Living Large

Engine and Systems

Forget about vibration, shock cooling, and fiddling with mixtures---turbine engines are smooth, powerful and easy to operate. Starting most turbines basically involves engaging a starter motor, spinning up the turbines and introducing fuel. Starting a turbofan equipped with fully automatic digital engine control (FADEC) is virtually a single-button operation. Unlike starting a piston, you never even think about starting with a weak battery. It takes a lot of juice to get things safely up to speed, and monitoring temperatures, particularly during the start, is a big part of operating any turbine. Once running, a single lever controls power---although, you'll have to get used to the relatively slow "spool-up" time needed to go from idle to full power, which can range from two to eight seconds, depending on the engine. On the other hand, pulling the power to idle happens rapidly and is harmless.

Turbine power will quickly transport you into the flight levels, and once you fly with pressurization, it's hard to ever go back. Cabin pressure is provided by a small amount of air siphoned from the engine through a "bleed valve." This air is cooled and fed into the pressure vessel at a continuous rate. Pressure-relief valves, usually located at the rear bulkhead, regulate cabin pressure by controlling the cabin-leak rate. Normally, two valves provide redundant operation with a safety valve to prevent overpressurization. Operation is simple, and many light jets like the Mustang are totally automatic, requiring only the field elevation to be input.

Most high-performance turbine aircraft incorporate numerous other systems, like redundant electrical supplies, ice protection systems, hydraulic systems, radar, data-link capabilities, terrain alert and warning systems (TAWS), anti-skid brakes, stick shakers, angle-of-attack indicators, flight management systems and sophisticated autopilots. Learning how to operate all this stuff is a big part of any initial training program and one reason many training courses require so much time.

Multi-Engine Turbine Considerations

In the multi-engine turbine world, checklists cover every procedure, and all landing and takeoff speeds are computed for every flight, taking into account aircraft weight, temperatures and field elevation. There are three critical speeds for takeoff; V1, Vr, and V2. V1 is called decision speed. Experience any kind of failure before V1, and you stop on the runway. Lose an engine going faster than V1 and you keep going. Accelerate to rotation speed (Vr), rotate, establish a climb, lift the gear, accelerate to the best single engine climb speed of V2, and at a predetermined safety altitude, accelerate to a "single-engine enroute" speed and raise the flaps.

Should you lose an engine just before you reach V₁, you need enough pavement remaining to stop on the runway. This so-called accelerate-stop distance determines whether a runway can be used to safely depart. Aircraft weight, field elevation and air temperature play a big part in how much runway will be needed, so it's important to make this computation for every takeoff.

In any single, you're pretty much on your own if you lose an engine; however, with two turbine engines, the FAA requires sufficient performance to take off and safely return to an airport on one engine. The rules are a bit complicated, but this requirement may affect your ability to meet required climb gradients on an instrument departure if you lose an engine. In any light jet, single-engine climb performance will be greatly reduced when departing a high-elevation airport when it's hot. For part 91 operators, specified climb gradients must be met with two engines, but the operator must have a plan for handling an engine failure, which can be a problem when instrument conditions prevail. So, if it's IMC and hot, you may be grounded at a high-elevation airport until things cool down.

For landing, the final approach is flown at a reference speed (V_ref) of 1.3 times V_so at the aircraft landing weight. In the jet world, speed control is critical, and flying an approach at Vref ensures that the aircraft will achieve book-landing distance. Many light jets have outstanding antilock brakes but no reverse thrust, so surface-braking reports become very important when the runway is anything but dry. All turboprops have the ability to reverse prop pitch slightly for braking so they can generally handle shorter runways than most jets.

What The FAA Wants Up Front

To fly a single engine, pressurized turboprop above 18,000 feet, you'll need at least a private license, complex and high-performance airplane training endorsements, an instrument rating and a high-altitude training endorsement (61.31g). You'll also need RVSM training if you want to operate above FL 280. A multi-engine rating will be needed if your airplane of choice has more than one engine. In order to make the jump into the jet world, you're also going to need a type rating and maybe some FAA-mandated mentor time.

Getting Insured

Like it or not, if you can afford to fly your own turbine airplane, you're going to need insurance. At the very minimum, every carrier will want to see at least 300 hours in your logbook before they'll insure a jump into any turbine. In the jet world, it's possible to jump from a piston with only 500 hours total time, but you'll almost certainly encounter a lot of restrictions in terms of training, mentor time and policy limitations. Most companies prefer to see at least 800-1,000 hours and a fair amount of instrument experience for any turbine transition. The best approach is to have a solid record of training and a good agent who can help develop a strategy for making the transition.

Turbine Transition Training

In general, there are two ways to train in the turbine world. The first is how you started---in the airplane. In-aircraft training is best for learning normal operations. Starting the engine, taking off, landing, flying the pattern, controlling steep turns, recovering from an impending stall, operating automation and flying approaches are all a part of the program. For safety reasons, most emergency training in the aircraft will be very conservative. An initial in-aircraft transition course takes about a week in most turboprops and around 10 days in a jet. In-aircraft mentor training is often an insurance requirement for first-time turbine pilots.

The second way to train is at a simulator-based training center. The quality of the simulator is a function of how faithfully it reproduces the airplane. At the lower end of the spectrum are non-motion simulators with a real aircraft cockpit incorporating fully working instrumentation, and limited field, "cartoon-quality" visuals. At the high end are full-motion, level-D sims that are so realistic you can even feel bumps in the pavement as you taxi to the runway. Visuals (particularly at night) are nearly photo realistic, and include ground and in-flight traffic, realistic clouds and weather viewed with a wide field display. In flight, the feel of these simulators is almost indistinguishable from the real airplane.

Regardless of the simulator you train in, you'll quickly discover that you don't spend much time flying a "normal airplane" in good weather. Think of sim time as "problem time." Systems fail, emergencies pile up, and the ceilings always seem to be at 200 feet with ¾-mile visibility. The goal is to learn to recognize and diagnose problems, manage systems, refer to checklists, make good command decisions, handle emergencies, apply SOPs, fly an approach and get the airplane safety back on the ground. These sessions are challenging, but after being pushed to your limits, you'll come out a better pilot. In the turbine world, most insurance companies encourage (and often require) recurrent annual simulator training.

Your First Type Rating

Remember that all airplanes over 12,500 pounds and all jets require a type rating. Getting typed involves two parts---training and an exam by a qualified examiner. The training typically takes from one to two weeks, and requires commitment and a bit of stamina to complete. You'll learn all of the aircraft systems, the checklist memory items, and the maneuvers needed to pass the flight test.

The type exam typically consists of an oral exam that can last from three to five hours, along with a flight test that lasts about 1.5 hours. The oral exam covers pretty much everything, and you're expected to recite the material effortlessly---stammer around too much, and you'll get sent home.

The flight test is done to ATP standards and typically covers steep turns, instrument approaches, single engine operations, emergency procedures, V1 cuts, single-engine missed approach, among other things. You can train and do the checkride in the simulator or the airplane, but if you do either in the simulator and it's your first type rating, the FARs will require 25 hours of logged mentor time before you're issued an unrestricted type rating. One tip: If you meet all the experience requirements for the ATP rating and you pass the ATP written, your checkride completes the rating. By the way, to stay current in a type-rated aircraft, you'll be required to do a 61.58 proficiency check every year, which means doing the checkride annually. If you maintain currency, it's good practice (and even fun).

One last thing to understand: At some training centers, your training may be tailored to a target rating depending on your level of experience. Light jets are approved for both single- pilot and crew operations, which require separate type ratings. Show up with experience mostly in piston airplanes (yes, even twins), and you're likely to wind up with a crew rating. After you've gained some experience flying crew (somewhere between 50 and 100 hours), you can come back and upgrade to the single-pilot rating. The minimum threshold for single-pilot jet training is typically around 1,000 hours PIC, 75 hours instrument time, and about 500 hours PIC/SIC in a turbine-powered airplane with all of the appropriate ratings.

Traveling In The Flight Levels

There are some big issues to consider when you climb into the flight levels. First, there's the weather. As you monitor center frequency, you'll discover that there are two things that airline pilots worry about. The first is the ride. Airliners have attendants walking the aisles so they avoid bumpy air whenever possible. Listen up, and you'll figure out the altitudes with smooth air.

The second is avoiding CB build-ups. One inadvertent trip through a building cumulus, and you'll figure out why---the turbulence and ice can be scary to say the least. If airline captains go around this stuff, you should too, so hone your negotiating skills. Some of the worst widespread icing can happen at the top of the clouds between 16 and 25 thousand feet. Understanding icing reports, the limitations of your ice protections systems, how to judge icing rates, the effects of icing, and how to get to better conditions quickly are key to dealing with these altitudes.

Another obvious hazard of traveling in the flight levels is the lack of air pressure. At FL 180, atmospheric pressure is half that of sea level, and at FL 410, it falls to less than 1⁄5 of sea level. An unexpected depressurization is serious business, so understanding and monitoring the pressurization system is critical. At FL 280, the time of useful consciousness is two to three minutes---plenty of time to don a mask and head down; however, at FL 410, useful consciousness decreases to 15 seconds and about half that in a rapid decompression. So, it's vital to recognize and attend to any problem rapidly. This is why turbines are equipped with quick-donning masks, and training is so important. If you're a single pilot, regulations require that you wear an oxygen mask full time above FL 350. Above FL 410, at least one crewmember has to have a mask on at all times.

Another high-altitude issue is reduced vertical separation minimums or RVSM, which requires the use of precision altimeters above FL 280 to permit 1,000 vertical feet of traffic separation. You'll need an approved RVSM manual for the aircraft, and the pilot will require special training, which takes an hour or two to complete online. It's important to understand that each time an aircraft changes hands it requires new RVSM approval from your local FSDO. Until you submit an application and receive a letter of authorization, you're restricted to flying your new plane below FL 290.

Two other weather issues of importance in the flight levels are winds and temperatures. You learned it in primary training, but now you get to actually experience the jet stream, and it's a big deal. All turbines achieve their best range at high altitude so like it or not, you are stuck with the high altitude winds. Going eastbound, a 100-180 knots tailwind becomes a real nuisance when you are headed in the other direction. Most of the time, the fuel savings gained by going high overrides wind considerations (up to around 100 knots), so wind calculations always go into turbine flight planning.

In all turboprops, but especially in light jets, the other little "gotcha" is the temperature at altitude, which can have a big effect on engine power. The temperature at your desired cruising altitude will determine how fast and maybe even how high you can go. On the ADDS website, the data that counts is the temperature difference map on the winds page http://aviationweather.gov/adds/winds/) showing temperatures normalized to ISA conditions. If it's hot up high (like over ISA+10 degrees), it will be a slow climb, and cruise speed could be as much as 20 to 30 knots slower than normal.

What Happens If Something Breaks?

FAR 91.213 prohibits flight in a turbine aircraft with inoperative instruments or equipment unless an approved, aircraft-specific minimum equipment list (MEL) exists. Without an MEL, something as simple as a burned- out post light grounds the aircraft. Remember that a MEL specifies operational limitations for inoperative equipment. So, as a turbine operator, you'll need to make sure your airplane has an approved MEL. For airplanes operating in RVSM airspace, the MEL and the RVSM manual may be the same document.

Understanding The Costs

The world of turbine ownership isn't for the financially faint of heart, so having a clear understanding of the costs before you take the leap will help align your expectations with reality. A good source of realistic information about costs can be found by joining one of the many type-specific turboprop and jet-owner organizations. Sign up, log on and ask questions---you'll find a world of help.

This is a big subject, and we've only touched on some of the important issues. It takes commitment but once you get there, living large in the turbine world is an incredibly exciting and rewarding achievement.