Learning To Fly the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot
John and Martha take a break during shooting for “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot”.
You would think we would be over the thrill that comes with flying a new aircraft. But the excitement Martha and I felt recently from learning to fly the Citation Mustang demonstrated that when it comes to flying, we still have the childlike enthusiasm of beginners.
To a pilot with a piston-powered background like us, there is no greater thrill than transitioning to a new jet. To us, jets will always be special. You are flooded with excitement and sensations—the thrill of hearing a jet engine wind up on engine start, so full of promise—the semi-sweet smell of jet fuel—the exhilaration of hearing jet engines follow you wherever you go—and the power, oh so much power and all at the command of your right hand.
Along with this excitement comes the pleasant discovery of new concepts, a new flight environment and elegant systems that provide a whole new level of comfort and safety.
Flying the Mustang near Page, AZ while shooting “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot”
As you know, many jets require two pilots, but the Citation Mustang is certificated to be flown single pilot. It is a personal airplane, just the way a Cessna Corvalis or a Cirrus is a personal airplane. It is a jet that evokes dreams of the freedom of getting in whenever you want and jetting off into the blue.
Before you can fulfill that dream, you have to demonstrate the ability to fly single pilot by taking a checkride and earning the C510S type rating. It would seem that should be slam-dunk for us—we have been flying jets for over 24 years. But getting that single-pilot type rating wasn’t all that easy for us. Our jet flying has always been in a two-crew environment. We have shared the workload and always had someone to look out for our mistakes.
Martha and I each rode along in the right seat of the simulator while the other was in the left, but since we were going for our single pilot ratings, we weren’t supposed to help out the other pilot. For me of course, sitting in the right seat and keeping my mouth shut was probably the hardest part of the training.
As when flying any aircraft single-pilot IFR, the challenge is to use periods when you are not busy, to get ahead of things to relieve the workload during periods when you will be busy—all the while using all your resources to maintain situational awareness.
The G1000 and the GFC-700 autopilot in the Mustang are fabulous tools for doing all of that. But it really pays to be sharp at using the G1000. (King Schools’ course on the G1000 can be a great help here. It includes a built-in procedures trainer.)
Inside the Citation Mustang glass cockpit, featuring the Garmin G1000
The other thing that can help out a lot is knowing how jets behave compared to piston aircraft. Among other things, the throttle response is different and you don’t have the benefit of propellers to create instant lift or drag when you need them. (You might want to take a look at King Schools’ Jet Transition Course.)
Martha gets her Citation Mustang single-pilot type rating!
In our opinion, if you are dreaming of flying your own jet, you should get your type rating first. Martha and I have gotten great pleasure from learning to fly each jet we have flown, and confirmed in two cases that we did want to buy the aircraft…and in another case decided we did not want to buy the aircraft.
By the way, you’ll want to know that we are finishing up the production of our new course, “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot.” It leverages our own recent learning experience and will make your dream of flying a jet even more vivid.
UPDATE: We just posted a video preview of our upcoming course on flying the Citation Mustang.
UPDATE: Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot course is now available for purchase here.
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Let’s Make 2011 an Exciting Year for Flying
As you move through the first quarter of 2011, you are likely considering what you want to accomplish in aviation this year, and how you will keep your skills sharp. One proven and fun way to both advance your skills and stay current is to work on your next rating or certificate.
For many folks, a big challenge to achieving that next rating or certificate is finding time to study for the written exam. If you have not previously used a KING course, you may be surprised to find that we have structured our courses so that in only about 15 minutes, you can complete a knowledge lesson—and the course will automatically track and show each completed lesson. Put together 15 minutes here and there, and you will be amazed to see your rapid progress…and what you have learned. In what seems like no time, you will be ready to confidently take your written exam. The focus for all KING courses is to clarify, simplify and make it fun! You will be happy to see that even with a busy schedule, you can still have fun preparing for your written exam.
Speaking of making it fun, this quarter we will draw the winner in our 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes. Over the years, we have given away just short of 2 million dollars worth of prizes to lucky winners. The odds of winning are not bad (about 100,000 to 1) and for our winners, the prizes have fulfilled many dreams. For King Schools’ 35th Anniversary, we put together a package of 3 very special prizes that continues this tradition in great style.
One of the places we especially enjoy traveling is Alaska where we have spent a lot of time both teaching and exploring the State in a Cessna 185 Skywagon on Amphibious Floats. As part of our 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes, we very much look forward to giving away an Alaskan seaplane rating vacation to a lucky pilot that will put them in touch with that amazing experience. Equally exciting, the winner will receive a state-of-the-art Redbird TD simulator, plus a KING Get It All Kit of their choice.
We have all heard the old saw that a good pilot is always learning. This incorporates a great deal of wisdom. The good news is that the learning possibilities in aviation are endless. Whatever your 2011 flying plans include, our guarantee to you is to keep the focus where it belongs, finding new and innovative ways to help you achieve your aviation goals. With over 90 aviation courses, we hope we have one that is right for you.
Have fun learning and flying.
Like this:
No guns, no cuffs this time at SBA
Pictured are Left to right: Karen Ramsdell, Airport Director, Martha King, Jim Armstrong, City Administrator, John King, Camino Sanchez Chief of Police, Helene Schneider, Mayor.
As you may know, the last time Martha and I were at Santa Barbara airport, we were met by the police, held at gunpoint, and placed in two separate police cars with our hands cuffed behind our backs. This time we were met instead by Craig Fuller, President of AOPA, and invited to the Mayor’s office.
There we visited with the Mayor, the City Administrator, the Chief of Police, the Deputy Chief, and the Airport Director. We presented them with a planning guide and law enforcement officer checklist for the interception of an aircraft on an airport. The main idea behind the guide and the checklist is to allow the airplane to go to an FBO rather than sending it to a remote part of the airport. When we were sent to the remote area it tipped us off that something was up. When we spotted all four police cars lined up in wait for us, we knew something interesting was about to happen. Any real culprit in that situation would have simply put the throttle in and taken off. So the technique they used wouldn’t have captured the bad guys.
The use of a remote location came to mind for them because they, like all the rest of us, had seen on TV hijackings handled exactly that way. The technique works for a hijacking because the pilots are in cahoots with the police against the bad guys in back. But when the suspects are the pilots, the technique gives them a tip-off and an opportunity for escape.
Pilots who are instead allowed to go to an FBO won’t be tipped off. When they get into a parking spot, just like all the rest of us, they will get out, and most likely chock or tie down the airplane and lock the doors. They will have immobilized the airplane in anticipation of transferring to ground transportation. This is the time for the police to deal with them. They are on foot and usually inside a fenced area. There is little opportunity for escape and little need for the police to draw weapons.
The result is a procedure that does not tip off the suspects, minimizes the opportunity for escape, and is less risky for everybody. This doesn’t come to mind for law enforcement officers, because in most cases they just don’t know about airplanes. They don’t know such key things as the pilot will very predictably go to an FBO after landing and then immobilize the airplane, and that if you want to keep a piston airplane from going anywhere all you have to do is pull in front of it, because it can’t back up.
The planning guide deals with the need for law enforcement agencies to, in advance, recruit folks with aviation knowledge to assist them. In our case the subject airplane was actually a Cessna 150. We were flying a Cessna 172. The police wouldn’t know the difference, but nearly every pilot would. The police had thought they had covered this detail when they asked the tower, “Is this a Cessna?” The tower replied that it was. The problem with that exchange is that Cessna has built over half of all the single-engine airplanes in the world. The police hadn’t narrowed it down much, because they just didn’t know the right questions to ask.
This is where you come in. Print out the card with a color printer, have it laminated and take it to the law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over your airport. This card has practical recommendations developed by people who know both law enforcement and aviation, including police chiefs and past and current members of the board of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The other aspect to our interception is that it was the result of a multi-agency governmental mix-up that resulted in the Santa Barbara Police Department being falsely notified that our airplane was stolen.
The FAA is, for unimaginable reasons, re-issuing to different aircraft the registration numbers of aircraft that have been stolen. Then the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is listing the registration numbers as belonging to a stolen aircraft even though they are now attached to a completely different aircraft. Finally, the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) is sending alerts out to police departments like the Santa Barbara Police Department when they spot an aircraft on the list in the IFR system headed their way. EPIC does this without even bothering to check the status of the registration number in the FAA’s registry. This takes about 30 seconds on the first page of the FAA’s website.
So AOPA, NBAA, and other organizations as well as our local congressman, Brian Bilbray, are working to resolve those issues. Let’s hope they are successful.
Good Comes From Our “Run-in With The Law” – Your Checklist
Checklist: Aircraft Interception On An Airport
Our incident in Santa Barbara certainly could have ended with a tragic headline. Instead, it has turned into a real opportunity to positively impact General Aviation. We’ll be following up with details on a recent meeting we had with the Santa Barbara mayor, police chief, airport director and other officials and suggested changes to reduce misunderstanding between GA pilots and law enforcement in the future.
You can help! We’ve created the following checklist: Aircraft Interception On An Airport. It gives Law Enforcement Officers tools to better prepare for dealing with pilots and aircraft and alternatives for more effective and safer interceptions. Pass a copy along to your local law enforcement officials and to your local airport authorities. And forward it to fellow pilots so they can deliver it to their local authorities also.
AOPA Presents Us with 2010 Pilot’s Choice Award
Martha and I are here for day two of the AOPA Aviation Summit today and wanted to post a quick entry about yesterday’s events.
We were pleasantly surprised – and honored – when AOPA presented us with the 2010 Pilot’s Choice Award for the “Most Watched Video by Time” on AOPA Live. The video was the interview we gave to AOPA, shortly after our incident at Santa Barbara Airport (SBA). Viewers spent over 4,000 hours watching the video, where we talked about our personal experience of being exported from our plane at gunpoint.
Although folks may recognize our names or faces, we think the reason for the popularity of the video was that the topic hits close to home for GA pilots. “If it could happen to someone I know, it could happen to me, too.”
| Special Note |
| Watch AOPA Live coverage of the 2010 AOPA Aviation Summit. Tune in tomorrow, Saturday, Nov 13, at 11 AM for our live interview with AOPA President Craig Fuller. |
