Multi-Engine Time Building Tips for New Pilots

MFT's Multi-Engine Aircraft: The Beechcraft Duchess

All multi-engine time building at My Flight Time is conducted in our Beechcraft Duchess (BE-76). The Duchess is a twin-engine, low-wing aircraft with counter-rotating propellers — eliminating critical engine considerations and providing excellent handling characteristics.

The Duchess is widely used by flight schools, airlines, and military training programs worldwide. Our fleet is company-owned and maintained by our in-house 24/7 maintenance team.

Multi-Engine Rating vs. Multi-Engine Time Building

A Multi-Engine Rating is a certificate added to your license that allows you to fly multi-engine aircraft. It requires formal training and a checkride. MFT's add-on starts at $6,050.

Multi-Engine Time Building is accumulating flight hours in a multi-engine aircraft after you already hold the rating. Time building is about logging hours to meet experience requirements.

Many pilots earn their rating then immediately begin building hours through our time building program.

Multi-Engine Time Building Pricing

Multi-engine wet rates start at $160/hr for high-volume packages, up to $200/hr regular.

Solo multi-engine time building is available for pilots who prefer independent flying.

Who Needs Multi-Engine Time?

Commercial Pilot License candidates choosing multi-engine commercial. ATP certification requires specific multi-engine experience. Airlines increasingly favor candidates with significant multi-engine hours.

Buy Multi-Engine Time at the Right Moment

Twin time costs roughly three times single-engine time, so when you buy it matters as much as how much you buy. Pilots who purchase a large twin block early — before their instrument scan and cross-country planning are solid — spend premium money relearning basics. The efficient sequence is to build core skills single-engine, then move into the twin when every hour can be spent on genuinely multi-specific work.

For most applications, a focused block of quality twin time with real instrument and cross-country content reads better than a larger total flown in local circuits. Recruiters look at what the time contains, not only how much of it there is.

Systems Discipline in a Light Twin

A light twin punishes sloppy flow. Fuel management across multiple tanks, cowl flap discipline, synchronised power settings, gear and flap sequencing, and the single-engine performance numbers for the day's weight and temperature all need to be automatic rather than looked up. Build a habit of running the same flows every flight so they hold when workload spikes.

Know your aircraft's blue-line and red-line speeds cold, and understand why a single-engine climb at the wrong airspeed or the wrong bank angle produces almost no performance at all. That understanding is the core of multi-engine airmanship and the heart of every multi-engine checkride.

Sharing Twin Time Safely and Legally

Splitting the cost of twin flying with another qualified pilot is common and financially sensible, but only one pilot may log pilot-in-command time for a given leg and the logbook must reflect what actually happened. Agree the split before you launch, swap on the ground between legs rather than improvising in the air, and keep both logbooks consistent — inconsistent shared entries are a recurring problem in airline logbook audits.

Frequently Asked Questions