I'm going to ignore the flaming back and forth about what constitutes spam
or not and do what one poster suggests and actually post my experience.

I also did my multi engine training at Clyde's place at Redbird Dallas in
about year 2001, and went there on the recommendation from a couple of now
professional pilot friends who had done so. I live about a 2 hour drive
from Clyde's. My experiences told here are from 2001 so things may have
changed. A little background.... I'm an engineer, a self motivated & self
training type, and didn't have a lot of time or money to burn. I would
rather self study as much as I can, and I think this was my key to success
at Multi-Clydes. I like to think I have a natural ability towards airplanes
and things aeronautical and technical, so it comes easy to me, and I realize
that's not true for everyone. I had already done some studying from a multi
textbook before I got to the course, and was instrument current and
proficient.

My objective was just to get the rating and multi knowledge, not become the
world's greatest multi engine pilot during the course. This is because I
was going to be flying part time as a copilot on a couple of multi engine
corporate aircraft. I needed the rating to fly, but my real training was
going to come from flying with the corporate pilot who was also an active
instructor. This objective of "just get the rating" was another factor in
selecting Clyde.

It's true that Clyde's guarantees you'll get a multi rating. You get ground
school, 3 dual instructional flights, then you take the checkride. Clyde is
a one time fee of $895 and they'll keep instructing and flying you until you
pass the checkride. The checkride fee goes to the examiner so if you don't
pass the first time you get to keep paying him $300 for every checkride
until you do.

I got to Clyde's on Friday morning, and handed $900 to him. They only take
cash. He sticks the wad of cash in his pocket, hands me back a $5 bill and
says to pick up this material on the table and report to the classroom. The
facilities are functional, not especially nice, but appropriate for the
money I paid. There are probably 8 other guys there that morning in various
stages of training. Not one of them was from the local area or even Texas
and I started asking them what brought them here. They all said it was the
low price. It was cheaper to get on an airline, pay for a hotel, and come
here to take this class than any other option. Wow - this really surprised
me.

The instructors were a mixed bag, as expected. Some liked to teach and were
there to teach, some were ****ed they had to stoop this low after being
furloughed, some were a wealth of knowledge and experience, some I had to
help during ground school. You generally had different instructors each
time you were in the classroom or in the airplane. The classroom material
was correct, understandable, useful, but low tech. No computers or 3D
animations of asymetric engine thrust.

The planes were all BE95 Travel Airs. I think they had 3 of them. These
planes were old 3 decades ago, but they flew reliably while I was there.
Clyde had a mechanic working there full time keeping them going. Flying
usually included one or more students in back watching and listening to the
poor slob in the left seat try to keep the dirty side up and the dirtier
side down. I was pleased with the instructors I drew for my 3 dual flights
and learned a lot on each one. Since I lived not too far away I was
familiar with the airports, airspace, and landmarks, and that helped me
focus on flying the airplane. Since I was already instrument rated like
most of the students, my 3rd flight included hood work and a single engine
approach. The Travel Air was really easy to fly and land and I figured the
equipment was ok for what I was paying. It was simultaneously very cool and
very strange flying around with one prop not turning ! It was also fun to
restart it by nosing over to 150 MPH to get it windmilling.

As you progress through your flights and classroom time over 3-4 days, you
get to know the other guys. Some are just arriving, others are prepping for
their checkride. What surprised me was how most of them were very nervous
about their checkride, and were basically cramming like it was final exams.
I realized this was for good reason as I estimate one third to one half of
them failed their first checkride. With everybody around me nervous about
it, and the high failure rate, I got nervous too. I've got a whole 3.4
hours of multi engine time in my logbook in the last 3 days and I'm supposed
to be ready for a checkride ? For most of the guys the extra $300 for a
second checkride and the additional night hotel and expenses really hurt.
Everybody who failed the first ride passed the second one.

My oral exam and checkride went real smooth. I walked out of Clydes with
5.2 hours of multi time and about $1100 poorer. I think overall it was good
training for the money, and believe it was a success for me only because I
came prepared. I wasn't ready to go launching off multi engine IFR solo,
but I was very ready to begin my copilot checkout and training process on
the Seneca with the corporate pilot, and so in that sense my Clyde
experience was exactly what I needed. You can begin to appreciate why FBOs
require 25 hours in type in multi engine rentals before you're allowed to
rent solo. Single engine workload gets big real quick and you've really got
to be proficient to stay ahead of the airplane, especially IFR. If you walk
out of Clydes with 5 or 6 hours multi, you need to be aware that its just a
license to learn.