To test the quality of both Double Eagle locations, I split my training time between Tucson and Sierra Vista, using three different instructors in the process. Typically, however, students select one training location and are assigned one instructor-a comforting bit of stability in the whirlwind training schedule.
Dive Right In
From the moment I arrived at Tucson International Airport on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I was immersed in the program. I received a training package that included the FAA Instrument Training Handbook, a syllabus of the course complete with lesson plans and quizzes, an oral exam guide, and area instrument charts. Although I had met the first requirement of the accelerated program when I passed the instrument knowledge test only a couple of weeks before, I was advised to start studying. The next morning would begin Day 1.
I quickly discovered that during the course of training, time was meaningless except as it pertained to the syllabus. Soon I had no idea whether it was Monday or Saturday, and it didn't really matter. What mattered was whether it was Day 2 or Day 7 and whether I had mastered the material outlined in the syllabus for that day.
Day 1 went well. I met my instructor, Per Hansen, and we began with a few hours of ground school, covering the mechanics of the instruments, scanning techniques, instrument interpretation, aircraft control principles for instrument flying, and common scanning errors. Then we hopped into the flight training device - an ATC 710 - for a few hours of practicing the scan while flying straight and level and maneuvering. In addition to an ATC 710 unit, Double Eagle uses Jeppesen's FS2000 personal computer aided training device (PCATD). Students generally begin their training on the ATC 710 because its actual flight instruments and life-sized panel help to develop the scan. As students progress, they move to the FS2000, which allows them to play back their performance and see just what a properly, or improperly, flown holding pattern and approach look like superimposed on a chart of the area. With its ability to track and display a variety of flight parameters, including altitude and airspeed, the FS2000 allows students and instructors to look at every aspect of the student's performance.
Once I had gained control of the flight training device and demonstrated that I could fly basic maneuvers by instruments alone, it was back to the classroom to deal with timed and compass turns, unusual attitudes, partial panel work, and regulations. With the classroom and simulator portions of the first day behind me, I was relieved to jump into a real airplane for a quick familiarization flight around Tucson's rugged outskirts. Back on the ground, I received my homework assignment - some reading and a couple of short review exercises - and was turned loose about 5 p.m.
Day 1 had been a success, and after all of the tales of terror I'd heard about the rigors of getting an instrument rating, I was greatly relieved. I enjoyed a leisurely dinner, completed my homework assignment, and turned in early. It was a good thing I decided to get some rest because I soon learned that the first day of the program is meant to be a confidence builder as much as it is a learning experience. Students get the chance to take it slow and succeed - two things they may not do much more of until the end of the course when all of the lessons begin to come together.
A Lot to Learn
After Day 1, the pace picked up. It had to. After all, many people take a year or more to earn an instrument rating, and the folks at Double Eagle were trying to get me through it in just eight days. The second and third days focused on the process of obtaining a clearance, navigation, holding patterns, and managing all of these things while flying with multiple instrument failures. Most of the skills were explained in the classroom, then mastered on the simulator where there are no worries about conflicting traffic and the student can instantly be transported from an NDB in Arizona to an intersection in Alaska. The airplane was used mainly to prove that the new skills worked just as well in the cockpit as they did on the simulator.
Day 4 included the first introduction to actual approaches and a phase check with Double Eagle co-owner Mike Garcia. Garcia is one of that rare breed of career flight instructors. There are few things he'd rather do than teach, although the demands of owning and managing a growing flight school mean that he does less and less actual instructing. Garcia created the eight-day instrument course as an independent instructor more than a decade ago, and even after opening Double Eagle, he was the only instructor to teach this particular program for a long time. Now, however, Garcia has refined the syllabus and developed an apprentice-style program to train his CFIIs how to teach an accelerated instrument training course. Instructors spend hours in the classroom with more experienced CFIIs and their students, pretend- ing that they, too, are students to whom all of this is new. They also observe other instructors in action in the airplane. Once they have been through the course several times as an observer, they need to pass the ultimate test - teaching portions of the program to the man who invented it. If they get Garcia's blessing for their performance, they are ready to instruct ac-tual instrument students.
Typically, each eight-day instructor is assigned one student with whom he or she will work exclusively for the duration of the training. As grueling as the course can be for the student, it can be equally exhausting for the instructor. While students may spend eight- or even 10-hour days at the school, instructors spend much longer filling out paperwork, preparing lessons, and creating practice assignments to meet the particular needs of each student. The instructors worry about every checkride, too, pacing back and forth until the student returns with a smile on his face and a temporary certificate in his hand.
After four days with Hansen, Garcia, and the understanding controllers at Tucson International Airport, it was time for me to head south to Sierra Vista to finish my training with the help of David Thompson and his crew. Unlike the bustling Class C airspace surrounding Tucson, Sierra Vista, home to the Army's Fort Huachuca, is generally a quiet place. The joint military/civilian use airport has runways facing nearly every direction, the longest of which exceeds 12,000 feet - perfect for touch and goes and high density altitude days. With the airport at an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet, the training gave me - a lowland pilot - a great opportunity to practice my mountain flying skills. As a bonus, the vicinity boasts just about every instrument approach you could hope to fly. Military controllers are anxious to help, willingly allowing students to practice no-gyro and precision approach radar (PAR) approaches - two types of approaches that can be hard to come by in many areas. In addition to its role as an intelligence base, Fort Huachuca is home to an unmanned aircraft testing program. Though the un-manned aircraft have their own tower about a mile from the main airport, the bright orange airplanes do share airspace with other military aircraft and civilian training activities, making for an interesting aerial traffic mix.
Information Overload
Making the transition to a new instructor on my first day in Sierra Vista wasn't as difficult as it might have been, thanks to the consistent syllabus and training techniques used at both Double Eagle locations. Even so, every instructor has his or her own way of doing things, and I spent a few hours trying to master Thompson's methods while he tried to identify my weaknesses. Given the option, I would recommend sticking with one instructor. Anything that you can do to minimize your frustration level is good. And you will almost certainly get frustrated.
When Day 5 dawned, I began to wonder if I would make it. Suddenly things that had seemed easy a few days ago - basic instrument flying, intercepting an ADF bearing, tracking a VOR - were becoming difficult. There was so much to do at once, and I wondered if I'd ever be able to simultaneously fly a holding pattern, correct for wind drift, hold my altitude, nail my airspeed, talk to controllers, and cope with an instrument failure. In fact, the very notion of taking a checkride for an instrument rating in only three short days began to seem a little silly.
Of course I was not alone in feeling this way. As Thompson explained, almost every student has at least one day like that - a day when everything seems a little overwhelming if not downright impossible. The good news, he told me, is that the day of feeling lost is usually a sign that there's a breakthrough on the horizon. And he was right. By Day 6 things were looking brighter, and by the middle of Day 7, I realized that there was nothing left to do but practice what I had learned. After the hectic training schedule, the idea of having a full day to practice without having to master anything new seemed positively luxurious.
The Big Test
Then it was time for the checkride. Chuck Perry, a local designated examiner and chief flight instructor at nearby Cochise Community College, would be giving me my oral and practical exams. To make sure there's no cheating, he gives his rides at night over the desert. I wore my hood during the test, but it would hardly have mattered if I hadn't. We were flying in conditions that would force any pilot to trust the instruments. The night was clear, but there was nothing to see - no lights, no highways, not even any moon. Perry put me through the paces - first with questions about charts weather, regulations, procedures, and, most critically, judgment. Then we flew a series of approaches, standard and nonstandard holding patterns, unusual attitudes with a simulated vacuum failure - the practical test standards require you to recover without the attitude indicator - and assorted other challenges. We closed the checkride by circling to land from a partial-panel NDB approach. I had earned my ticket.
Double Eagle believes that its training can stand up to the scrutiny of any examiner, so there is no designated examiner on staff, and your checkride could be with any of a number of local designees. With a first-time pass rate close to 90 percent, the system obviously works.
While the instructors want to see you earn that ticket, they are even more interested in making you a safe instrument pilot, so they want to be sure that you remember what they teach. Several weeks after returning to my home airport, I took an instrument proficiency check at my local FBO. The ride was successful even though I had never tried any of the local approaches or holds.
What to Expect
Not only did the lessons stick, but there also were some definite advantages to taking the fast track. For one, I was away from home, which meant that I was also away from the distractions of household and family. Some students think that they will bring the family for a vacation and play a little golf while they speed through their instrument training. While a few could manage it, I'd advise against it. I found that the days were full and tiring, and the evenings were reserved for study and rest. The last thing I needed was any sort of distraction - even a pleasant one like family.
Minimizing distractions is important, but don't think that you'll be dragged sleep-deprived and harassed, military-style, through the program. The staff at Double Eagle makes it easy for you to concentrate on your training. Regardless of which location you select, the staff can handle your hotel reservations and get you a rental car if you desire one. The school's special hotel rates are attractive-ranging from about $35 to $50 per night - and you don't really need a car. You won't have time for sightseeing, and transportation to the airport is no problem. In Tucson, the hotel shuttles you to Double Eagle while a courtesy car will get you around Sierra Vista.
Instructors even do their best to ensure that you get enough rest and have been known to send students home for a nap if the frustration level gets too high. They know that it's better to catch up later than it is to push a student who has reached his or her limit.
Double Eagle offers training under both Part 61 and Part 141 of the federal aviation regulations. Although it is possible to complete the Part 141 instrument training curriculum in eight days, Garcia asks students who need to meet those more stringent requirements to allow 10 days to earn the rating.
Prices are comparable to what you might pay at your local FBO, depending on where you live. An eight-day instrument course includes 20 hours of instruction in a new Cessna 172, 25 hours in an FAA-approved ground trainer, ground instruction, charts, books, and the checkride fee for $4,995. The same training at my local flight school would have cost approximately $4,500.
Students using Double Eagle's accelerated instrument program under Part 61 must arrive with at least 45 hours of pilot-in-command cross-country time and a passing score on the written exam. Students who have had substantial instrument training can wrap it up with a four- day finish-up program for $1,995.
If you think an accelerated program might be for you, let me offer one last word of advice: Prepare. Read as much as you can before you go, and make sure the information is fresh in your head. If you have access to a PCATD or even a home flight simulator program, spend a little time practicing straight-and-level flight, steep turns, and constant-rate and -airspeed climbs and descents on the instruments. A little bit of study now will save you a lot of stress later. And in just eight days, you could have that coveted instrument ticket.
For more information, contact Double Eagle at 800/505-0148 or visit their Web site ( www.2-eagle.com ).
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