AMES Training

What AMES Training Actually Means

AMES stands for Airplane - Multiengine Sea, the FAA class rating that lets a pilot act as pilot in command of multiengine airplanes on water. If you searched for AMES training expecting a question bank, a testing-center appointment and a percentage score, adjust your expectations now. This is an aircraft class rating. You earn it by training with an instructor, receiving an endorsement, and demonstrating proficiency to an FAA-authorized evaluator, commonly a designated pilot examiner, in a combined oral and flight evaluation.

That shift changes how you prepare. You are not memorizing a fixed number of items for a timed session. You are building the judgment to handle a floatplane with two engines in confined water, on glassy water, in chop, and with one engine not producing power. For the broader definition of the rating, see What Is AMES? and What Does AMES Stand For?.

Who Can Start and What Changes by Certificate Level

The FAA standards that govern an AMES add-on exist at several certificate levels, and there is no single level-independent AMES blueprint. The private pilot and commercial pilot airplane Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C and FAA-S-ACS-7B) each contain an additional-rating task table for AMES, printed on page 73 of each document. ATP-level AMES is governed separately by FAA-S-ACS-11A and 14 CFR 61.165. Do not assume that private or commercial task credit carries over to an ATP applicant.

For adding a class rating below ATP, 14 CFR 61.63(c) requires an instructor's endorsement of your knowledge and proficiency plus a practical test. It does not prescribe a fixed minimum number of additional training hours for this airplane class addition. That is why course lengths vary so much between schools: they reflect each provider's judgment about how much time a typical student needs, not an FAA floor.

Schools also set their own entry conditions, and those conditions are not always consistent with each other. One provider's checklist permits private-or-higher ratings while its own FAQ calls for commercial ratings. Treat school prerequisites as school policy, and confirm with the instructor which certificate level and held ratings your training will be built around. Our AMES requirements guide walks through eligibility questions in more detail.

The Seven Preparation Areas, Domain by Domain

The seven areas below form an unweighted preparation index organized around the FAA Seaplane, Skiplane, and Float/Ski Equipped Helicopter Operations Handbook (FAA-H-8083-23, 2004 edition, still linked by the FAA). They are not seven official exam domains and not an exhaustive checkride syllabus. No percentage weights are published, so none are claimed here. The handbook's chapters 1 through 6 and 8 are relevant; chapter 7 covers skiplanes and chapter 9 covers helicopters, and neither belongs in AMES preparation. For a deeper treatment of each area, see the complete guide to all seven AMES content areas.

The Multiengine Seaplane Piece: Asymmetrical Thrust on Floats

Most of the seaplane handbook is written for single-engine floatplanes. The handbook does include an explicit subsection titled Multiengine Seaplanes, on page 5-4, which addresses engine failure and asymmetrical thrust. Read it closely, because this is where AMES diverges from a single-engine sea rating. Preparing for AMES using only single-engine seaplane material, or only AMEL (land) material, leaves a gap in exactly the places an examiner is likely to probe.

Consider what an engine failure means on the water. On land, you have a runway and gear to manage a failure on the roll. On the water during takeoff, an engine failure leaves you with asymmetric thrust, a surface with no centerline, and wind and waves pushing the airplane. The skills overlap with multiengine land work, but the consequences and corrective actions are shaped by float hydrodynamics.

Aircraft-specific limitations and the appropriate checklists govern all of this. Your training airplane's flight manual, not a general rule of thumb, decides what is acceptable. If you also fly other float aircraft, resist carrying numbers or procedures from one type to another.

What the Practical Test Looks Like

The assessment is an oral and ground evaluation plus a flight evaluation conducted by an authorized FAA evaluator. It is not a multiple-choice sitting. Passing requires successful performance of the applicable tasks, aircraft mastery, proficiency and sound judgment. Under 14 CFR 61.43, failing an area fails the practical test.

The current AMES-tagged objectives in the private and commercial ACS tables include the following. Which ones apply to you depends on the table for your certificate level and your held ratings.

• Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine Navigation
• Taxiing and Sailing
• Confined Area Takeoff and Maximum Performance Climb
• Confined Area Approach and Landing
• Glassy Water Takeoff and Climb
• Glassy Water Approach and Landing
• Rough Water Takeoff and Climb
• Rough Water Approach and Landing
• Seaplane Post-Landing Procedures

Depending on the table, additional required work includes performance and limitations, systems, preflight, normal takeoff and landing, steep turns, slow flight and stalls, simulated engine failures, one-engine-inoperative maneuvering and VMC demonstration. Because there is no fixed question count to drill, the most useful preparation is walking through the ACS tasks for your certificate level with your instructor and verifying that you can explain and perform each one. For related perspective on difficulty, see how hard the AMES checkride is, and for scheduling logistics see AMES exam dates and scheduling.

Held Ratings and Task Credit

The additional-rating tables make required tasks conditional on what you already hold. This is one of the most common sources of confusion for applicants comparing notes online, because two pilots can have noticeably different checkrides.

The knowledge-test waiver for additional ratings is similarly conditional. It depends on already holding a listed aircraft rating at the relevant certificate level and should not be generalized to every applicant, particularly initial pilot-certificate or ATP candidates. Ask your instructor to map your logbook and certificate against the correct table before you plan the course.

Sequencing Your Preparation

Because AMES blends ground knowledge with water-specific flying, it helps to sequence topics so that knowledge arrives before the flights that depend on it. The outline below is one reasonable ordering tied to the seven areas; your instructor may adjust it to weather, aircraft availability and your background.

Place the multiengine reading before your first flight with simulated engine failures, and save open-sea material for last, since it builds on everything else. For a broader prep framework, see the AMES study guide and the one-page AMES cheat sheet for a last-day review of key facts. If you want additional practice material for the knowledge side, the AMES Exam Prep practice test site can supplement your handbook reading, though it does not replace instructor-led water training.

What Training Costs: Provider Examples, Not National Prices

No nationwide FAA training or checkride package fee, and no member versus non-member tariff, was verified. What exists are individual school prices, which are local course packages rather than FAA minimums. Two current provider examples illustrate the range of how packages are structured.

Read these carefully. One quote excludes the checkride in its base figure and the other bundles it, and extra dual time can change the total. Ask any school what happens if you need more than the planned hours, whether fuel and the examiner's fee are included, and whether the airplane is a type that matches your held ratings. For a fuller framework on budgeting, see the AMES certification cost breakdown. If you are weighing whether the investment makes sense for your goals, read whether the AMES rating is worth it. On earnings, no AMES-specific salary premium was verified; BLS publishes occupational data for airline and commercial pilots, but that data does not show earnings caused by this rating. Our AMES salary guide and AMES jobs overview discuss this in qualitative terms.

After the Rating: Currency and Privileges

Once you hold the rating, it works like other pilot certificate privileges. Pilot certificates normally have no expiration date under 14 CFR 61.19, subject to suspension, revocation, surrender and applicable limitations. This is not a biennial CEU-renewal credential. What you must maintain is currency and medical qualification.

• Flight review: generally every 24 calendar months under 14 CFR 61.56, with provisions allowing practical-test credit.
• Passenger carrying: generally three takeoffs and landings within 90 days in the same category and class, with additional conditions for night and certain exceptions, under 14 CFR 61.57.

Because currency is category and class specific, time in a land multiengine airplane does not automatically keep you current for passengers in a multiengine seaplane. Plan to keep flying on the water if you intend to carry passengers.

Frequently Asked Questions