I am now flying jets for a living...

 

My first flight was in a Citation 550 to do three landings with the chief pilot Andy. What is the most impressive at first is the acceleration you feel when full power is applied on the take off roll. By the time I started getting over that Andy called V1 and Vr and up we went in a hurry. I leveled up around 2,000ft and had to be reminded to ease up on the power otherwise I would bust the 250kts speed limitation below 10,000ft. We took the airplane over Galveston bay and I did a few steep turns to get a better feel for the airplane. We then headed for Ellington field for my first landing. The approach went well but I flared it like a 172 and kept floating a couple feet above the runway until I got the stick shaker a which time the airplane finally smoothly settled down on the runway. We applied full power and stayed in the pattern for a second landing. This landing went well and we went back to Hobby for the third one which was a greaser.

 

A couple of days later I went on my first trip with Andy, the destination was Philadelphia. On the 3.5 hrs flight up we cruised at FL450, far above any airliner though the airplane is a bit slower around Mach 0.66. On the return trip the weather was turning rainy and control had us get to cruise altitude by having us flying level every few thousand feet. We started picking up some ice around 10,000ft so I got to see how the de-icing leading edge boots worked. For this return trip we flew at FL430 and had a headwind over 100kts most of the way so it took over 4.5hrs to get back.

 

The next two weeks were spent training on the company's rules and Part 135 operations as well as the systems and limitations of the Westwind.

 

My second trip was again in the Citation with Andy, a much shorter flight to San-Antonio. It helped me get use to the flow of things I have to do before, during, and after the flight.

 

Yesterday I went for my training/check ride in the Westwind with Don, the chief of operations. My first take-off was not so pretty I had a hard time keeping the airplane on the centerline. This airplane is much heavier on the controls than the Citation, I used both hands to rotate. We flew to Lake Charles Lousiana. On the way I learned how to restart an engine in flight, did steeps turns, stalls and unusual attitudes. We then went to perform approaches at Chinnault. The first one was an ILS, followed by a single engine ILS, a LOC, a GPS, and a VOR with circling to land. My first landing wasn't so smooth but good enough. We taxied back and did a practice engine failure before V1 (abort take off) followed by a take off with an engine failure after V1 (continue take off). We came back for a visual approach and my second landing was much better. That was the end of my check ride. I am now signed off as a second in command for Part 135 flights in the Westwind.