Anybody w/ BD-500 to BD-700 experience (or vice versa)?
Hey folks,
I progressed from charter to corporate to regional airline to global airline in my career, so I get the sensitivities of airline pilots coming back to GA in retirement. The folks that would run out and buy a Gulfstream type rating make it tough on the rest of us to be accepted. I've been spoiled in my U.S. 121 career, but I still think I could file my own flight plan and throw a bag or two. Sorry fellas, but I love flying and I never made enough $$ to self-fund my passion for airplanes. I'm coming back to the GA ranks when I hit mandatory retirement. To each who thinks I might be "stealing" the seat of an up-and-coming pilot, consider the seat I opened up for you in a wide body long range aircraft I bailed out of ... it's probably an 8 step or greater ladder move for those behind me!
I have recent experience as a captain on BBJ, 767 and 757 in VIP/charter ops - so I am not totally out of touch with the realities of non-sked ops serving executive class customers. Enough of my justification for looking into a continued career, about 5.5 years from now when I'm forced out. To the point: I have some time in the BD-500/CS100/A220. What an awesome airplane! I doubt there will be sufficient numbers of the AJ Two Twenty to provide an opportunity for me in 2027, but I'd be thrilled to fly it or something similar. As far as I can tell, the GLX 7500 FBW and Collins Proline suite is very similar to that in the BD-500. Wondering how my experience in the BD-500 might translate to the Global 7500 and any successors? I gather there's no such thing as a "short course" between the two types at the present time, but is there a likelihood that could happen in the future? I'm at a crossroad, where I can stick with the BD-500 and build another 4000 to 5000 hours flying it in non-ETOPS service (for the sake of credentials in type), or hop back onto a wide body like the A350 or A330 for some more globe-trotting to round out my airline career. It's really a matter of deciding whether or not to focus on a somewhat specialized type (BD-500/700), or just hope that my time in 737/BBJ and other corporate types + a focus in global ops on many wideboy types is desirable CV component.
Suggestions and insight would be appreciated.