Logbook review

As with most things today, insurance companies run the show. That is no different in the aviation biz. All of us pilots at one time or another have had to fill out insurance forms to see if we qualify for a particular aircraft or can get a better rate on the premuims that we pay. If you own an aircraft ( which I don't ), these forms are probably very familiar. The same holds true for corporate aviation departments. We have to fill out forms listing our experiences and flight times. I have just completed mine. Here are my totals as of yesterday:
Total Time: 4265 Jet: 481 Turbo-prop: 1269 Multi-engine: 844 Cross Country: 2537
Actual Instrument: 255 As Flight Instructor: 1619
Lear 60: 205 King Air 200: 190

As a corporate pilot the flight times, as compared to the airlines, can be somewhat lower. I know a lot of airline pilots that are flying 80-100 hrs per month. In the last 12 months I've only logged 190 hours from corporate flying. Like all jobs, there are some good and bad things associated with corporate flying.
Bad Things:
Low annual flight time. On call 24/7.
Good things:
Good starting pay. Good equipment. Lots of time at your destination for sightseeing. And most importantly, in my experience, you're treated well by management members and passengers.

Yeah, I would like to log more time in the air, but I will definitely take the bad with the good.

Just back from King Air Recurrent

Well another King Air recurrent session has come and gone. This time around I went to recurrent training for the King Air at Flight Safety at the Atlanta Training Center. I have attended King Air training elsewhere, but this training was something else. It was outstanding. I had an excellent instructor and the King Air simulator was in fine form.

This time around the flight portion had the extra challenge of being single-pilot training. I had the usual emergencies, engine failures on takeoff, single engine go-around, and stuff like that. The Flight Safety instructors have the ability to put actual smoke in the cockpit, which is something mine did this time around. I faced a windshear event and various system malfunctions.

It can be challenging operating a King Air with two crew members, and as you might expect, flying with just one can be even more interesting. CRM with two crew members typically means communication between the two. The use of CRM with one crew member means using a lot of resources outside the cockpit. It's refreshing to think about different options. It's something that private pilots have to do on a regular basis.

So my training in the King Air is over for now, but I came away from that training with a renewed desire to keep up with my system knowledge and the procedures that I use on an a day to day basis.







The King Air Panel








The simulator line at Flight Safety International, Atlanta.