A multi-engine rating has no FAA minimum flight time. Under 14 CFR 61.63(c) an added class rating asks for three things and no more: a logbook or training record endorsement from an authorized instructor attesting that you were found competent in the appropriate aeronautical knowledge areas and proficient in the appropriate areas of operation, a passing practical test, and no additional knowledge test at all if you already hold an airplane rating at that pilot certificate level.
Most pilots reach that standard in eight to twelve hours of dual instruction. Our course books eight hours in the Piper Seminole and two hours in the full-motion simulator for $5,100, and is built to finish inside a week. This page is the deep dive on the requirements themselves: what the regulation says, what you must already hold, what the examiner will ask you to fly, and the two certificate limitations that catch people out. If you want the local picture instead, our multi-engine rating in Los Angeles page covers how the rating sits alongside everything else we teach at Van Nuys.
What 14 CFR 61.63(c) Actually Requires
The multi-engine rating is not a certificate. It is a class rating added to the pilot certificate you already hold, in the same way that a seaplane rating is. That single fact explains almost everything about how the training works, because Part 61 treats added ratings very differently from new certificates.
The regulation is short. To add a class rating you must receive an endorsement from an authorized instructor attesting that you are competent in the appropriate aeronautical knowledge areas and proficient in the appropriate areas of operation; you must pass the practical test; and you need not take a knowledge test if you already hold an airplane, rotorcraft, powered-lift, weight-shift-control, powered parachute or airship rating at that certificate level. The regulation also states explicitly that you need not meet the specified training time requirements that Part 61 prescribes for the certificate level in that class.
Read that last clause again, because it is the one people misread. It does not mean the training is short by design. It means the FAA has declined to guess how long it will take you, and has handed the judgment to your instructor and your examiner. You are finished when you fly to the standard, not when a clock runs out.
What The Endorsement Is, In Practice
Your instructor writes a dated entry in your logbook, quoting the regulation, saying you have been found competent and proficient for the practical test for the airplane multi-engine land class rating. That entry is a legal statement made by a certificated instructor who is personally accountable for it. Nobody signs it to be kind. If you are not ready, you will fly again before you are sent.
What You Must Already Hold Before You Start
There is no pre-course written exam and no separate course prerequisite beyond the certificate you are adding the rating to. In plain terms:
| Certificate you hold now | What the multi-engine practical test is flown to | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|
| Private pilot, airplane single-engine land | Private pilot standards for the multi-engine class | Private pilot, airplane single- and multi-engine land |
| Commercial pilot, airplane single-engine land | Commercial pilot standards for the multi-engine class | Commercial pilot, airplane single- and multi-engine land |
| Private pilot with an instrument rating | Private standards, plus instrument tasks if you want instrument privileges in the twin | Private, single- and multi-engine, instrument airplane |
The practical test is always flown to the standard of the certificate you already hold. A commercial pilot adding the multi-engine class is held to commercial tolerances, which are tighter than private tolerances on altitude, heading and airspeed. That is worth knowing before you book, because it is the single biggest reason two pilots with identical logbooks finish in different numbers of hours.
You also need a current medical certificate appropriate to the certificate level you are exercising, and a valid flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 if you intend to act as pilot in command. Our page on the flight review explains how that interacts with a checkride.
Adding Multi-Engine At The Commercial Level
This deserves its own paragraph because it catches people out financially. A commercial pilot adding an airplane multi-engine land class rating flies the practical test to commercial standards, and commercial standards are unforgiving: altitude and airspeed tolerances are tighter, and the examiner will expect the precision you demonstrated on your commercial ride, in an airplane you have flown for eight hours rather than two hundred.
It is entirely achievable, and most commercial pilots do it in the same eight to twelve hours, but the margin for a sloppy session is smaller. If you are adding multi-engine at the commercial level after a long gap in your flying, say so when you book. An hour of general handling in a single to sharpen your tolerances before the course starts is cheaper than an extra hour in the Seminole at $559, and considerably cheaper than a second examiner fee.
The opposite route also exists: you can take the commercial practical test itself in a twin and be issued a commercial certificate with a multi-engine class rating directly. It is legal and sometimes sensible, but it is expensive, because the whole commercial course is then flown at twin rates. Most pilots take the commercial in a single and add the class rating afterwards, which is why our commercial pilot course and this one are separate.
Why A Rating With No Hour Minimum Still Takes Ten Hours
Everything you already know still applies. Straight and level is straight and level. What is new is a short, dense list of things that only exist in twins, and each of them has to be flown enough times to become automatic rather than merely understood:
- A second set of everything. Two throttles, two propeller levers, two mixtures, two alternators, two vacuum sources, two fuel systems with crossfeed. The flow is longer and the checklist discipline is stricter.
- Feathering. A constant-speed propeller on a twin can be turned edge-on to the airflow to kill its drag. Getting the right one feathered, promptly and without touching the wrong lever, is the central motor skill of the rating.
- Asymmetric control. With one engine out, the airplane yaws and rolls toward the dead engine and the rudder is what holds it straight. Coordination changes completely.
- VMC awareness. Minimum control speed with the critical engine inoperative is a hard floor below which full rudder will not hold the nose straight. The demonstration is a required task and it is flown at altitude for good reason.
- Single-engine performance. A light twin that loses an engine loses far more than half its excess power. Understanding what it will and will not climb over, on a warm day, out of Van Nuys, is the point of the whole rating.
Ten hours is not padding. It is roughly what it takes to move those items from the front of your mind to the back of your hands. Pilots who fly two sessions a day tend to land near eight; pilots who spread the course over several weekends tend to land nearer twelve, because the engine-out work is perishable in a way that normal airwork is not. The detailed knowledge behind each of those bullets, in the form the examiner will ask for it, is laid out in our multi-engine oral exam guide.
What The Examiner Tests
Because there is no knowledge test for an added class rating, the oral portion of the practical test carries the whole weight of the knowledge requirement. Expect it to be longer and more searching than the oral you sat for your last certificate, not shorter. Examiners know that this is the only opportunity anyone gets to check what you understand about twin-engine aerodynamics, and they use it.
The flight portion follows the Airman Certification Standards for the certificate level you hold. In broad strokes it covers:
| Area | What it looks like in the airplane |
|---|---|
| Preflight and systems | Walkaround, weight and balance, performance charts, fuel system and crossfeed, electrical, deice if fitted |
| Normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings | To the tolerances of your certificate level, in a heavier and faster airplane than you are used to |
| Short-field and soft-field work | As applicable to the certificate level and the airplane |
| Slow flight and stalls | Power-off and power-on, clean and configured; no spins are performed in the Seminole |
| Engine failure during takeoff ground roll | Reject, close both throttles, stop straight |
| Engine failure after liftoff, simulated | Control, configure, climb or land straight ahead depending on the briefing |
| Engine failure en route | Identify, verify, feather; secure the engine; divert |
| VMC demonstration | At safe altitude, recovering at the first indication of loss of directional control or stall warning |
| Drag demonstration | Showing what gear, flaps and a windmilling propeller do to single-engine performance |
| Single-engine approach and landing | Flown to a full stop with one engine simulated inoperative |
| Instrument tasks, if you want instrument privileges | Including an approach with one engine simulated inoperative |
The Two Limitations That Catch People Out
The VFR-Only Multi-Engine Limitation
This is the one that costs pilots a second checkride. If you already hold an instrument rating and you take a multi-engine practical test that does not include the instrument tasks, the FAA issues your certificate with a limitation reading, in substance, that your multi-engine privileges are limited to VFR only. You are instrument rated, and you are multi-engine rated, but you may not fly the twin in instrument conditions.
Removing it later means another practical test. Adding the instrument tasks to the original ride means an extra hour or so of preparation and a single-engine instrument approach on the day. If you hold an instrument rating, tell your instructor on day one that you want the instrument tasks included, and confirm it with the examiner when the ride is booked. Our instrument rating course page explains the underlying privileges.
The Centerline-Thrust Limitation
A multi-engine rating earned in an airplane whose engines are mounted on the centerline, one pulling and one pushing, is issued limited to centerline thrust, because that airplane does not produce the asymmetric yaw that conventional twins do. It is a real limitation and a real trap for anyone shopping on price alone. It does not apply to a checkride flown here: the Seminole is a conventional twin with an engine on each wing.
The Paperwork
None of this is difficult, but it derails more checkrides than bad flying does, so handle it in the first week rather than the last night.
The application is submitted through IACRA, the FAA's integrated airman certification and rating application system. You need an FAA tracking number, which you already have from your last certificate, and your instructor reviews and signs the application electronically before the examiner can accept it. Our page on the IACRA application process covers how the system works.
On the day, the examiner will want to see your pilot certificate, a current medical certificate, photo identification establishing your citizenship or nationality, your logbook with the 61.63(c) endorsement and any other required endorsements, a completed and signed IACRA application, the examiner's fee, and the airplane's documents: airworthiness certificate, registration, radio station license if applicable, operating limitations and weight and balance data, plus evidence that the inspections required by Part 91 are current. A missing maintenance record has ended more multi-engine checkrides than a mishandled VMC demonstration.
One practical note specific to added ratings: there is no knowledge test report to bring, because there is no knowledge test. Examiners occasionally ask for one out of habit. The answer is 14 CFR 61.63(c).
The Airplane You Will Fly
Every multi-engine rating we issue is flown in N311EF, a Piper Seminole PA-44-180: four seats, two 180-horsepower Lycoming engines, counter-rotating propellers, Garmin 430 navigator, roughly 162 knots in the cruise. Full specifications and V-speeds are on our Piper Seminole PA-44-180 page.
The counter-rotating propellers matter for one specific reason that examiners love: the Seminole has no critical engine. On a conventional twin where both propellers turn the same way, the descending blade of each propeller is further from the fuselage on one side than the other, so the loss of the left engine hurts more than the loss of the right. Counter-rotation removes that asymmetry, so neither engine is critical. You must still be able to explain the four factors that create a critical engine on a conventional twin, because the oral will ask, and you will one day fly a twin that has one.
Hours, Days And Money
| Item | Included |
|---|---|
| Piper Seminole, dual | 8 hours |
| Redbird MCX full-motion simulator | 2 hours |
| Flight instruction | 10 hours |
| Ground instruction | 2 hours |
| Books and materials | Included |
| Course price | $5,100 |
| Typical elapsed time | Seven days, Monday start |
| Examiner fee, paid to the examiner | Roughly $800 to $1,000, not included |
| FAA knowledge test | None required for an added class rating |
Payment can be split as $2,500 down and two payments of $1,300. The full arithmetic, including what the same hours cost if you buy them one at a time at the retail rate, is broken down on our multi-engine rating cost page. If you want the day-by-day version of the week, read accelerated multi-engine rating.
What Happens After The Checkride
Multi-engine land is a class rating, so ordinary currency rules apply to it as a class. Under 14 CFR 61.57(a) you need three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days, in the same category, class and, if a type rating is required, type, before you carry passengers. Under 61.56 you need a flight review every 24 calendar months, and it may be taken in any aircraft for which you are rated.
That is the legal floor, and in twins it is not the real one. Insurance is. Most underwriters set an hours-in-type figure before they will cover you solo in a light twin, and many require annual recurrent training regardless of your total time. Engine-out handling degrades faster than almost any other flying skill because you never practice it by accident. If you intend to keep flying twins, plan on a recurrent session every year, and budget for it.
If your reason for holding the rating is to build multi-engine time toward an airline or charter job, note that 14 CFR 61.159(a)(3) requires 50 hours in the class of airplane for the rating sought at the ATP level. Our multi-engine time building page covers how pilots accumulate those hours in the Seminole and how the safety-pilot rules work.
Who Needs A Multi-Engine Rating
Be honest with yourself about which of these you are.
- Career pilots. Non-negotiable. Every regional and charter operator flies multi-engine equipment, and the ATP certificate you eventually need carries a 50-hour class requirement. Do it early, keep flying twins, and the hours accumulate quietly rather than in a panic.
- Pilots buying or joining a twin. You will need the rating and your insurer will want more training than the FAA does. Bring the insurance requirements to the first lesson so the course can be built around them.
- Instrument-rated private pilots who fly long trips. A second engine buys redundancy in the systems that matter at night and in cloud, but only if you stay genuinely current. A twin flown twice a year is not safer than a single flown weekly.
- Pilots who want the challenge. A perfectly good reason. It is the most concentrated week of flying most pilots ever do, and it makes you sharper in singles too.
If you are not yet a pilot at all, none of this is your next step. Start with our guide to learning to fly in Los Angeles and work up through the private certificate first.
Related Reading
- Multi-engine rating in Los Angeles — the local course page, instructors, scheduling and how it fits our other training.
- Accelerated multi-engine rating — the seven-day schedule, hour by hour.
- Multi-engine rating cost — where the $5,100 goes and what the same hours cost retail.
- Multi-engine oral exam guide — VMC, the critical engine, feathering and single-engine performance.
- Piper Seminole PA-44-180 — specifications, V-speeds and performance figures.
- Multi-engine instructor (MEI) rating — the next step if you want to teach in twins.
Multi-Engine Rating Requirements FAQ
How Many Hours Does The FAA Require For A Multi-Engine Rating?
None. 14 CFR 61.63(c) sets no minimum flight time for an added class rating and states expressly that you need not meet the training time requirements that apply to the certificate level in that class. You need an instructor endorsement and a passing practical test. Most pilots get there in eight to twelve hours of dual.
Is There A Written Test For The Multi-Engine Rating?
No. Under 14 CFR 61.63(c) no additional knowledge test is required if you already hold an airplane rating at that pilot certificate level. The oral portion of the practical test is correspondingly long and detailed, because it is the only knowledge check in the process.
Do I Need An Instrument Rating Before A Multi-Engine Rating?
No. You can add a multi-engine class rating to a private or commercial certificate with no instrument rating at all. If you do hold an instrument rating, ask for the instrument tasks to be included in the practical test, or your certificate will be issued with a VFR-only multi-engine limitation.
What Is The VFR-Only Multi-Engine Limitation?
It is a limitation printed on your certificate when you add a multi-engine rating without demonstrating the instrument tasks, including a single-engine instrument approach. It means you may not exercise instrument privileges in a multi-engine airplane. Removing it requires another practical test, so it is far cheaper to include the instrument work the first time.
Does The Piper Seminole Have A Critical Engine?
No. The Seminole has counter-rotating propellers, so neither engine is critical. You still have to explain the four factors that create a critical engine on a conventional twin during the oral, because you will eventually fly one.
How Long Does A Multi-Engine Rating Take?
Our course runs seven days from a Monday start, with the checkride at the end of that week. Pilots who prefer weekends usually spread it over three or four, which costs a little more flying because engine-out handling fades between sessions.
Can I Do My Commercial Checkride In A Twin Instead?
Yes, and you would then hold a commercial certificate with a multi-engine class rating directly. It costs more, because twin time is more expensive than single time. Many pilots take the commercial in a single and add the multi-engine class afterwards for that reason.
What Medical Certificate Do I Need?
Whatever your existing certificate level requires under 14 CFR 61.23. Adding a class rating does not change your medical requirement. A third class medical supports private privileges; commercial privileges need a second class.
Book The Rating
Multi-engine classes start on Mondays in Seminole N311EF at Van Nuys, and the checkride is scheduled for the same week. If you are still deciding, book a free consultation and we will look at your logbook and tell you honestly how many hours we think you will need. If you are not a pilot yet, a 60-minute discovery flight is $229, you fly it from the left seat, and it logs as dual instruction. Call (818) 330-1318 any day from 9 AM to 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport.