VLJ Training--What Will be Required

If there's a VLJ jet in your future, then you probably have some interest in what it will take to be properly trained in one so that you can fly it safely. I'll show you the preliminary results of one survey, but first I have to mention that while I was attending an FAA meeting in Oklahoma City last week, I overheard two people talking about whether there should be any special training mandated for VLJ's. Both were people whose names you'd recognize and both know a lot about about jets. They quickly agreed that VLJ's were just jets, and that no special training--other than what you'd normally get for a jet--was required or should be mandated.

A group called the International VLJ Training Stakeholder's Discussion Group has posted an online survey that...

seeks inputs from VLJ training stakeholders from around the world. If you are one, then click here to take the survey. Also, if you know someone you think should take the survey, please let them know about this. Here's a quick look at some of the preliminary survey results.

• 317 VLJ training stakeholders have already taken the survey
• 83% indicate that there should be some form of international VLJ training best practices created to help manufacturers, training providers, and insurers more effectively approach those VLJ training issues (including mentoring) proposed beyond current regulatory guidance.
• More than 152 additional VLJ training issues and concerns have been specifically identified.

By the way, if you'd like a copy of The Global Need for Very Light Jet (VLJ) Training Best Practices  that was presented at the European Aviation Training Symposium (EATS) in Berlin in October, 2007, you can download a copy here, courtesy of fellow blogger Robert Mark who runs www.JetWhine.com.

Comments

[PlasticPilot]

I'm not (yet ?) a jet pilot, so this is more question than a comment.

The big difference between VLJs and classical jets will probably be the level of experience of the pilot, and the fact that they will be operated by a crew of one, possibly with a private license.

So do jet experts think it is feasible / smart / possible to fly a jet on a "couple of hours a month" strategy ?

[Robert Barnes]

Excellent question. Thus far, most “experts” have been debating the issue of transitioning a general aviation pilot from props to jets. Your question takes this one step further and opens a discussion about maintaining currency.

Do I think that a general aviation pilot can safely transition from a Cessna 172 to a high performance, single pilot jet? Yes. I went from having a private pilot’s license with little more than 50 hours total time to a fully qualified USAF Jet Instructor Pilot (T-38) in slightly over a year. Was my training designed to optimize the effectiveness of each training hour? Most definitely.

Maintaining a personal level of proficiency, on the other hand, is a different matter. A truly safety-conscious pilot establishes his or her own personal minimums, including task proficiency. When I was a T-38 instructor, I flew about 100 hours per month yet there were still things that I needed to practice separately because I didn’t do them very often.

Today, we have a variety of ways to practice our flying skills without even getting into the airplane. Will you regularly do so? Will you practice an entire flight in advance of actually flying it? What will you routinely do to ensure that you are absolutely ready to make every flight a safe and successful one even if there is no regulatory requirement to do such things? And, how do you plan to maintain a high level of personal flying discipline when there will be no one else in the cockpit to see what you are doing?

The answers to these questions should help you begin to answer your question.