I think its smart that FSI is getting away from asking "how many rivets are aft of the rear bulkhead" type questions.

Learn what you can control as a pilot, memory items and limitations. If you screw something up, FSI will do it over until you get it. You may not get a "Pro-Card", but you will be trained to proficiency.

It is rare for a professional pilot to need to schedule extensive addional training. That is the kind of thing that happens when someone goes for a 3 day recurrent, and has been out of type for ten years.

 

Hey Gauley what type is a RA390...I looked it up but couldn't find it??? Military type?

 

RA390= Beechcraft Premier

 

Nice just looked it up...its got a lonnnng nose. Is it a new type? I've never heard or seen one?

 

Been around since like 2002, there are less than 300 out there. Really nice cabin, 450ktas, MMO .80. Doesn't carry a big load very far.
Composite except for wing.

 

They've been around probably since 02-03?

The original Premiers (including the -IA) are single pilot capable with a midsize-class cabin and a max altitude of FL410...unfortunately, they are grossly underpowered, vastly under-ranged and mostly under-braked (though the -IA fixed much of the latter gripe). My wife flew them, and said they were great airplanes...0.80M all the way to a tech stop or service center.

The new Premier II announced will fix a lot of these problems. Winglets, new ceiling of FL450, and SUBSTANTIALLY more power (something like 2300lb/side increased to over 3000lb/side); I think that provides a range increase is somewhere north of 20%. Stretch the cabin another 12-18 inches, give it another 800-1000lb fuel, keep the single-pilot capability and it'll 1. put the 450XP out of production, and 2. provide a MAJOR challenger to the CJ4.

 

The Premier was the first airplane I trained on without any prior exposure. We didn't have the airplane yet when I went to school. I had never been inside one.

I studied my pre-attendance study guide before I started FSI, and it helped a lot.

FSI did a really good job, and I left ready to take the airplane out into the world for my real education.

 

The Premier is what it is. A single-pilot short range Jet. Are you going to load it to the gills and take it 410? No, I have been wrong before but I don't think you will be able to do that with any aircraft in its class (Single Pilot Light Jet). As of 1-15-09 there have been 266 Premiers that have flown. I have had the opportunity to fly the aircraft in a rather unique environment and would find it to be a great airplane if you understand it is an electric bird.

 

CJ2+...book sez sea level MTOW to FL450 in 28 minutes, assuming ISA.

Real-world operators have told me expect the CJ2+ to get up there in 25 minutes; during our demo flight with about a 10.5k MTOW it took about 23 minutes to get to 450 with a 2 minute level at FL410 for traffic, and after 5 minutes at altitude we had to pull it out of the cruise detent because the overspeed warning was going off. Not bad for a straight-winged Citation!

The Premier DOES have an extremely nice cabin and top-line avionics...I'm glad to see Hawker Beech is addressing the aircraft's other shortcomings to make it a true competitor in the segment.

 

The 2 should be a great improvement on a great airplane.

At 10.5K you are 2K under gross, im sure it would go straight to 450. What is MMo in the straight wing? .73 isn't it?