Jack Henry

[Oldtimerpilot]

Not only did the Director of Training take out a runway threshold light on landing, he denied that he had done it and let another crew dispatch the airplane. He never said a word to the crew and he never had the airplane inspected.



The low time training captain spoke of by Dontscrewurbudy...He (by his own admission) intentionally stalled an Encore at FL430. The airplane tail stalled and lost a few thousand feet before he recovered.



My point…these two guys are still in the department. Yet, Hunter and Arvin recently fired a pilot of seven years (claiming he wasn’t adhering to the SOPs). He is a safe pilot and has never had an incident.

I can assure you that everything that Dontscrewurbudy and Encorepilot have said about this company, Brian Hunter, and John Arvin is 100% accurate. John Arvin is definitely not a stand-up guy. He is a bend-you-over guy. He isn’t even really a Chief Pilot. He is Hunter’s secretary.

Anybody that is thinking about going to work for them is making a huge mistake. Do what you want. Just don’t say we never warned you.

 

[757BBJ_Capt]

JHA Headquarters
Attn: Jack Prim, CEO
663 West Highway 60
P.O. Box 807
Monett, MO 65708
(417) 235-6652

If you mail it, he wont get it. Fedex or UPS tends to get more attention. If there are truly issues, let them be known. Out of courtesy, copy Brian Hunter on the correspondance. Sounds like they need to bring in an outsider equipped with a broom.

 

[PseudoName]

The only question I have is.....

When with the flight department at Jack Henry be on the cover of ProPilot??
Sounds like they are a winner!!

To add to this post, I know John Arvin.....and have the privilege of getting stabbed in the back by him. It hurt at the time, but was the best thing for my career.......because I didn't get hired at JHA!

 

[bart]

You can also just email their investor relations. They usually land on a VPs desk. Anybody know the CP and DOs email addy?

Update, the DO and CP have been emailed with a link to this post. Perhaps they can help us understand their unconventional methods.

 

[avbug]

I heard from one of their ex pilots is that they require you to sit in the cockpit with a blindfold on and must name every switch.
Its amazing what small town flight departments mentality will dream up.

How is it you're not familiar with blindfold cockpit checks? I can't imagine having to fly with a pilot who isn't blindfold-familiar with the cockpit. I should be able to name any switch, control, or item the cockpit and you should be able to reach out and touch it blindfolded, without feeling for it...weather you're in a J3 cub or an advanced tactical aircraft.

This doesn't mean flying around blindfolded, but it does mean being blindfold familiar with the aircraft you fly. I have always been a staunch advocate of that practice, and it's kept me alive.

Small town mentality? Not hardly.

 

[Dinger]

Just curious, how has that kept you alive?

 

[Dinger]

And for the record AvBug, I do agree with you about cockpit familiarization.

 

[J3 Guy]

Avbug

If the blindfold method is so great why dosent Flight Safety and Simuflite make you learn that?
Like someone else posted The Jack Henry pilots have never flown corporate before, so they dont have any other department to compare to.
Someday they will be in the news with one of their training blunders.

J3

 

[avbug]

Blindfold familiarity has been preached by many organizations for many years.

J3 guy, were you not the person who began posting recently claiming to have nothing more than J3 experience and posting flame bait messages about netjets, et al, regarding your need to be hired? Are you therefore a flame baiting troll, or truly someone with no experience at flight safety, simuflight, etc?

Blindfold familiarity has kept me alive on occasions when the situation did not permit a great deal of time or circumstrance to go heads down in the cockpit...a regular occurence in some of my work.

Since when as flight safety, simuflite, etc, ever been the be-all and end-all of training, or the bastion of safety, for that matter. I'm all for regular, recurrent training, but I've met far too many instructors at either organization (more commonly with flight safety than simuflight) with NO experience in the aircraft and a simulator type. Theirs is the world of the simualted syllabus.

But set that aside, J3. I preached blindfold familiarity in the Cub, too. Not just in the cockpit; let's face it, there isn't much to see or touch. Blindfold familiarity outside the cockpit. When it comes time to exit that aircraft in dark water, upside down, finding latches, pins, struts, and the surface is best facilitated with tactile familiarity with the aircraft, and from that comes the blindfold test.

Any skydiver knows this by heart. Look, to be sure, but feel. Anybody who has ever experienced a floating ripcord, or had to release a capewell latch (dating myself) on an extended riser knows to feel for it (as opposed to those who weren't familiar, felt for it, and held the webbing until impact...a too often occurence).

Pound the company into the dust, if you will, but don't show your own ignorance by tearing them down for a legitimate practice; doing so only makes you look bad, and does nothing to sell your point (whatever that might be).

 

[bart]

Avbug,As a skydiver, I wholeheartedly agree with training muscle memory and thorough cockpit familiarization, whether that is through blindfolds or other methods. I have a hard time with understanding how "Critical Self-Evaluation and Health Habits" dictated by some wet behind the ears CP contributes to safe flying. Those subjects seem straight from a "re-education" camp. I will also say that a lack of formal training, disdain for following a well-executed flow with a checklist and encouraging flying low as a method of weather avoidance is going to one day land someone in a situation that smooching the CP and DOs butt by adopting their criticism and health tips as ones own will not address. Maybe I am wrong, but I have seen operations like this before and not a one has made it to this day without bending metal.

 

[HMR]

I passed the blinfold test OK but now, when we fly, my captain makes me wear the blinfold over my mouth. Is that normal?

 

[G100driver]

I passed the blinfold test OK but now, when we fly, my captain makes me wear the blinfold over my mouth. Is that normal?

I always find that the blindfold comes in handy when waking up in the morning

 

[2000flyer]

Yet another "revised" ad for pilots:


Captain needed for the Monett, MO location. Position is responsible for the safe operation of every flight. The primary duty of a captain is to be responsible for all aspects of the flight, including safety, customer service, and has final decision making authority in the cockpit. In addition to the duties performed as a captain, the employee also displays a higher level of company involvement by assisting with the duties required to make the department safer and more efficient. Such duties might include but are not limited to helping manage the maintenance on the aircraft or assisting with the improvement of our in-house training program.

Successful candidate will have a minimum of 3-5 years flight experience and hold a CFII. Must have C-500 type rating with PIC time and have experience with C-560 aircraft.

Co-Pilot needed for our Monett, Missouri location. Position is responsible for the safe operation of every flight. In addition to the duties performed as a co-pilot, the employee also displays a higher level of company involvement by assisting with the duties required to make the department safer and more efficient. Such duties might include, but are not limited to, helping manage the maintenance on the aircraft or assisting with the improvement of our in-house training program.

Successful candidate will have a minimum of 800 hours and hold a CFII. Applicant must be willing to relocate to Monett, MO


---

I assume the CFII requirement is for the in-house training?

 

[Stearmandriver]

How is it you're not familiar with blindfold cockpit checks? I can't imagine having to fly with a pilot who isn't blindfold-familiar with the cockpit. I should be able to name any switch, control, or item the cockpit and you should be able to reach out and touch it blindfolded, without feeling for it....

Yeah, I don't know about this. I know blindfold familiarity is a technique that's used in lots of military and civilian training programs, but I always kind of felt that it's one of those things that seeks to make this job a little harder than it is. If we're talking about thinks like flight controls, thrust levers, spoilers,flaps/gear etc., then yeah, you should probably be able to find those without looking. Ditto for emerg. equipment. However, if you've gone through a training program of any merit, you've used these things often enough that you CAN find them without looking, so a specific test is unnecessary. But, c'mon, things like pack valves or windshield heat? Especially in a two-pilot airplane, I can't imagine a circumstance where being able to close my eyes and put my hands on the right pack switch would save me. I figure that if I can't: A. See the switch, B. Wait until I can look at the switch to use it, or C. Ask my non-flying pilot to get it, then we have much bigger problems than needing to get to something like the W/S heat or crossbleed!

For the record, when I taught acro in the mighty super decathlon, I always made sure I WAS able to find the door releases with my eyes closed, starting from the back seat. Not that I would ever really have had a chance in h*ll of getting out of the thing if the front-seater had frozen up, but I was surely ready to try! In a multi-pilot transport airplane though... being able to find every little switch with my eyes closed seems like the tactic of a check airman who would ask, "at what temp does the bleed leak sensor trigger?" (My answer for that was always, "who cares? When it's too hot!" Long as you know what to do WHEN it triggers, that's all that matters!)

Anyway, just my two cents. No need to make our job seem harder than it is!

 

[757BBJ_Capt]

Stearmandriver,

Kudos to you my friend. Blindfold tests are nothing more than training games. I can see (no pun intended) finding flight controls, dump valves (to clear smoke), pressurization controls, mask/goggles, landing lights, emer. equip, and BATT switches with the eyes closed, but anything else, you are right, is pretty much a blatent waste of time. Who cares where the Sync switch is in the dark? Issues like this come up when you do your training in house. You'd think the insurance folks would put the skids on (once again, no pun or forshadowing intended) this they of activity. Spend the $ and go to an approved facility so you can actually learn something. When someone gets hurt in one of these JHA aircraft and a lawyer does a little bit of digging ad finds out what is really going on over there, it's going to be a sad day at JH because the insurance company is going to write a check for their exposure then walk away, and JH will be left holding the bag for the rest of it, and from the deliberate steps JHA has taken to circumvent proper training, that payout is going to be HUGE. I hope it never happens, but from what I have read on here, it's only a matter of time.