Anyone out there flying the new phenom 100. Likes, Dislikes. Simuflight? How was training....compared to Flight safety...
Pilot pay?

 

Cough, buy a premier

 

Phenom 100 is actually a pretty good aircraft for what it costs and it being a VLJ. Although I would actually compare it to a CJ1. All training is conducted at Dallas, Simuflite as they are the ones contracted by Embraer. They require ALL pilots to complete online training prior to being accepted into the initial class. This is basically an intro into flying jets. I would strongly suggest anyone who is learning the Phenom 100 and who doesn't have Garmin experience to purchase the computer simulator for $25 dollars available through garmin.com. You can learn to fly it either single pilot or dual crew. If you choose dual crew, then you do get the SIC REQUIRED limitation placed on your certificate. However this aircraft is very simple to operate once you have the avionics figured out. And can be single pilot operated easily with someone with adequate experience. Performance is a bit tricky. This is a part 23 aircraft, but they do provide the performance data required for part 25. Any trip with over 2 pax plus pilot, will limit your fuel load.
Pay I would guess should be in line with what CJ1 pilots earn, 50-75K.

 

Typed back in July - at that time they seemed to still be 'learning' it at CAE, though I've heard it's a bit smoother now. Good course, though, a bit overkill if you have any jet time at all (2.5 weeks) but I felt very confident going in to the checkride & oral. For me, the G1000 transition was easy with the course, all I have is 430/530 experience and no glass time. Plenty of time given to learn and get familiar with it.

I had 5 months to wait before we had the actual aircraft, but it all came back and so far it is working out nicely. A big issue you will hear about is brakes, though we haven't had any problems with them yet, and they work quite nicely on slippery runways as well, just be at ref and no big deal.

One thing that seems a little quirky now is the abundance of annoying CAS messages that mx can't find anything wrong with. I think maybe the tolerances to trigger the msg are a little tight but who knows. Hoping maybe some software updates will help.

 

Singlepilot: Which CAS messages are your getting, or are they different each time?

 

Its been lots of them (fleet-wide, we have 5). I find it interesting that there is a section in the back of the QRH essentially telling you that you may get some nuisance CAS msgs and they are no big deal. Nice of them to publish the info, but I'm surprised they would in this liability happy world.

 

I have no direct knowledge of the Phenom but it sounds a lot like what the Falcon EASy software was (is) like. Being a new airplane and they need to get the software glitches out. I would bet you will see many software updates in the future that will address these issues.

I would bet "Re-init" will be a theme from the maintenance department

 

Try going through the program in January '09, weeks after the thing was certified! Hahaha! That was an experience. We were getting new Limitations packets each morning as everything kept changing. Training in the jet with the Embraer instructors was a hoot, too. I remember returning to the AFW area after training one flight and getting a "Golden" CAS message on the way back... the autopilot failed, screens failed, red-X's all over the place. I had no clue what was going on, lol. Within about 30 seconds or so, everything came right back online.

I'd seen the Brake Fail CAS message a lot, but, thankfully, always on the ground. We had a LOT of flap failures in the beginning, resulting in flap-up landings often. The VCS system was a POS right from the factory and only worked right once it had been repaired back in the US. I brought one Phenom 100 back from Brazil and the VCS failed about 30 minutes into the first leg. Being on the Equator with no A/C sucked...A LOT. Oh, and I'd like to find the guy that designed the Lav and kick him in the pills.

The CAS messages were definitely annoying. I remember getting Bleed Failures with FCVs going bad (sensor IIRC), Pitot-Static heat failures, got a Cabin Door Warning at FL340, the Wing-Stab Deice Fail message was a constant problem anytime you operated that system. Had one plane that we'd always get a Batt 1 Off Bus message during power on. Took a lot of switch throws, but eventually it would connect. Eng 1(2) Impending Bypass was the last big CAS issue I remember before I left the job. Seems like most of the bugs were getting worked out by that time.

All that said, it really was a fun little jet to fly- I loved it. It performs well in the Winter, but was a pig in the Summer. Baggage space was awesome. It would do "ok" on wet runways, but once those wheels hit a paint stripe it gets really squirrely.

I loved the avionics. I also came from a GNS 430/530 background, but caught on to the Prodigy quickly. The biggest learning curve was remembering how to get through the Soft Key menus to find what you wanted. As far as loading IAPs, Flight Plans, STARS/SIDs, etc, it's all basic Garmin stuff and is simple. The satellite wx was great- loved that feature. Listening to Blue Collar Radio on those lonely 0300 flights was great as well.

Every
Mechanical
Breakdown
Requires
An
Electronic
Reboot

 

So here is a question can you log sic in it?

 

91, only if you remove / MEL an item that requires a 2nd pilot.
135, only if you elect to NOT use the AP during flight (can't fly RVSM then).

As far as the airplane: it's a POS. See my post in this thread for more info.

Sim training is about 3-4 sim sessions too long. The course is designed for a 500 hour owner operator, not a professional.

2012 NBAA salary info. You probably want to add 3% to these by now. Phenom 100 MTOW 10,472.
Jet I (< 10,000 MTOW) Captain:
25th Percentile: 55,000
50th Percentile: 64,000
75th Percentile: 84,100

2012 NBAA salary info:
Jet II (10,000 <20,000 MTOW) Captain:
25th Percentile: 70,000
50th Percentile: 85,000
75th Percentile: 100,100