After a long, bleak winter, a bit of good luck finally came my way. I was telling a friend of mine, who is an MEI at Lewis University, that I was looking for a ride out to Dixon to get my plane from the shop. It happened that she wanted to get multiengine time for currency, so she offered to split the bill with me. Since twin engine planes are prohibitively expensive (at least for me), I couldn't say no to the offer.

      Lewis University uses Piper PA-44-180 Seminoles for their multiengine training, so that's what we were going to be flying. My friend picked me up at Clow, and we decided to fly to Morris, and Illinois Valley before dropping me off at Dixon. As part of my preflight preparation, I checked the runway lengths at each airport (required by FAR 91.105), on the assumption that a Seminole would use a lot more runway than my 152.

      Compared to the Cessna-310 I did one of my BFRs in, the Seminole was much more user friendly. The avionics were pre-GPS, which was just fine with me. The run-up was pretty much like any other plane, except that most things had to be done twice, once for each engine. Also, since twins have constant speed props, you have to cycle each prop three times to verify the governors are working. Compared to the takeoff roll in my Cessna 152 the Seminole was like flying a rocket ship. Climb out was at about 1000 fpm.

      We levelled off at 2500 ft., then flew down to C09 via the Joliet VOR for a landing. Getting a Seminole on the ground takes a few more steps than a 152. To reduce to pattern speed, the pilots uses the gear. This also helps make sure the pilot remembers the gear. The top of the white arc is 111 kts, so once below that speed the flaps are used to help you slow down more. Finally, below 100 kts, the props go full forward, which creates even more drag. Landing speed is about 88 kts.

      After C09, we departed and flew to Illinois valley. From the air we could see the new runway under construction. Since we had 6000ft to land on, we were able to do and stop and go. Then it was onto the Dixon, by tracking the Polo VOR.

      As we pulled into Dixon, I saw my 152 on the ramp. It can't do 140 kts like a Seminole, but it was still great to get it back.

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