Anyone ever hear of a Lear31A single pilot?

chrisreedrules

chrisreedrules

Master Blaster
Just curious... Has anyone heard of a charter op flying a Lear 31A with just a PIC type and a commercial guy in the right seat? I was under the impression that the Lear31, while feasible to be flown single-pilot, is not certificated as such and requires both a PIC and SIC type sitting in the cockpit. Thanks in advance for any insight.
 
It's legal as long as the guy in the right seat has at least a private or commercial multi-engine land certificate and a 61.55 SIC signoff. You only need a SIC type if you're flying outside of the country.

If it's charter you also need a current 135 checkride.
 
chrisreedrules said:
Just curious... Has anyone heard of a charter op flying a Lear 31A with just a PIC type and a commercial guy in the right seat? I was under the impression that the Lear31, while feasible to be flown single-pilot, is not certificated as such and requires both a PIC and SIC type sitting in the cockpit. Thanks in advance for any insight.
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You seem to be a little unclear on the part 61 requirements for PIC and SIC on a two pilot airplane. Your thread title is misleading, if you have a commercial multi IFR pilot in the right seat that is NOT single pilot.
Check out 14CFR 61.55.
 
Roger Roger said:
You seem to be a little unclear on the part 61 requirements for PIC and SIC on a two pilot airplane. Your thread title is misleading, if you have a commercial multi IFR pilot in the right seat that is NOT single pilot.
Check out 14CFR 61.55.
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Oh no I get it... I just don't have my FAR/AIM with me and I couldn't remember exactly. Thanks for the clarification though. I was just under the impression that the Lear was one of the few light jets that requires a PIC and SIC type even for domestic ops. But I could be wrong.
 
chrisreedrules said:
Oh no I get it... I just don't have my FAR/AIM with me and I couldn't remember exactly. Thanks for the clarification though. I was just under the impression that the Lear was one of the few light jets that requires a PIC and SIC type even for domestic ops. But I could be wrong.
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There are no such jets, light or otherwise as far as I am aware.
 
The Lear 31A, or any Lear for that matter requires 2 crew members. The SIC only needs to be typed if the aircraft is to be operated under ICAO. You can act as a required crew member as second in command if you are appropriately rated
 
Sucker would be a handful single pilot if things started to go bad. Heck, sometimes it would be a handful single pilot on the best of days! (Our last 31a left the fleet this week. I am emotional about it in the same way that you are emotional when you sell the $99 ikea furniture you used in your first apartment...)
 
Just because a 30 series Lear can roughly be lumped into the same category as a CJ3 does not mean it's reasonable to assume that any Lear could be flown single pilot.
 
I would fly the 35 single pilot, but nothing would be allowed to go wrong, and I probably wouldn't do it IFR and I wouldn't do it with pax.
 
You can fly anything single pilot, here, hold my beer and watch this.

07-18-st-george-plane-6.jpg
 
Didn't the wonderful and extremely respected Clay Lacy fly one single pilot?

Obviously not legally.



Also, :sarcasm:
 
Inverted said:
The Lear 31A, or any Lear for that matter requires 2 crew members. The SIC only needs to be typed if the aircraft is to be operated under ICAO. You can act as a required crew member as second in command if you are appropriately rated
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I think this is par for he course with two pilot aircraft. They need to be single pilotable in case one pilot become incapacitated. It has happened in the past. Obviously these aircraft all are probably next to impossible to fly single pilot when the crap hits the ducted fan.
 
Im just curious, Why is the Lear so hard to fly single pilot? I never flown one which is why I'm asking.

Citation, King Air series, twin Cessna's I flown single pilot hard IFR. And once you get the flows down, its not that bad even in emergency situations.

Im not trying to argue that it cant be single pilot, just wondering what process is it that takes up all the ram in your brain.
 
I've flown KA200s and the Lear 31 (although admittedly not enough to honestly make a qualified decision in this area) but I personally believe the King Air would be more of a hand full in an emergency.
 
Fly_Unity said:
Im just curious, Why is the Lear so hard to fly single pilot? I never flown one which is why I'm asking.
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In normal conditions the airplane wouldn't be particularly difficult to fly single pilot, although due to its impressive performance (especially when it is cold and/or light) it can be a handful for people who are new to the airplane or new to jets in general. Flying single pilot means maneuvering the airplane, navigation, communication etc. The problem with that is that the 31a was not designed with ergonomics in mind. So it can be a long reach for switches, the FMS is (typically) on the pedestal, the AFCS panel is on the glare shield, and your EFIS control panel is on the pedestal. So there is a lot of looking back and forth to set up the flight deck. It's not particularly efficient.

In the event of an abnormal it would, naturally, be difficult to read the checklist and fly the airplane simultaneously. The 31a makes it especially difficult because the Captain can't see the bleed switches or pressurization control panel (at least not easily) from that seat. There is a lot of switchology associated with securing the airplane after an abnormal. It only makes sense to have one pilot mind the store while the other manages the QRH.

I've flown a variety of transport category jets and turboprops, but I have never seen one that new pilots seem to struggle so much with. I think it is because the airplane is so overpowered, and pilots are hesitant to reduce thrust to slow things down to a rate that they can process. Many pilots are also hesitant to rely on the automation to shed some of the load.

It is not a difficult airplane, but it is one that is not particularly forgiving of laziness or sloppy technique.
 
Lacy may or may not have but I think Kalitta did it one day and got violated for it. The rumor was FO refused to fly the broken airplane, Kalitta fired him at the outstation, FO called the feds and they were waiting for him when he got back to Detroit. The rumor was he was going to fly it with 1 engine stuck at idle but thats a pretty big stretch that I don't know that I necessarily believe.
 
Goldmember said:
Lacy may or may not have but I think Kalitta did it one day and got violated for it. The rumor was FO refused to fly the broken airplane, Kalitta fired him at the outstation, FO called the feds and they were waiting for him when he got back to Detroit. The rumor was he was going to fly it with 1 engine stuck at idle but thats a pretty big stretch that I don't know that I necessarily believe.
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In the bad old days of 135 freight, that seems pretty plausible.
 
chrisreedrules said:
I've flown KA200s and the Lear 31 (although admittedly not enough to honestly make a qualified decision in this area) but I personally believe the King Air would be more of a hand full in an emergency.
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There's no way that's true. King air's are very docile tprops.
 
Like I said... I've flown in a Lear31 once, so I'm not the most qualified person to make that call. But as far as cockpit layout goes, I think the Lear would be more difficult to manage in an emergency. As far as performance and handling, I would imagine the King Air being more difficult, but then again I've only flown a simulated engine out in the King Air once so I don't have much to compare the two.
 
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