Leaving on a jet plane!
“You look like a kid in a candy store,” my wife chuckled. Of course I did: I was on my way to pilot a jet for the first time! Belting out the appropriate John Denver (“So kiss me and smile for me…”), I bounded out of the house…
A few days before, my long-time flight instructor and friend Jenifer Pekar had put me in touch with a veteran Continental/United captain now flying corporate charters. He needed (per certain FAA regs) a second multi-engine, instrument-rated pilot for a short ferry flight in a jet. Would I be interested? Are you kidding?!
Our ride was a Cessna Citation II (abbreviated C550), a twin-engine, light corporate jet that seats 10. This particular Citation was a Super II, meaning the original Pratt & Whitney engines had been replaced (for $1.9mm) with the more powerful Williams FJ44-3A turbofans, yielding a top speed of 416kts and a ceiling of 43,000’. Holy smoke, those were crazy numbers! It’s mathematically difficult to compare turbofan thrust with piston engine horsepower (explained here), but consider this: a 350hp piston engine will climb a 4300-lb. Piper Malibu at 1,000 ft/min., while EACH of the two FJ44-3As will, on its own, climb the 13,500-lb Citation II at 1,750 ft/min. 3X the weight, 2X the climb, single engine! In the two days before the flight, I crammed into my head as much as I could about those engines and the plane’s systems, equipment and operation…
The Cessna Citation Super II on the ramp at Galveston Scholes Airport.
The Citation II cabin is considerably bigger than newer light jets and can legitimately seat 10.
This C550’s panel had been updated with the latest Garmin avionics.
I met Captain Bill (name changed for privacy) the day of the flight, and we drove together to the plane in Galveston (GLS). This wasn’t the first time we’d met — he’d been the Designated Examiner who’d signed me off for my commercial license in 2005 and multi-engine rating in 2009. I had a glimmer of hope that I’d get to do more than just warm the right seat, because on my examination rides Bill, after determining I was qualified for the rating I was seeking, had seemed genuinely interested in imparting some of the flying wisdom he’d gleaned from his decades of airline experience. He’s type-rated in a dozen different airliners and didn’t need another jet landing in his logbook. I, on the other hand…
Our preparation was low-key. We completed the pre-flight inspection together (including reconnecting the main battery in the rear crawl space), and I learned a lot. As we climbed in, Bill said, “You can fly this leg, if you like.” Woohoo!!
But meanwhile I’d had my eye on the weather: we were flying from Galveston Scholes Airport to Houston-Southwest Airport (AXH), south of Houston, and there was a raging thunderstorm over Houston. But it was well north of I-10, for now. I spent a few moments privately reminding myself that I’d read dozens of reports of “junior” pilots who hadn’t spoken up to their senior co-pilots about dangerous weather (or the like) and not lived to tell about it. I’d always considered myself impervious to get-there-itis because I meticulously plan around it. But what about fly-it-itis? If the storm gets dangerously close to AXH, would I cancel this flight and my first chance to fly a jet? I’d like to think the answer is yes. For better or worse, it never came to that: the thunderstorm stayed well clear of our destination. Good to go!
Bill did start the engines: as in turboprops, that’s a tricky and high-risk maneuver, especially if your battery’s not topped off. After he did, I could see the obvious instrument readings, but the engines were so quiet (and there was no whirling prop) that when Bill said, “Your airplane, taxi her out,” I barely resisted the urge to ask him if they were really on!
Several aspects of flying a jet (at least this jet) are easier than flying a high-performance piston plane. The most obvious is engine management. The Citation II has a FADEC (full authority digital engine control) thrust lever for each engine. Push forward go faster, pull back go slower. That’s quite different — and simpler — than the throttle/propeller/mixture knobbery found in a Malibu or Bonanza. It was also obvious that there were no cylinders banging anywhere near us when we skipped the pre-takeoff run-up (a ritual performed in piston planes to check the spark plugs, magnetos, etc.) and taxied right onto the runway… Lots to soak up in so little time!
After the requisite briefing, it was time to launch. '“Your takeoff,” Bill didn’t have to remind me. As I advanced the thrust levers, the acceleration of the relatively load-free jet smoothly drove me back into the sheepskin seat. It felt like the first time I floored a Tesla: no lurching, no hiccups, no hesitations, just an effortless and polished zoom down the runway. “V1, rotate.” And we were off!
The modified Citation II will climb at 4,500 ft./min. (whew), so almost immediately we reduced power to level off at 1500’ for our short VFR flight to Houston and to comply with a regulation I’d never before had reason to worry about: the 200kt speed limit below Houston’s Class B airspace. (The C550 will, if you let it, easily bust its low-altitude max operating speed of 262kts.).
Purring along at 190kts, we approached Houston Southwest Airport in a hurry. Embarrassingly, I was focused enough on the cockpit that I almost missed the turn onto final approach at AXH Runway 27. 7-mile final, flaps down, wheels down, more flaps down, and cross the numbers at 100kts. Never having landed a plane like this before, I obviously got some guidance from Bill, but I was chanting to myself the landing mantra that my taildragger instructor (and flying legend) Bruce Bohannon swears makes landing any plane easy: “Glide it down, round it out, let it settle, hold it back.” Turns out that works pretty darn well in the Citation II!
So far, I’d tried to be (outwardly) pretty cool about this whole jet thing. That effort went totally off the rails after we shut down, when I asked Bill if he minded my taking a photo in the cockpit. About that time, he helpfully reminded me that I was, in fact, a commercial pilot (and not a tourist) by handing me my fee for the flight. Hard to believe, but I actually got paid for this foolishness!
I owe a huge thanks to Jenifer Pekar for the opportunity, and of course to Bill for his generosity and guidance and patience in allowing me to pilot my first flight in a jet. What a hoot! I suspect it won’t be the last time…
