Single-pilot jets?

[sinkrate]

What are you going to do when you are 2 hrs into a 4 hr trip and you need to use the bathroom?
That is my biggest question:beer:

Pilot gets out of his Citation SP - no one else onboard - and asks us to dump the porto potty. So we had to ask. He said its simple - 'ask to leave the frequency to check weather. Walk to the back - do your business - walk back up front. Just make sure and walk slow so the AP trim can keep up.'

Sounds crazy - but sailors single pilot sail boats across oceans all the time. Auto pilots are pretty reliable these days.

With thousands of hours of OE given in 121 aircraft there have been many hundreds of hours that would have been safer single pilot. The workload with a low time SIC is triple the normal work load and the pace does not slow down.

I can not imagine flying single pilot in a charter or scheduled operation without several thousand hours of SIC time first. It is not the aircraft that gets you its the weather, ATC etc. Without that experience learning from other experienced pilots you will be high risk for a major mistake and your completion rate will be lower than it should be. Most inexperienced pilots are very conservative when it comes to weather/radar use but don't recognize the sneaky things that result in runway excursions, ramp rash, etc.

 

[wingnutt]

I can not imagine flying single pilot in a charter or scheduled operation without several thousand hours of SIC time first. It is not the aircraft that gets you its the weather, ATC etc. Without that experience learning from other experienced pilots you will be high risk for a major mistake and your completion rate will be lower than it should be. Most inexperienced pilots are very conservative when it comes to weather/radar use but don't recognize the sneaky things that result in runway excursions, ramp rash, etc.

...OR a couple years freight doggin, which will cover every one of the afore-mentioned situations plus a few bonus ones

 

[400A]

Be careful

Be careful how you view these post. Most are trying to help you. What you have called names and viewed as cocky, is really veterans trying to make you understand what you are setting yourself up for. I have over 6000TT, 2000 hours in King Airs, 2000 in the Beechjet, 100 in the Premier (SP Typed) and 600 in the Hawker. What these other guys with similar experience are trying to tell you is that manipulating the aircraft is such a small part of the puzzle that it is not even funny. They are trying to save your life, not bust your bubble. Read some of the recent single pilot jet crash reports and you will see.

My thoughts on King Air vs Jet Single Pilot. While they both will do 250, below 10K, a improperly managed jet may do 320.... IN A HURRY! They are also FAR less forgiving of poor speed control. Investigate the amount of light jets off the end of the runway vs Turbo props.

At only 500 hours of Multi, your knowledge of complex systems has to be low. Flying an aircraft that is maxing you experience level (note I did not say ability) and then throw in something that could be a serious problem or a faulty indication and you are down to about 50/50 now.

You will see that one of the slowest things to develop in your career is the ability to not let your ego over ride your ability. You also mentioned that you will be "the boss". If you have never managed the finances of a multi million dollar jet, do not underestimate the distraction that will add to your flight deck. A new jet owner may threaten you or your job over a big MX bill. If they are to cheap for a SIC, this is likely in your future. On top of all this.. Rookie Capt + Rookie SIC= DANGEROUS!!! Read about the Payne Stewart crash. We fly with 2 veteran captains. We swap every other leg. It is not uncommon at all for me to Move myself to the right seat for the day if we are looking at a new A/C, reviewing the budget or expect a business visit from the boss in flight. It is simply safety management.

Most importantly... When you go to the simulator training company and get your new type rating, remember this.... They will have taught you to fly it with everything in the world broken. The first time you fly it in the real world, with everything working, and it wanting to go like hell, you will wish you had back-up.

Good Luck. Be safe.

 

[paid4training]

Thanks 400a for the advice and also the way in which you did. I will take that under advisement but as of late, even 2 pilots with thousands of hrs can make simple private pilot mistakes as well.

 

[400A]

Thanks 400a for the advice and also the way in which you did. I will take that under advisement but as of late, even 2 pilots with thousands of hrs can make simple private pilot mistakes as well.

Very true! I have worked very hard to foster the environment of being the 1st to admit we as a crew made a mistake. That is how we learn. I was raised by a 34 year Eastern check airman that taught me the first flight I thought I would not learn something, I was going to bust my butt. Flew the Beechjet for 8 years. Picked something up on the last recurrent. I love training. Never be afraid to learn.

 

[Paradoxus]

I will take that under advisement but as of late, even 2 pilots with thousands of hrs can make simple private pilot mistakes as well.

A savagely-pedestrian statement. What exactly are you trying to justify in making it? That anything is possible? Let me clue you in on something axiomatic enough that even a child can comprehend: the science of safety and risk-management is rooted in the mitigation of unsavory probabilities. Your strikingly-pointless statement about two pilots with thousands of hours making "private pilot mistakes" isn't a fallacious one, though. Could a thousand veteran fire fighters critically-fail at combating a thousand fires within the span of a day?

Possibly.

Is that sufficient justification to immediately replace said thousand veteran fire fighters with tax accountants?

 

[paid4training]

Lighten-up Laurence!!!!! Get hobby and stop reading the dictionary for big words to use on a website!!!

 

[eelb53]

Try a Citation Mustang. G1000 and synthetic vision. Easier to fly SP IFR than an old steam gauge 182. I know a guy who's 87, and owns and flies a Mustang SP. Of course he has a ton of hours and turbine time (former AF fighter jock).

 

[ksu_aviator]

Thanks 400a for the advice and also the way in which you did. I will take that under advisement but as of late, even 2 pilots with thousands of hrs can make simple private pilot mistakes as well.

Of course they can. Hours do not equal experience. Experience does not equal perfection. But, two pilots working together will make far fewer mistakes than the highest time, most experienced and most talented pilot in aviation today flying solo.

That doesn't mean single pilot is unsafe, but it does mean the margin of safety shrinks. It shrinks even more when the single pilot has little experience in the aircraft type. It shrinks even more when the single pilot has little experience in the aircraft category.

You fit all those categories, so your margin of safety is small...smaller than is acceptable. The irony of the entire situation is that I'd tell you you were ready to take it on if you were worried about it. At least then you'd have enough experience to know that it isn't an ideal situation.