Propellers are for boats .... That is all I could think of as I stood the throttles up for my first takeoff from the left seat of a jet, with an ear to ear grin on my face. Coming from piston twins, the performance was breathtaking. My demo flight on an Eclipse 500 made me realize I'd never be satisfied flying a piston again. This flight began mostly out of innate curiosity. With no serious interest of owning or flying a jet, I presumed there was also no way I could afford it. Determined to…
As a former Eclipse employee, it is awesome to hear these stories of people enjoying something I helped build. The original Eclipse was a great place to work, and even knowing the end of the story I would do it all over again. I hope you continue to enjoy flying them as much as I enjoyed building them.
"Our particular aircraft had no De-Icing systems, no DME, no approved GPS, no traffic, no weather, no radar, no moving map, no FMS, and an autopilot which was little more than a wing leveler (and would often kick off at the most inopportune times)." - Sounds like an awesome machine! Congrats on the type rating anyway.
" Our particular aircraft had no De-Icing systems, no DME, no approved GPS, no traffic, no weather, no radar, no moving map, no FMS, and an autopilot which was little more than a wing leveler (and would often kick off at the most inopportune times). "
Lol! Hey, it is a jet though! I'm amazed it was certified for IFR. Is flying your twin with inop equipment even legal?
In a jet we have a document called an MMEL, which will tell us whether or not we are allowed to fly with inop equipment. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes there will be special operating considerations for an inop system or component. For instance, you may be limited to daytime flight, have to fly with a copilot, stay below a certain altitude, depart with full fuel tanks, etc. In a light piston plane, we would need to refer to FAR 91.213 and 91.205 to tell us what (functional) equipment would be required for flight (whether that be daytime, nighttime, VFR, IFR, etc.) To answer your question, yes, it is acceptable to fly a twin with an inop auto pilot. I know this might be tough to believe, but some airplanes do not have one installed at all! ;)
Wow, thanks for sharing. The most sophisticated I've flown is a Mooney on my way to a commercial license in San Jose. Now I'm 78 and have grounded myself....but the love has never left me.
Nice story. Great job. No DME seems a little unrealistic in a jet,, you must be good and fast doing internal arithmetic. I would have trouble with that. Are you sure you didn't have an ipad!
You know I always have my iPad! Yes, the 1.0 version of the airplane has a much higher pilot workload than the later versions. I should mention that Eclipse Aerospace has 'completed' the airplane, and the new 550 is a very impressive and capable jet.
Just for shits n giggles. I owned a 1988 hydrostream 20' vegas st modified air entrapment tunnel V with a 200 Merc black max with a Quicksilver laser II 25 " prop and I had more fun actually "Flying" that boat up and down Lake Joseph, Muskoka Lakes Ontario at 84 mph. I have also about 8.5 book hrs on my Dad's Comanche 250 a 63 PA24 250 about 30 yrs ago and had the then known as "pinch hitter course" before ground school. My Dad liked to come in too hot and wallow over the runway too far @15% flaps,where I landed it 3 times at Full flaps and about 8 knts slower. I guess everyone had to figure out their own comfort zone with a Comanche lol. I love flyin in the air as much as the water! I love that new ICON for the best of both worlds!
An amazing airplane, especially if you need to get places fast. Most of my flying is for fun so saving time isn't the goal. For me nothing beats a sunset flight over the Golden Gate and the cost is so small ($25) I don't give it a thought.
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