bcrosier

Yes I do. I have about 1200 hours (give or take) of doing so in turbojet aircraft. I also realize that many operators, particularly those that carry passengers don't currently hire 1200 hour pilots as PIC, and I doubt they would start hiring 1000 hour PIC's if the regulation changed.

This discussion has prompted me to go back and review my logbook a bit, and based on that and some honest reflection I'm going to revise my position on this matter a somewhat.

Do I think that 1000 hours is a reasonable total time for 135 IFR PIC? Yes, I still do - but with some caveats or stipulations. I'm not certain exactly what they should be, but definitely some more in depth training and checking with and emphasis on real-world operations, not just passing a check ride. An extended period of IOE perhaps? Maybe a requirement to operate with an SIC? Perhaps only cargo operations until a higher total time? I'm not quite certain what the answer would be.

I do know that for the average pilot, the experience gap between 1000 & 1200 hours is not that great; certainly not on the order of the experience gained between 500 and 1000 hours. We're currently willing to accept 1200 hours as a regulatory minimum, reducing that by 200 hours is not going to radically alter the level of safety which is achieved by regulation.

Ultimately, given all that - for a mere 200 hours there probably isn't any real substantial reason to alter the regulation. No great detriment to safety, but no real substantial gain either. Sorry for making us all go through that...