPT 1 and 2, and also I have come across a FTO which use the AL SIM AL200 and AST200 (?)
Please help! I am having trouble deciding on FTO's for the job of getting me through my IR!

And before I go, is it wise to do the ME on the same aircraft as you will be flying in the IR?!

Thankyou thankyou for any help!
Regards.

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Can't answer all your questions, but can give you my experience.

First of all, with regard to the sims, I think, but am not sure, that the difference between the ones you mention are different approvals from the CAA. FNPT1 can be used for the instrument training towards the training required for the IR course, however, the FNPT2 can be used for the same, plus IR renewal tests. Like I say I think this is correct, perhaps someone could clarify this, as I don't want to talk from my back side.

I spliced my MEP rating training with my IR training in the PA34 Seneca, and would recommend this to anyone. It keeps the continuity to training and I felt more than comfortable with the aircraft on completion of the course, and went straight in for test. I also really enjoyed the Seneca even though the bloody thing is a bitch to land and it is freezing in the back up at FL100 :D.

I am afraid I have not flown the Duchess or the Seminole, however some of my friends have used them and they seemed to do the job nicely.

With regard to the FTO, the best thing to do is to visit them. Select a number of flying schools and get in the motor and go on a tour. Talk to the instructors, talk to their current students and look at their aeroplanes. This will give you a flavour of what they are like. Remember you are going to be spending a lot of your hard earned cash on the training, so you want to be comfortable with where you are training.

All the best and good luck.

[carbonfibre]

OK

Heres my experience. Go for the duchess makes the workload a lot easier than a seneca yes i have flown both also a seminole which is ok too, the duchess is a good instrument platform, flies and handles like a single, lands like one too and best of all no nasty suprises. Usually they sell the seneca with the de-ice ability but having flown them both i have rarely come across anything that bad in the uk at the moment to warrant it, usually down and warmer by the time its anything significant.

I completed my MEP on a seneca and CAT3 is correct is an art form to get a good landing everytime, my advice is the duchess, no turbos and stuff to monitor, friendlier on the old engine failure and a much more forgiving aircraft.

The FNPT11 is a good instrument procedures trainer but be sure you get in one thats identical in layout to the aircraft, the only 2 that i currently know fit that bill are at PAT and BFC, people can correct me if im wrong, but these goes someway to making the transition to flight easier, then all you have to worry about is the weather!!!

Whatever you do visit the schools you like and check them out, better still ask to sit in the back of an IR flight as most will, see for yourself

Good luck

[RVR800]

Yes you will find that many schools have a sim but its
a generic one with a completely different set up to the
actual aircraft.

They wil always tell you that its the same but often they are dissimilar.

Actually the sim is critical as running costs are low - but charged out at 2 pounds a minute - so make sure you get your moneys worth !

[Piltdown Man]

Go for the simplest aircraft (and that will generally mean cheapest as well) you can - Partenavia for example. Gear, turbos etc. are a pain in the bum unless you can get a turbine aircraft at a good rate. And they are REALLY simple.

[timzsta]

Trick with landing the old seneca was to nail the speed over the threshold (80KIAS I think it was) and then get a good firm flare in, or else it has the tendency to land on the nosewheel.

The only time to make use of the ailerons in a Seneca is when landing with any crosswind, otherwise the rudders are the way to turn it. The ailerons are so small they might as well not be there.

The key to success with the IR I found was sticking to the drills. Master the basic scan pattern - AI - VSI - target instrument and learn the drills - ie on a missed approach its pitch, power, flap (remove drag flap), gear, trim. When you start your IR with 170 odd hours you just don't have the experience to do it any other way.

Good luck - it will be hard work and difficult at times but its worth it when you taxi in at the end of the test to hear the words "OK, full pass, don't need to see you again lad!!".

Then comes the hard bit - getting a job.

[Luke SkyToddler]

I've flown the Seneca and the Duchess and to be honest there's SFA difference, from the point of view of the person moving up to their first m/e type. The Duchess and Seneca 1 are both pretty idiot proof, neither of them have fiddly permanently-on turbos to worry about although you've got to remember the carb heat in a Duchess. The Seneca is a bit scary on one engine at max all up weight but that's unlikely to be a factor to trouble you in a flying school environment. Flying school owners tend to be a bit more fussy about their Seneca 2's, 3's and 4's because of the potential for some ham fisted student to firewall the throttles and blow their turbos apart on the go-round.

The Seminole is not one I know a lot about, I believe it's got a good reputation as a fairly docile easy handling kind of aircraft - although I have a good story about a mate of mine who got into a bit of a pickle after he had a double prop strike in one, while taxiing across a rut from a sealed taxiway to a grass parking area :rolleyes: You could just about slide a Rizla between the props and the tarmac in the course of normal operations.

Oh yeah one more thing that's just popped into my head, if you are physically petite and/or not very strong then I would advise against doing the IR in a Seneca, the assymmetric handling can be really physically demanding unless you've got legs like an All Black front row. I had a student once, a short and fairly slender woman who just physically couldn't hold the aircraft straight on one engine. After a few hours of engine-out training she just gave up in dusgust, ended up going and doing her IR elsewhere (I believe it was a Partenavia she used in the end).

[timzsta]

Did you not tell her where the rudder trim was?