A CFII/MEI's guide to multi-engine add-on training — the maneuvers, the Vmc demonstration, engine-out procedures, and how to prepare for the checkride from both sides of the cockpit.
The multi-engine add-on rating requires no minimum flight hours under 14 CFR Part 61 — it's proficiency-based — and its training is heavily oriented around one scenario: managing asymmetric thrust after an engine failure. Understanding Vmc and what it means in practice is central to everything else in multi-engine training.
This article covers what the rating training includes, how the Vmc demonstration works, and what the checkride evaluates from both the student and MEI candidate perspectives.
The multi-engine add-on for a private or commercial pilot requires no specific minimum hours — it's a proficiency-based rating. In practice, most students need 10–20 hours of dual in a twin to be genuinely prepared for the checkride. Candidates who try to rush through in 6–8 hours often show it.
The training covers:
Engine-out operations dominate the list intentionally. The entire reason multi-engine aircraft have distinct operating procedures is to manage the asymmetric thrust scenario that develops when one engine fails. Everything in multi-engine training is oriented around understanding and managing that scenario.
Vmc is the minimum control speed with the critical engine inoperative. Below Vmc, the rudder — at full deflection — cannot maintain directional control with one engine at full power and the other at idle or failed.
The critical insight that many students miss: Vmc is not a fixed number. The Vmc placard value (the red line on the airspeed indicator) is determined under specific certification conditions. The actual Vmc in flight varies with altitude, weight, bank angle, and configuration. This matters enormously.
At higher altitudes, reduced engine power means less asymmetric thrust and a lower actual Vmc. At lower altitudes with full power available, actual Vmc equals or exceeds the placard value. An engine failure at low altitude and low airspeed in a twin may occur at or below Vmc, leaving the pilot with insufficient rudder authority to maintain directional control even at full deflection.
The certification Vmc (red line) is determined under worst-case conditions. Understanding what moves actual Vmc helps you manage the risk:
Factors that raise actual Vmc (make the situation worse):
Factors that lower actual Vmc (improve the situation):
Aft CG deserves a special note: it lowers the rudder moment arm, reducing directional control authority. The net effect is a higher Vmc. Aft CG also narrows the margin between Vmc and stall speed, which compounds the risk.
The ACS requires applicants to demonstrate Vmc. The procedure:
The failure I most commonly see in both students and checkrides: the student either recovers before reaching Vmc (they just reduce power when it gets uncomfortable) or they let the airplane depart before recovering. The demonstration requires reaching the edge, not going over it.
Bank angle is the instructor's primary safety lever. A 5° bank toward the operating engine reduces Vmc by approximately 3–5 knots. If the demonstration is getting away from you, bank 5° toward the good engine. The student should understand this — both as a safety technique and as evidence that Vmc is variable.
When an engine fails (or the examiner simulates it by retarding a throttle), the immediate action sequence needs to be automatic. I teach PARE:
P — Power: full power on both throttles (simultaneously — you don't know which engine failed yet, and raising both throttles is faster than diagnosing)
A — Attitude: pitch for Vyse (blue line). You are now in a performance emergency — you need climb gradient, and you won't get it below blue line.
R — Rudder: push toward the operative engine to stop the yaw. The ball helps identify which engine is out, but rudder toward the high wing / away from yaw is faster than looking at the ball
E — Engine identification and securing: "Dead foot, dead engine." The dead foot (the foot not pressing rudder) indicates the dead engine. Identify, verify by reducing power (if not already at idle), then secure: mixture cutoff, fuel shutoff, feather prop (if available)
The identifying and securing step is where students make the most errors under pressure. They rush the identification, fail to verify before securing, and occasionally secure the wrong engine. The correct sequence — dead foot, identify, verify by pulling the throttle back (if it was already at idle, nothing changes; if it was producing power, you'll hear/feel the change), secure — needs to be drilled until it's reflexive.
Aircraft with controllable-pitch propellers allow feathering — rotating the blade to edge-on to reduce drag from the windmilling prop. An unfeathered windmilling prop on a failed engine creates significant drag that dramatically reduces single-engine performance.
Students underestimate how much single-engine performance degrades with an unfeathered prop. The performance charts in the AFM assume the propeller is feathered. If it isn't, treat the performance numbers with skepticism.
The most critical judgment in a multi-engine emergency — particularly at low altitude after takeoff — is whether to attempt a single-engine climb or land straight ahead.
This is not primarily a flying decision. It's a performance decision, made before the flight:
If the density altitude is near the single-engine service ceiling, the aircraft may have zero single-engine climb rate available. In that case, the decision is made before takeoff: if an engine fails below a certain altitude, the aircraft is landing. Know that altitude before you leave the ground.
I require every multi-engine student to compute single-engine performance at current conditions before each takeoff. It takes 3 minutes and makes them genuinely understand the margin (or lack of it) they're operating in.
The multi-engine checkride, whether for a rating add-on or an MEI certificate, heavily emphasizes engine-out operations. Be prepared for:
For the MEI checkride specifically: you'll demonstrate all of the above, and you'll also be evaluated on how you teach it. Same dynamic as the CFI checkride — you're being evaluated as an instructor, not just as a pilot. The examiner will play a student and you'll need to demonstrate the instructional technique for engine-out procedures.
The most important thing a new MEI can convey to students is the honest risk picture for twins at low altitude with low energy.
Some students arrive thinking a twin is safer than a single because "if one engine fails, you have another." That's only true above a certain altitude and airspeed. Below Vmc with an engine failure, a twin can be more hazardous than a single because the asymmetric thrust may be uncontrollable.
The twin's second engine is an asset when the aircraft has altitude and airspeed. It becomes a liability if it leads to delayed landing decisions, operations below Vmc, or attempted climbs that the aircraft's single-engine performance can't sustain. Teaching students to accurately assess the performance margins in each phase of flight — and to have a pre-made decision for each phase — is the core objective of multi-engine training.
The performance thinking this requires — running actual numbers, making decisions before the emergency, understanding the aerodynamic forces at play — develops judgment that applies across all of aviation.
References
Grayson Bertaina is a Master CFI, Gold Seal CFII/MEI, and ATP. He was named AOPA's 2026 Regional CFI of the Year for the Eastern Region.
About the author
Grayson Bertaina
ATP, CFII/MEI · Gold Seal & Master CFI
Grayson Bertaina is an ATP and CFII/MEI with Gold Seal and Master CFI designations. He was named AOPA's 2026 Regional CFI of the Year for the Eastern Region, and has trained pilots across primary, instrument, multi-engine, and commercial certificates.