A former Citation of Dexter Holland, the CJ1+
Photos courtesy of Dexter Holland and The Offspring.
Dexter Holland’s initial career goal was to be a fighter pilot. As he explained, his imperfect vision blocked the opportunity to pursue that goal. Instead, he opted to pursue an entirely different career – prior to, of all things, becoming a rock star.
“I always knew that I was going to fly one day. I went to USC for undergrad and was focused on a medical research track. At that point in my twenties, that’s what I was concerned about, and there was no way that I would be able to afford flying. Something had to happen before I could afford flight lessons!” he laughed. “Luckily, my band took off in the 90s, and then I was able to pay for the lessons. I started taking them pretty much as soon as I could, which would have been in ‘95. I just loved it, and it’s one of those things in life. For some people, it’s golf, and for others, it’s horseback riding or whatever. You know? The first time that I got in an airplane, it felt completely natural, and I knew that I wanted to keep doing it.”
The first time that I got in an airplane, it felt completely natural, and I knew that I wanted to keep doing it.”
Dexter Holland
Those who know Holland well, know that whatever he focuses on, he does so with an unwavering commitment. On the music side, that means serving as a frontman for The Offspring – one of rock’s most prolific punk bands. In academia, that means earning a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in molecular biology. In aviation, that means sporting an infectious enthusiasm for flying as an owner-operator of several cabin-class aircraft.
“I rented for a couple of months after getting my private [pilot certificate], but I wanted to buy something. I bought a new Mooney Ovation in 1996, which I actually still have. At the time, I only had a hundred and twenty hours of logged time. I knew that I needed some help with that plane because it’s quite a lot to handle when you are newer to flying. And I knew that I had to go straight into training for my instrument rating. I wasn’t going to mess around for two or three years just renting planes [and not growing my skills]. You can really get into trouble without your instrument rating by inadvertently getting caught in some weather, cloud layer, marine layer, or whatever.”
Even though Holland admitted that traveling at roughly two hundred miles an hour in the Mooney was a big step up from renting Cessna 152s, his mission demanded a more capable airplane. Like so many others, these demands were for increased speed, range, and payload.
“As I kept on going, we were doing more trips that were band-oriented and covered more distance. So, I bought a King Air C90B in 1999, which I flew for about two hundred hours. It’s such a comfortable airplane that feels roomy on the inside, like you are inside a giant SUV or RV. There’s a lot to love about the King Air, and I really liked flying it, but I felt like I needed more speed. After about a year, I stopped at the Cessna factory in Wichita while we were on tour and test-flew a Citation. I mean, it was like, come on! I was hooked right away,” Holland recalled, almost at a loss for words.
“I love all airplanes, and there is a real character to each of them. And it’s not like there are cool ones or bad ones, necessarily. But there’s just something about a jet when you get into it. There is power. It feels quiet and smooth. And it’s fast.”
There were several suitable options available to choose from at the time, but there was one that immediately stuck out to him as the best. Since his first time in that aircraft, Holland has owned three models of Citation aircraft and four different serials.
“Citations were just so well known. I felt that they had a really good reputation as owner-flown airplanes, which it does. Right? People will sometimes affectionately call them ‘Slowtations,’ but they’re plenty fast. For the handling, simplicity of the design, and how relatively easy they are to fly, I chose to purchase a Citation.”
“I bought a Citation CJ1 in 2000, at the time that they were just switching over to that model from the original CitationJet. They were just talking about putting the CJ2 on the market at that time, which I traded up to in 2003. I loved that aircraft and flew it around the world once, which was a really great time.”
Holland noted that he desired to transition to the Collins avionics system, which was a hallmark feature of the CJ1+. So, he traded his CJ2 for a slightly smaller airframe. Then in the early 2010s, he stepped away from turbine ownership for a few years.
“I decided that after some time, though, that I really did miss flying a jet and aircraft values had come down again, which was great. So, I bought another CJ1 in 2016 and have had that one ever since. I really love the plane and like that it has a glass cockpit, which was brand-new technology when it first came out. I have spent the last twenty years on that system, so I’m very comfortable with the Collins Pro Line system.”
Continuing, he stated, “It’s a very easy aircraft to fly. Range, I would say, is good. I live on the West Coast, but if I lived in Denver – I could hit a lot more places. Right? But I can still make it up to Seattle non-stop and make it out to Houston, probably, and Wichita for sure. Maybe Kansas City if I want to. So, it’s basically a one-stop airplane getting to the East Coast and might be two getting back to Long Beach.”
Holland presently logs about 150 hours a year and is intentional about seeking opportunities to both remain proficient and improve his airmanship skills.
“As I acquired different planes, I really liked advancing my training. As we all know, flying is a very serious business, and you have to treat it as such. I kept on going for different ratings, my instrument and my commercial. I also wanted to get a CFI rating, just for that extra level of proficiency and knowing what you are talking about. I didn’t plan to actively instruct, and I don’t really, but I did get the CFI and CFII ratings. Eventually, I also got the ATP distinction. My instructor always bugged me to go back and get my MEI, just for academic purposes,” Holland added with reflective curiosity.
“But there is a thing when you are training and your mind is engaged, you can feel yourself getting better. There is just something about that and why I totally agree with it when they say, ‘You should always be trying to do something new in the cockpit.’ Get a glider rating or do something new every year. That sort of thing is really a great idea, I think. I do upset recovery training, for example. I also go to sim training. Once a year for recurrent is good, but I like the idea of getting out there twice a year, so I signed up for the unlimited option. When I go for recurrent training, it’s very regimented, and when I go back six months later, we spend two or three days trying different things. That’s a different kind of learning.”
While Holland prefers to fly his own jet alone, he notes that it’s helpful to routinely fly with others. Additionally, he frequently enlists the support of another pilot when on the road.
“I am single pilot rated [in the 525-series] and love flying single pilot. It’s one of my favorite things to do, but I also fly with another pilot frequently. Especially anytime I do anything band-related, I always have someone else with me in the cockpit. They have responsibility for the plane, and I’m just along to have fun when it’s for a work situation.”
Speaking of work, The Offspring recently completed a 24-city domestic tour celebrating their tenth studio album – Let the Bad Times Roll.
“The majority of my flying recently has been for the band. That typical mission may be three or four hundred miles, maybe a little less. You stage a tour not by the legs of the plane but by the bus. It has to get from Phoenix to Albuquerque, or whatever, in order to make it for the next night’s show. So, the stage lengths are kind of limited by how far you can drive a bus at night. It makes the flights really manageable. As you know, an eight-hour drive is a one-hour flight, pretty much. We will typically have five onboard, with a lot of night flying. The CJ1 is just a great platform for that kind of mission.”
