After a nine year absence from flying, due to family and work obligations, I decided if I was going to get back into flying multi engine aircraft, most notably 310, Seneca, or Aztec, I would seek out a facility that offers realistic flight simulator training with an experienced instructor. I contacted Aircraft Simulator Training’s Staci McGuire, who put me on the schedule and got me in contact with her husband, Rick McGuire, an instructor with over 50 years of flying experience. Upon arrival and after reviewing my experience, we got to work. We started on engine loss at take off, loss of directional control at take off, go/no-go decisions with various runway lengths, takeoffs with low ceilings, and engine failures. Upon completion of each simulation, Rick would debrief my flight. The next day the work got a lot busier, with engine fires, emergency descents, standard IMC single engine approaches, partial panel, dual engine failures (IMC, and partial panel due to vacuum failure), and high altitude airport engine out scenarios.
The experience acquired here is invaluable as there is no way a pilot can safely perform some of these maneuvers in a real airplane. This opportunity to work out the problems, in a simulator, gives one an advantage over a pilot who has not had this level of intense training. The main takeaway I got from this is how and when to use carefully and methodically placed inputs, and more importantly, what NOT to do to prevent the aircraft from getting on the ground safely.
I would like to say thanks for recommending Aircraft Simulator Training, and I fully endorse this facility. Rick, Pat, and Staci do a fabulous job there, and the experience gained was worth the relatively small investment.