Good point... I guess it depends on the training captain. Once in awhile if we had enough pilots I would do online training, but not very often. I didn't become a Be-99 TC until after I was a line pilot in the Metro. At the time we were usually short-staffed in the Metro, so in order for me to be able to do any training, I'd have to fly the Metro to someplace where there was also a 99 laying over to use. The run I usually bid was the old SLC-BIL run, which worked out perfect. Since they always had a couple of spares up there and it was a mx base anyways, if we broke a plane while training it wasn't a scramble to get a recovery like it was at regular outstations.
Yup and the cooler was full on the way back. I still remember you breaking out duck tape to fix the pressuraztion on some junker metro.