Forgot to bid:

I agree on too much hangar talk. In my 30 plus years of flying I've noticed there is always someone willing to impress the class with tales of daring, as well as ask the silly long answer question at 4:55 PM on Friday! Perhaps we are our own worst enemy in this regard.

FSI SAV G550 recurrent is 2 days class & sim (at least back when I was there). Not much time for hangar talk. The initial was two weeks, M-F 8 to 5 and focused mostly on the Planeview and HUD/EVS systems. When I went through it was the daytime class plus about 4 hours of the Gulfstream manuals in the evenings.

As for the 5 manuals, easy. That's how Gulfstream makes 'em. When I was at a regional we had an FOM and a Flight Standards Manual, period. So I know what you are saying and agree. The airline I fly for now has a separate manual for every day of the year, six for the two different versions of the A320 we fly and it is a friggin mess. Can't find anything in less than a 2 hour hop & skip through 5 different manuals. Since they are all PDF files on an electronic flight bag we are spared the three flight bags and two rain jungles of pulp wood it would take to carry them all.

Cheers...

There's always that one guy that just doesn't know to shut up and run out the clock, isn't there?

If they are PDFs, cant you just use the search function??

I dont mean that in a demeaning manner, its just i've always thought that was one of the advantages of having an efb.

Yes, you can use the search function, but the manuals are all individual files. Is it possible to global search a folder of PDF files for keywords?

True.

The ICT FSI I attended had the instructor doing the hangar talk and then he refused to show us the interactive programs or computer programs on the systems. He said it caused too much confusion. He ignored me but finally a Cessna sales rep spoke up enough that the instructor capitulated and did show us the computer stuff. It was great stuff but sad it took a we mutiny in the class. Just a tad bit underwhelmed. I complained about it and even shared my notes where I described what was going on in class and the amount of time spent telling me how to be a pilot and make the correct decisions (they had some decision tree thing they kept harping on) vs. how the airplane worked. Whoever was in charge basically told me to kiss off because learning about the airplane was only a part of what FSI taught or something along those lines. That was years ago though. I guess what miffed me was that my boss was spending money, even though it came via a new aircraft purchase, on sub par training that in my view wouldn't have been tollerated in say a FSI SAV.

Forgot to bid,

Ouch, I would be torqued about that experience as well, especially after elevating it and getting the brush off. At SAV a drop by the program manager's office would get that instructor replaced in 2 seconds.

CRM is an element in every course, but just about 2 hours out of the entire ground school. My Dash 8 experience was lacking as well, but my GV experience was superb. If anything it was too compressed.

I don't know anybody who's gotten $1,800 a day as a GV/G550 contract pilot in nearly 10 years. I personally know at least 30 guys that have the rating and more than 1,000 hours in type and are out on the street looking for work.

Regards training cost, to do it on the cheap, CAE/Simuflite at DFW has a GV simulator and then they do differences training to the G550 at their NorthEast Training Center. I'll bet you can get it done for less than $30K.

TransMach

P.S. -- I'd love the $1,500-$1,800 day rate for GV/G550 contractors to come back! Never will, though.

Part 91? Yes. Normal? Well, it's not something we do alot of, but clearly a few times a year. Actually looking at a Moscow trip and honestly I'm annoyed that it will be a two day because it's 135. Z

Can you do an augmented crew?

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