Getting To Know You

A PILOT MARRIES A NEW AIRPLANE

- Dick Karl

With the Premier 1 that my wife and I bought recently, some things were familiar and some were foreign.

I chose the airplane because it is fast and because it has Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. I had come to love those boxes while flying Part 135 in the Cessna CJ3. During my initial operating experience as a first officer at JetSuite, check airman Fred Pollino told me that everything would settle in around the 60-hour mark. “You will call me then and tell me this is easy.”

Well, it took me way longer than 60 hours to get the flows and call-outs and SOPs down. I had never flown with another crew member and tended to want to do everything by myself. Half the time I’d forget to light up the strobes and landing lights while crossing another runway during taxi. Now, I’m back flying single-pilot, and I often miss having another pilot — I flew with a great group of people.

For this type rating, I got typed in my airplane rather than at a training facility. This gave me a chance to hear that low whistle that becomes evident down low when we slow below 180 knots. I got to close the door for real rather than practice on a dummy. The Premier has a big airstair door, which, were it to open in flight, would be, I imagine, a heart-stopping development.

With a knowledgeable instructor, I first started up N323CM in Wichita, Kansas (KICT) for a flight to home base in Lebanon, New Hampshire (KLEB). I was prepared for the initial familiarization to take some time, but just getting a Premier ready to fly is a lengthy project even for highly experienced Premier drivers. (If you really want to see the airplane, and what it can do, watch the excellent “Premier 1 Driver” series on YouTube.)