PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Integrating FSX Into Real Flight Training: Good Idea?
Old 26th February 2013 | 17:13
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zondaracer
 
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Mare Nostrum
Hello procedures, welcome to the forum.

It appears that you have done a lot of research but I recommend you talk with a CFI to get a realistic perspective on your plans. There are quite a few holes that I can point out right away.

1) Pilot Certifications & Ratings
2) Turbine Skills Development (time building)
3) General Aviation & Business Aviation Education (past/present/future)
You should add CFI, CFI-I and MEI right after step 1. Before you get close to a turbine, you probably will have to instruct for at least a couple hundred hours.

1,100 to 1,500 hours with greater than 60% ME Turbo-Prop Cross Country in mostly Class B/C/D airspace
In the US, the majority of your flying will be in Class E airspace, and once you move up to turbines, a lot of the flying will be in class A airspace. Class B, C, and D are primarily used when you are getting in and out of airports, but when you are out in cruise and in practice areas, your flying will be in class E. Additionally, 60% ME turboprop time at that stage is quite optimistic in the US.

The reason being that in the US, there are very very few jobs accessible to a newly minted commercial pilot, and the first jobs for most is flight instructing. Some guys might get into banner towing, but those jobs are definitely not turbine. At 500 hours, you might qualify for a skydive pilot job (in a C182) or aerial mapping or pipeline patrol job. Most of the time, these jobs are not in turbine aircraft. Skydive jobs in turbine aircraft start opening up beyond 1000 hours typically. Once you get to 1200 hours, then you might be able to get into part 135 work, but a lot of those jobs start you out in twin piston aircraft or single turboprop. Having said that, there are some guys who get copilot jobs in multiengine turbines at part 135 ops with less hours, but that is usually the exception and not the rule.

For insurance reasons alone, you would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to let you fly a turbine as PIC in the US with not a lot of total flying time.

Cessna T182T
Cessna T210M
Bonanza A36
Typically not your PPL level aircraft. Having said that, I do know some rich guys with only PPLs who own Bonanzas and Cessna 210s, but you typically won't find these aircraft as your training aircraft at schools until you reach the final stages of commercial level training. This is mainly due to cost. Most PPL training is done on less expensive aircraft such as Cessna 172, Cessna 152/150, Diamond DA-20s, etc...

Then you mention turbine time building. Like I said earlier, I'm not sure who is going to let you time build in a King Air unless you are really rich. Before you get near a King Air, the most logical step for most people in the US is to work as an instructor. A lot of guys I know instructed until reaching about 1000 hours of total time. Afterwards, some got hired as copilots on King Airs, Learjets, Citations, etc... Before they ever moved into the left seat, they had a couple of years flying as copilot. There are some people who are getting PIC time in King Airs much earlier, but it is the exception and not the rule.

Now, about Flight Simulator...

I personally have been playing flight simulator since I was 10, so I understand how you feel, but now that I am an instructor, one thing I can tell you is that it is really easy to tell when a student plays flight simulator... the reason being that we have to make them unlearn a lot of habits before they learn the correct way. As someone who played a lot of flight simulator since I was a kid, I also had to unlearn some bad habits (mainly looking at the instruments too much). Flight simulator is a good tool to use once you are well into your training, especially at the instrument rating phase, but I would recommend that you spend more of your free time reading your books cover to cover before you start playing flight simulator.

Some books I would definitely read are:
Student Pilot Guide http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/a...h-8083-27a.pdf


Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/a...pilot_handbook


The Complete Private Pilot
ASA: The Complete Private Pilot


Stick and Rudder
Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying: Wolfgang Langewiesche: 9780070362406: Amazon.com: Books Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying: Wolfgang Langewiesche: 9780070362406: Amazon.com: Books


Airplane Flying Handbook
Airplane Flying Handbook: FAA-H-8083-3A (FAA Handbooks series)(2nd Edition): Federal Aviation Administration: 9781560275572: Amazon.com: Books Airplane Flying Handbook: FAA-H-8083-3A (FAA Handbooks series)(2nd Edition): Federal Aviation Administration: 9781560275572: Amazon.com: Books


Airman Information Manual http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publi...bs/AIM/aim.pdf


I read through all of these books, cover to cover before I finished my private pilot. There are many more books out there but these will get you started

Check out the other FAA handbooks available for free online Aviation Handbooks & Manuals

Last edited by zondaracer; 26th February 2013 at 17:41.
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