Page 28 - Dec 19 TNT

One of the companies I fly for recently acquired a Gulfstream 150, and over the past several months, our pilot group (mostly accustomed to f lying lighter Learjets and Cita- tions) has been getting checked out in the new machine. Two in the group spent a couple of weeks and $40,000 each completing the full simulator training course. The rest of us took the ground school course the aircraft management company put on, then completed flight train- ing in the airplane itself – leading to a 61.55 check ride and a second in command rating. I have been through this process several times over the years, and starting to get the ritual down pretty well.
You would think the main chal- lenge in approaching a new or dif- ferent airplane would be the “flying” part. Perhaps crosswind landings, V1 cuts or other such maneuvers. But at least for me, that is not the case. This is probably because with time, you come to realize that all airplanes are similar in the way the controls work, and they also have a lot of operational limitations in common. For example, just about all small corporate type jets have an
engine starting wind limitation of 10 knots if the engine’s intakes are facing downwind. Another example is the operation of windshield heat is usually prohibited while on the ground. The challenge is figuring what is unique or different about a new-to-you airplane, then apply- ing that information in some practi- cal fashion.
Recognizing this is where the challenge lies, the ground school emphasized to us the differences in a G150 – and there are quite a few of them. Most may seem relatively minor or petty in the large scheme of things, but they are nevertheless important from a practical point of view. For example, somewhat sur- prisingly, the first and most impor-
tant thing for any experienced pro- fessional corporate pilot to master is the the cabin door. If the passengers see the pilot stumbling over the ev- eryday act of opening or closing the door, they automatically assume his or her piloting skills must lack, and everything else that subsequently occurs during the flight will be in- terpreted through that negative lens. And the G150 has a couple of real “gotchas” when it comes to the door.
First, the door is big and heavy, hinging onto the bottom of the fuselage. There is a flush-mounted handle at about eye level that oper- ates a lever that turns and pulls all the locking pins holding the door. Once unlocked, a pretty hefty tug makes it start to drop down, and the tendency is to try and cush- ion its descent with your hand because you are standing right un- der it. But, it turns out the door has hydraulic cylinders that limit the
Key pilot memory item: don’t forget to retrieve the wood block that keeps the door from overextending during passenger boarding.
The G150 nose wheel steering system has a pin that is pulled when parked and must be re-inserted before taxi, a task that is sometimes easier said than done.
26 • TWIN & TURBINE / December 2019 Jet Journal