Gear Up: A New Kind of Flying for a Turboprop Pilot

Dick Karl

Wednesday, January 04, 2012 at 09:09 PM ET

Verified

** A Learjet 31 is down low for show**

Key Takeaways:

The author recounts his exhilarating and challenging first days as a Learjet First Officer, learning critical procedures and priority-setting from his patient captain, Mike, in a two-person cockpit environment.
He highlights the unexpected benefits and special treatment received while wearing the pilot's uniform, alongside positive interactions with appreciative passengers.
Despite initial errors and navigating turbulence, the author successfully completes his first commercial flights, culminating in a deep sense of accomplishment and contentment 44 years after his first solo.

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(January 2012) It has been a long first day as a first officer. We’re in Asheville (KAVL), North Carolina, about to airline back to Tampa, Florida, via Charlotte, North Carolina. My captain at Elite Air, Mike Bronisz, is on the phone with dispatch. I watch as the corners of his mouth turn up and his eyes take on a certain glow. He gesticulates with his free hand: thumb up. “We’re deadheading the Lear back to St. Pete,” he says. Oh, boy. We’ve already flown from St. Pete (KPIE) to Lakeland (KLAL), Florida, and picked up passengers to bring to Asheville, and this gift from dispatch means we’ll be home in time for dinner. Not to mention that we get to fly back empty, a good thing for an FO on his first day.

I scurry to file a flight plan, and Mike orders up 150 gallons of jet-A. I’m starting to get the hang of the flight management system and the calculations for bug speeds, so I am proud to attend to these matters. Just like that we’re taking our private Lear 31 back home.