Pen Air Caravan Pilots

Thanks for the new input. I do understand the controversy over the actual value (or lack of) SIC time to most companies. That is why if I decide to fly right seat in such a program with Era or PenAir I am going to be 100 percent sure it is a company I will want to stay with beyond that first assignment, and into larger planes with hours of actual interview value.
 
Also- I believe hours have been increased to 8hrs a day, still two weeks on/two weeks off. I know with PenAir, several pilots in the program have been offered Anchorage ramping positions for their two weeks off. It's still poor pay for a first job, but with room and board provided for the two weeks on, and more family than I care to admit in Anchorage, I think its at least as good as other alternatives considering my low hours and lack of CFI.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
the King Air 350, 1900, and Metroliner or heavy merlins. All of these, especially the first one, are actually quite useful type ratings so that means if simulators exist they exist at the top tier training places (FSI, Simcom, CAE) because they still make money, hence you can expect to pay quite a bit.
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Wow...type-rating discussion getting interesting now! :)

Supposely, for King Air 350 type-rated, how much dual training required (in order to have SIC)?

How much is the typical cost?

SpiraMirabilis said:
What I am saying is a type rating in a small turboprop is going to cost you significantly more (at least double) than say if you wanted to get a type rating in a single pilot Citation jet, which you can pick up for about 5 grand.
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Wow... really?
SpiraMirabilis said:
if you wanted to get a type rating in a single pilot Citation jet, which you can pick up for about 5 grand.
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5 grand for a single pilot Citation jet rating? Unbelieveable.

Many single pilot Citation jets may be below 2,500lbs. Don't think that can be considered as type-rated.
 
cadbury said:
5 grand for a single pilot Citation jet rating? Unbelieveable.

Many single pilot Citation jets may be below 2,500lbs. Don't think that can be considered as type-rated.
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The Citations are turbojets and need type ratings.
 
One thing I don't recall seeing mentioned here is the value of "Alaska time" and that somthing else the Rt. seat caravan gives you. I know most every area has bad weather to deal with, but trust me, Alaska IS diffrent. Also the Caravan guys get 1st shot at any open F/O slots, so that's a bonus too. Yup, it's a lot of work but for a 250 hr. guy with a new comerical its an option.
 
You can get into a turbo-prop type rating for about the same cost as a single-pilot jet.
 
cadbury said:
Wow...type-rating discussion getting interesting now! :)

Supposely, for King Air 350 type-rated, how much dual training required (in order to have SIC)?

How much is the typical cost?
Click to expand...

I think it is close to 15k for a 1900 type rating at Flight Safety Laguardia, considering the 1900 and KA350 used to be the same type rating that is a fair guess for what the 350 would cost too. This is about the same cost as a type rating for a Hawker 700 series, or LearJet 35 or similar business jet.

Flying in the USA, domestically all a co-pilot would need on the KA350 is either a part 135 SIC check-off if his company is 135, or if it is a private plane the go-ahead from the owner I guess (and a commercial multi-engine license of course.) But a 350 is still a single pilot airplane, so you run into all the normal hurdles about logging time in it which have been gone over to death elsewhere on this site.


Wow... really?
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5 grand for a single pilot Citation jet rating? Unbelieveable.

Many single pilot Citation jets may be below 2,500lbs. Don't think that can be considered as type-rated.
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I don't know of any jet that is below 2,500lbs, except if its remote controlled. Even the small eclipse 500 VLJs have a MTOW of like 6,000... or close to 2,700kg. But yeah, most of the single pilot jets are below 12,500.

$5 grand isn't that unbelievable, the planes are old. I mean, you can get a 737 type rating for not very much more at a place like Higher Power. I think some of the places that have the $5-6 grand citation type ratings (http://www.loft.aero/ and etc) actually do the check ride and a fair amount of training in the simulator, just expect them to teach the check ride and not exactly how to fly the plane in all situations. You get what you pay for in other words.
 
cadbury said:
Who shall I believe? :rolleyes:
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If you're going to FSI, CAE or Simcom he is right... they are all similar prices. However, there are off the road people who can get you a Citation 500 or 525 type rating pretty cheap. I was thinking about it when I got furloughed, if only to combine it with my ATP check ride.
 
Neil11 said:
Thanks for the new input. I do understand the controversy over the actual value (or lack of) SIC time to most companies. That is why if I decide to fly right seat in such a program with Era or PenAir I am going to be 100 percent sure it is a company I will want to stay with beyond that first assignment, and into larger planes with hours of actual interview value.
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PenAir actually pays their Caravan co-pilots, I think it is like $7/hr but you are paid. Last I heard, anyway. Considering PenAir is carrying passengers you would need the autopilot-in-lieu of a co-pilot exemption for them to operate the aircraft single pilot, and I believe (but am not 100%) the FAA won't give that unless you have a 3 axis autopilot -- which is available on the Caravan (KFC-250) but most autopilots are the normal 2 axis KFC-150.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
I think it is close to 15k for a 1900 type rating at Flight Safety Laguardia
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Wow... ...15 grand. :ooh:

SpiraMirabilis said:
I don't know of any jet that is below 2,500lbs, except if its remote controlled.
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It is my typo error. I realised I have typed 2,500lbs. It should be 12,500lbs.

SpiraMirabilis said:
$5 grand isn't that unbelievable, the planes are old. I mean, you can get a 737 type rating for not very much more at a place like Higher Power.
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Planes are old?

Isn't type-rating training is purely in simulator?
 
Can be done in simulator, airplane or combination of both. I think that loft.aero place does the actual check ride at least in the airplane. This may be because their simulator isn't up to snuff for things like circling approaches, etc.
 
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