ERJ135

Hey, Anybody out there know if VLJ (very light jets) such as the Raytheon Premier I jet, flight time is valuable. Gross Wt 12,500lbs

Thanks,

chris

HSLD

Valuable in what context? As a pilot, as a prospective airframe insurer, as a employer? Not sure I understand what it is your asking.

ERJ135

sorry, if I wasn't clear. I guess what I am trying to ask is where could I go as a pilot in my career from flying the Premier I (VLJ). Another words is the flight time I could log flying that airplane get me in the right seat of a 737 for somebody like CAL? Hope this is clear what I am asking. Let me know if not.

Thanks
Chris

cocomojoe4

Hey, the premier one is not really considered a VLJ (but its close to it), granted it is under 12.5K so it does not have to meet the more stingent certification requirements of jet powered aircraft over 12.5k. I VLJ is something like an eclipse or mustang. I have about 40 hours of duel recieved in a Raytheon Premier 1. It is a single pilot airplane which is a huge selling point for it. Most companies that hire a pilot for the airplane expect them to be able to fly single pilot in it, ( the insurance requirements are way up there). The avionics in the airplane (Collins Proline 21) are state of the art, and from what I heard from raytheon reps was that the avionics in the premier was testbed for the avionics that were going into the hawker horizon. The horizon was to be raytheons flagship airplane so they wanted to work all the bugs out of the systems before the put it on the market. As a result the premier constantly suffers from technical problems, mostly with the avionics. On average, every other flight I flew in the premier ended in a maintenance issue that grounded the airplane. The owner was so irritated after a couple of flights that he traded the premier in for a beech jet. Getting back to your question, I dont think premier time is possible for you unless you can fly the jet single pilot, or you are recieving duel from an instructor that is single pilot qualified on the premier because it is one of the view light jets out there there are single pilot approved....Joe

HSLD

Hmmm, trick question? Building multi-engine jet PIC time is a good thing. If you are a low time pilot and have the opportunity to work as PIC on a VLJ, I'd say go for it! It would be as they say, "quality flight time".

The down side is, because the VLJ is a single pilot aircraft, if your goal is to work for a major airline you won't be gaining crew experience in a VLJ. If I were doing the hiring for an airline that operated, say B737's, I'd probably pass on an applicant that had only civilian single pilot jet time. It would be too much of an unknown. That said, VLJ time would certainly be better than towing banners or dropping sky divers.

ERJ135

Hey, everyone thanks for the responses, the fact that it is a single pilot Cert and I would be doing it single pilot kind of turns me off from doing it. I am not a big fan of flying single pilot IFR.