Hi Evo7
looking back at my pilot's class, we were six of us going onto the ARJ:
1 had 1300 hours of single flying, mostly Pitts aeros
1 had worked for Farner in BSL and had 1500 hours F27
3 of'em had only 180 and 200 hours total, mostly single
I had 800+ single + about 20 hours twin, Seneca and Crusader (nice craft by the way
) and about 25 hours in a motion/visual approved Seneca III simulator
For those 3 having little experience, and even for myself with a little bit more, it was quite some work.
Mind you, an airplane is an airplane, and the nut to crack is the IFR and twin rating. Once you master those, the jump to flying a jet is a pretty small one, at least flyingwise. The difficulty is more in the operation of the systems and the daily challenges such as weather, pax, ATC, you name it
Also, on the ARJ, things happen fast, but not quite as fast as on some other jets. It is also a very forgiving aeroplane, having a good airbrake and is easy to land
Who paid for that?
Well, the experience, the IFR bit and the twin rating and the frozen ATPL, you pay. As for the type rating, in our case the company paid for that, but we are now bonded for three years. Leave the company before and you have to repay some of your type rating.
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... cut my wings and I'll die ...