Turboprop Pic..Jet SIC??

I was thinking the speed would be a bit tricky, especially on the climb and descent planning, getting used to 250 below 10, pulling the the power back if you level off at three or four thousand. On the descent into landing just staying ahead of the airplane keeping the power pretty much idle until your established in the landing configuration. And of course getting the picture down for the flare when the cockpit sits 25 feet up vs 7.5 feet.
My buddy just got picked up on a 737 (from the E145) and he keeps talking about how clean the 73 is vs the RJ and how much harder it is to slow down.


It's not rocket surgery... But the first 75-100 hours are always stressful.
 
dasleben said:
Oh heck, bigger planes are easier to fly. :)

People kept telling me "Wow, that must have been quite a leap" when I got initially hired into the 757 at my last gig. I kept telling them it was the easiest thing in the world. Turbulence? Wind? Ice?

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I like what Rod Machado said about it.

"You have a different set of problems in a large aircraft, but getting away is not usually one of them." It's exactly true. I've sat in weather in the Twin Bonanza thinking "If I were in the Brasilia, I'd be on top of this crap by now.")
 
HVYMETALDRVR said:
I was thinking the speed would be a bit tricky, especially on the climb and descent planning, getting used to 250 below 10, pulling the the power back if you level off at three or four thousand. On the descent into landing just staying ahead of the airplane keeping the power pretty much idle until your established in the landing configuration. And of course getting the picture down for the flare when the cockpit sits 25 feet up vs 7.5 feet.
My buddy just got picked up on a 737 (from the E145) and he keeps talking about how clean the 73 is vs the RJ and how much harder it is to slow down.


It's not rocket surgery... But the first 75-100 hours are always stressful.
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Yeah, that is one thing that needs to be taken into account, but like you said, it's not rocket surgery. The slipperiest airplane I've flown is the 757 (harder to slow down than a 767, even), and you just had to make sure you were level if you want to slow. Once level, the standard 10 knots per mile that everyone learns in an RJ works fine. Trying to slow and descend at the same time in either a 757 or 767 won't get you too far.

Cockpit height does take a little getting used to, but the RA callouts on landing (50, 40, 30, etc.) are really nice at first. After some time in the jet, it's just normal. I rode on an ERJ jumpseat a little while back, and it'd take me some time to adjust back to that if I needed to.

All in all, nothing any halfway decent pilot couldn't handle. The airplane is incredibly stable in wind and turbulence, which is one thing that I really loved about "stepping up" to a bigger jet. No wrestling controls on approach/landing...it just cuts right through.
 
dasleben said:
The airplane is incredibly stable in wind and turbulence, which is one thing that I really loved about "stepping up" to a bigger jet. No wrestling controls on approach/landing...it just cuts right through.
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Apparently you've never landed at Maui.
 
I ask myself this question every single day.

You need to ask yourself, "Do I want to fly for a MAJOR airline?" IF your answer is, "YES! That's what I want to do! I want to be a major airline pilot. Period." then GO TO A REGIONAL AND GO NOW!

When I ask myself that question I'm kind of like, "meh, yea that might be cool but I'm not dying to do it. Plus I like the 135 lifestyle and I'm interested in getting on with a 135 or 91 jet operator in the future."

Years ago the straight TPROP time would have gotten you into the majors. But now with the copious amounts or high time RJ captains, its a different marketplace. I mean honestly, who do you think the HR people at United are going to take?

Look, as it stands, if you REALLY want to go to a major, just get in line at a regional. The majors have and will have for many years a large pool of extremely well qualified candidates to select from. Best start building your creds' so you can be one of the fish.

If you want to do anything else I say knock down some TPROP PIC. It will be a good experience, fun, Chicks dig BETA, all that good stuff.
 
SE Turbine time is not useless, but it's not really anything special IMO. I believe in hiring the right person, however
HVYMETALDRVR said:
Heading west-bound at FL420 and 420 true over the Midwest is easy peezy most of the time though.
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You spend much time @ FL420 other then climbing and descending?
 
BobDDuck said:
Apparently you've never landed at Maui.
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I said "big jet," not an RJ's big brother! ;) I keed.

(Cue the "light twin" jokes). :D

Actually, it does happen, but I can count those instances on one hand over the last 3 years.
 
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RobG said:
I ask myself this question every single day.

You need to ask yourself, "Do I want to fly for a MAJOR airline?" IF your answer is, "YES! That's what I want to do! I want to be a major airline pilot. Period." then GO TO A REGIONAL AND GO NOW!

When I ask myself that question I'm kind of like, "meh, yea that might be cool but I'm not dying to do it. Plus I like the 135 lifestyle and I'm interested in getting on with a 135 or 91 jet operator in the future."

Years ago the straight TPROP time would have gotten you into the majors. But now with the copious amounts or high time RJ captains, its a different marketplace. I mean honestly, who do you think the HR people at United are going to take?

Look, as it stands, if you REALLY want to go to a major, just get in line at a regional. The majors have and will have for many years a large pool of extremely well qualified candidates to select from. Best start building your creds' so you can be one of the fish.

If you want to do anything else I say knock down some TPROP PIC. It will be a good experience, fun, Chicks dig BETA, all that good stuff.
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This is well said. I have 5000 total time and 1500 TPIC in king airs and the metro and all single pilot. My goal was to fly for a major when I went the turboprop pic route. Now everywhere I have applied and every hr rep I have talked with, either on the phone or at a job fair, has told me without jet time, fms time, and multi crew time they would not consider me. That would include Alaska, Spirit, Virgin, Jet Blue, and Frontier. On the other hand I know several great lakes captains that are going to spirit and interviewing now with frontier because they have 121 pic time and crew.
 
MikeOH58 said:
SE Turbine time is not useless, but it's not really anything special IMO. I believe in hiring the right person, however

You spend much time @ FL420 other then climbing and descending?
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I've never been quite that high. My jet is limited to FL370 and we occasionally run into t-storms and turbulence up there, but I would imagine at about 390-440 where a lot of heavies hangout its even better. Although I've seen (from a distance) the occasional midwest meso-cyclone that builds through FL600 that requires deviating for pretty much everyone.
 
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HVYMETALDRVR said:
I've never been quite that high. My jet is limited to FL370 and we occasionally run into t-storms and turbulence up there, but I would imagine at about 390-440 where a lot of heavies hangout its even better. Although I've seen (from a distance) the occasional midwest meso-cyclone that builds through FL600 that requires deviating for pretty much everyone.
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the 170 goes to 410...but I have only been there twice and it was a repo flight when we were stupid light...
 
Turbine said:
Turboprop is 135..jet is 121
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So you are really asking, if you have your ATP, which is better, 135 turboprop PIC or 121 jet SIC.

Even if your PIC time was weak, I still think that 121 minor gets you closer to 121 major.

I think I learned more in my first 200 hours in a KA than the subsequent 2000 hours in a biz jet, but that doesn't make it a recipe for advancement ... anymore.
 
Thanks for all the input! I will add that unfortunately due to age I can't go to a regional until next year. (I'll be 21 then.) I have an opportunity to get on with a 135 turboprop operation or.. I could not commit and wait 4 months until my birthday to go to a regional. I already have about 1000 hours of SIC turboprop time..maybe go for the PIC?

Decisions, decisions
 
HVYMETALDRVR said:
I've never been quite that high. My jet is limited to FL370 and we occasionally run into t-storms and turbulence up there, but I would imagine at about 390-440 where a lot of heavies hangout its even better. Although I've seen (from a distance) the occasional midwest meso-cyclone that builds through FL600 that requires deviating for pretty much everyone.
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I was being facetious when I asked if you spent a lot of time @ FL420 as it's generally not available as it's outside of RVSM.
 
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