bigD said:
Oh boy - here it comes. Gearmunky went through this on the corporate board...
bigD said:
It depends on what the company is willing to pay for the insurance, and how much pull the company has with the insurance company. When it comes to right seat pilots, a lot of the more connected CP's can insure an FO at pretty much anything as long as it's legal.
Remember, the regionals are insuring 600 hours FO's to fly planes much larger than a Gulfstream.
Good lookin' out D....appreciate it
If you want more on this subject search the corporate board, we've been through this more times than I care to mention.
BigD is right, it all depends on your relationship with the insurance company.
Pretty much it's like this-if you have school like FSI it's not a problem, in house isn't the same by any means, but can be done if the insurance company allows it. It's better in some ways but not in others. If you did your training in house when is the last time you blew the gear down or pulled the fire handle in a real airplane, how about reverser deployment in flight?? Chances are none, and hope you never have to. In house can't do that. Most companies just don't send low timers to school for Gulfstreams, so it's odd. I have a friend who started flying them at 27 years old and got razzed by his classmates for being young.
I know other pilots in Gulfstreams out there with less time than me, believe it or not. It's just not common that's all. You would think the G in G-IV stood for "granpop" half the time. I have friends that started flying DA-10's with 800 hours and now at 1500 are flying Westwinds and Challengers. Another buddy of mine has 750 hours and flies a Challenger 601 and a Falcon 50. This is corporate, it's all who you know.
Delta/Comair paid for the training of some folks I know just after getting their private and put them online with around 400 hours, if that.
I'm sure the captains love dealing with that.
You also have to consider quality of hours, not quantity. By the time I had 400 hours 100 of it was multi time. It's all how your raised by your older pilots. I got lucky enough to work line service for a charter company, when on my days off and after my shifts, got to fly deadlegs on charter trips-mostly in the Northeast corridor. Different experience than I would have gotten had I worked as a CFI. There is nothing wrong with flight instruction, I just didn't need to get it at the time. I'll get it someday, I'm sure just for now it's not a smart investment with my money. It would take too long to recoupe the $5000 it would take to get it. At my airport instruction is not a thriving business.
Kind Regards,
Gear