Purdue Purchases 16 SR20s

I was wondering when I would get to the first post about that large purchase.

Western will be keeping the Cirrus SR-20 fleet, though reduced to 25 rather than 30, and is currently in the process of upgrading to the Avidyne Release 9. As of this post 4 are sitting completed in our hangars and 3 are at the avionics shop.

I think Western's philosophy is still to train professional aviators. The reality is that most any mid to large size corporate flight department and certainly nearly all 121 passenger carriers are flying integrated glass cockpits. It only makes sense that we train the same systems that will be used as a student's career progresses. This is not to start an argument on glass vs. round dial in primary training. Just simply stating that the industry norm is glass so we might as well do as the industry does if our students are to be the most proficient when entering the job market.

I don't know man, round dials to glass is easy. We've been watching the glass to round dials (-900 FO's to Saab FO's) conversions and it's led to some pretty embarrassing stories.

Teach them on the hard stuff so they can later get on the glass and say "ahh, this is easier!".
 
Wow thats awesome. They are prob the only college with a Phenom.

I think it's kind of a double edged sword. Those in the flight program work their tails off so that they can fly the Beechjet. I believe the type rating was paid for, and there was a scholarship involved. It was incentive to do well. Now, they are wanting everybody to get X amount of hours in the Phenom from what I have heard. Now there is no incentive to get into the "special" program that gets you time in the jet. On the other hand, everyone will graduate with a little jet time. Not that it really matters right now anyway.....
 
]
Teach them on the hard stuff so they can later get on the glass and say "ahh, this is easier!".

Yes at WMU students are trained on glass for private and instrument, but in commercial it's off to round dials, be it in the arrow, or the multi fleet. 50 or so hours (if you go multi initial for your commercial) I think definitely teaches how to fly 6-packs.
 
I think it's kind of a double edged sword. Those in the flight program work their tails off so that they can fly the Beechjet. I believe the type rating was paid for, and there was a scholarship involved. It was incentive to do well. Now, they are wanting everybody to get X amount of hours in the Phenom from what I have heard. Now there is no incentive to get into the "special" program that gets you time in the jet. On the other hand, everyone will graduate with a little jet time. Not that it really matters right now anyway.....

What do you mean? As UND says, "it is a great time to be going through training, the market will most definetly pick back up 4 years from now"! :laff::rotfl::insane::crazy:
 
I don't know man, round dials to glass is easy. We've been watching the glass to round dials (-900 FO's to Saab FO's) conversions and it's led to some pretty embarrassing stories.

Teach them on the hard stuff so they can later get on the glass and say "ahh, this is easier!".

I think it really depends on the job market. When things were booming I believe it was much more advantageous to have the glass experience. Now it does kind of hurt those that can't fly the round dials because they're likely to take a job flying the dials. Luckily I only did my IFR training in a Cirrus so I'm pretty much 200 of my 250 hrs round dials. Bring on some junk freight planes!

Hopefully Purdue does well with their purchase of Cirrus. They're not bad airplanes but they can be difficult for beginners.
 
An SIC type in a Phenom (which will be flown predominantly single pilot) will not get you very far. The BarbieJet SIC type is much more marketable.
 
Nolan/Dillman/Mitch have all contended that the type in the Phenom will be single pilot PIC...Not a SIC 61.55 training endorsement (SIC type rating).
 
I'll buy that when it happens. It is a real PITA to get certified to issue type ratings. There's a reason Purdue hasn't done so with the 727.

In any case, the Phenom is a poor choice from the students perspective. An SIC type in it will get you nowhere, but a PIC type with ~350 hours and 10 turbine will get you nowhere either. Wait and buy a Phenom 300, keep the Beechjet, or look at a Citation. If they really want to, get a Super King Air; I believe those are over 12.5.
 
Not to mention the new sim has been coming for years; literally, years. The rumored type has changed multiple times.
 
Totally forgot to mention FAR 61.64. As your first jet type you'd be required to get 25 hours supervised operating experience before you can act as PIC unless you do training and the practical test in the airplane, which I seriously doubt happening.
 
Not to mention the new sim has been coming for years; literally, years. The rumored type has changed multiple times.


CRJ sim will be here in the next two weeks. FRASCA Phenom and Cirrus sims are coming shortly after.

About not getting a type rating in a 727...:rotfl:Why would I want that?
 
You may not want it today, but ten or twelve years ago it would have been decent to have.
 
Nolan/Dillman/Mitch have all contended that the type in the Phenom will be single pilot PIC...Not a SIC 61.55 training endorsement (SIC type rating).

What an embarrassingly asinine statement. 0.0% chance of that happening. Keep drinking that cool aid! :beer:
 
I've heard the same thing from Suckow and Carney. Let's see what happens.

In order for Purdue to issue PIC types, they will need to have the Captains authorized by the FSDO to be an examiner in that airplane. That requires 75/100 hours PIC in type, can't remember which. Additionally, as Max points out, either a substantial amount of turbine time OR time in type is required. No chance that Purdue will do this. They are just throwing fuel on the BS fire.
 
In order for Purdue to issue PIC types, they will need to have the Captains authorized by the FSDO to be an examiner in that airplane. That requires 75/100 hours PIC in type, can't remember which. Additionally, as Max points out, either a substantial amount of turbine time OR time in type is required. No chance that Purdue will do this. They are just throwing fuel on the BS fire.

I'd be willing to bet Mitch will have 75 or 100 hours by next year. Especially when you consider that all the current juniors will have 10 hours in them. That's at least 600 hours per semester for the entire class -- plenty of time to get the experience required for at least one, if not 6 DPE's. Carney has something like 6,000 turbine PIC. I'd imagine Mitch is up there with him. After a few hours in type, I'm nearly certain that'd satisfy almost any regulatory and/or insurance requirement.

Regarding 61.64: We're getting all the training in the airplane, anyway. That's why they're doing away with TFO and instituting a lab fee. To that end, we can receive an unrestricted type rating after the checkride. I'm not saying that will happen immediately, but in the not too distant future it's very likely.
 
I have a lengthy response for this, but I'm running out the door. From what I understand, the Phenom will still be utilized to transport staff/faculty (cough Cordova cough). I have a feeling she's not going to be into doing V1 cuts in the back.
 
Back
Top