I had flown a single (three different Cessnas) for 30 years before thinking about a twin. We acquired a home in the Bahamas, and my mission became regularly commuting between Florida and the island with a whole load of supplies. Because of the extended over-water component, I decided to move to a twin.
I acquired my Seneca V from its only owner in Kansas. I hired a "graybeard" CFII MEI to fly out there commercially with me and fly the Seneca back, teaching me along the way. We got that done, but wasn’t sure his style and tone was going to be my thing. He got my feet wet with my initial multi training but of course I needed much more and wasn’t yet rated.
I then signed up with a large flight school at my home base because they had two Senecas. I figured best to do my multi in a Seneca since that's what I was ultimately going to be flying. Unfortunately they didn't tell me when I signed up that one of their two Senecas was out for painting. The other had a lot of squawks (as elderly school planes often do). Worse, my MEI left after my first week to fly for a regional. And the "big school" only had one other MEI...who was off 1 week a month for the Reserves. Scheduling was a nightmare and no one at the school seemed to care. I moved on...
The next school, also in Florida, advertised getting it done in 7-10 days so I made the 2-hour drive there, stayed in a hotel, and proceeded. They had an old Apache, (I had given up finding a school with availability and a Seneca anywhere near my Florida home). Here, they were very intent on my learning every system, every little detail, every little idiosyncrasy of that Apache...along with everything else for multi. The instructor insisted on every detail involving that Apache even though he knew that I would never fly an Apache again after checkride.
The amount of information and detail they forcefully insisted I pay attention quickly overloaded me. I couldn't even successfully fly their simulator (which, of course, flew differently than the Apache). I eventually found a DPE (after struggling for weeks with availability) and went for my checkride and promptly failed. I wasn't ready and was simply too overwhelmed from the instruction style.
I was about to give up and sell my newly acquired Seneca, when a friend, a fellow Seneca owner and retired Southwest Captain, convinced me to try again. He insisted the plane was absolutely the right aircraft for my mission so I should try another school.
I came across
www.rigginflightservice.com in Madison South Dakota. A direct commercial flight from FL took me to Sioux Falls. There they picked me up at the big airport, loaned me a car, put me up at their student housing (for $20/day) and gave me a tour when I arrived. I felt like family. There, the owner of the school is also the DPE and he runs the show the way he wants. All the MEIs are home grown and the DPE is always available.
The first time in their Apache (they had two and they were always working...) the MEI saw me with my iPad and said "throw that in the back...we're not going to use it...here’s the laminated approach we’ll use. We're going to keep this simple and focus on the basics... which is what Morris wants to see..." Their singular focus was making me safe with the emergencies (since I already had 30 years of flying experience and promoting my muscle memory with the big stuff.
And it worked.
I was done in 4 days. My stress level during the check ride was 90% less than the one I flunked and all went great. I have to say the moral of this story is I’m sure the other instructors and schools I had meant well but every student and instructor situation is different. I finally was matched with the right environment which made me succeed. I was extremely grateful that I found Riggin Flight Service and didn't give up.
