Originally Posted by
Jason5
Absolutely. I've been a pax captain before. I get it. Just trying to understand where/when I might be able to work on something, if at all. I mean, others must talk to there families, work out, go to dinner, etc. If anything, it's probably good to get your mind off the airplane every now and then. When are things super intense? When do they slow down a little?
You must've not been a turbine 121 Captain before if you're asking these questions.
It's like any other initial type rating on any turbine equipment. Standard 142/initial new-to-equipment syllabus: 80 hours of groundschool M-F 8-5. Written test. A few days of procedures training/system integration. Typically a break of 1-4 weeks. 8 sim sessions with lots of downtime. Checkride/LOFT/OBS flights/IOE/Fed ride.
The only differences between the FO course and the CA course are: it's left seat, there's a few extra maneuvers, they grill you more on PIC decisionmaking, and the orals are harder. This is standard 121 training stuff--if you've flown for an airline before you should know all of the above already.
And if you have any doubts that you aren't ready--you aren't. This isn't a small responsibility or easy thing to do (and shouldn't be).