I Learned About Flying From That: My First Multiengine Lesson

Bill Miller

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 07:51 PM ET

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To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art,
go to barryrossart.com.

Key Takeaways:

The author's pursuit of low-cost multiengine flight training led to a dangerous lesson with an unqualified instructor and a poorly maintained aircraft, resulting in an engine failure and an emergency landing managed primarily by the student.
During the incident, the instructor demonstrated severe incompetence, forcing the student to assume pilot-in-command duties, manage an emergency checklist, and oversee landing preparations, including belated gear deployment.
The experience critically underscores the paramount importance of thoroughly vetting flight instructors and ensuring aircraft airworthiness, emphasizing that prioritizing cost over quality and safety in flight training can lead to life-threatening situations.

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Cost is definitely a factor when taking flight lessons. But have you ever given any thought to the value of really good flight training that will help keep you from becoming a statistic?

My main goal in writing this article is to further aviation safety by addressing the poor standards I used in selecting a multiengine instructor, and going forward with the lesson even though red flags were popping up both before and during the flight. I set aside my common sense and was swayed by very low-cost training by an instructor I had not flown with in years.