I only fly the back side with two pilots. I let the copilot cat nap but I never do


This past Sunday we didn't fly until 10pm. Watched basketball, surfed BT and did some work. Napped for about 4 hours. Flew 4.5 hours. Landed at 4am west coast time and slept until 10am. Tuesday about 4pm...I felt like a truck ran me over. Swore I would never do it again. Woke up Weds refreshed and recanted. Repeat.

Here is the flight aware view prior to flight

I've been experiencing co-pilot issues. One I used got a full time salary position and is very hard to coordinate a trip with. Another was hired by SW. Have a retired AA captain current in the 767, over 20,000 hours, insurer wants him to go to Citation school. That's 10g or more and he's not willing to pay for it. I'm not flying the Citation enough for that to make sense. Several other highly experienced folks aren't will to pay for or to take the time to go to another school in addition to those already required.
Taking the King Air this weekend.

Dave, how much are you typically paying a co pilot per day?

$500-$700

Best thing to do is get SPW and then bring whoever you want. Been loving it. Just having someone along to run checklists and discuss options (weather) it helpful. So many people willing to jump at the chance.

SIC rated guys are charging $500 here; PIC typed guys $550.
I just have to see if it's worth it for me. I'm only using it about 50 hours a year and the King Air is fine for most trips. There's also the time commitment. And trying to stay proficient.

I'll fly with ya any time for that pay! And you don't even have to exercise your SPW!

Would it not be actually less expensive to have only the Citation? No second hangar, insurance, maintenance, training costs? While the Citation is not as efficient for the short hops, it would likely still be cheaper than owning a King Air in addition to do those hops.

Mike C.

I'll fly with ya any time for that pay! And you don't even have to exercise your SPW!

Mike: I own the King Air: lease the Citation for long trips with lots of folks.

Would you be willing to describe the general terms of the lease?

Curious both ways, as a potential lessor and leaser, how that works and what magnitude of money is involved.

Mike C.

Are you in the Dallas area! Citation rated?

Might be difficult to coordinated flights with you that far away .

Dry lease for an hourly rate. No minimum but I told them I'd try to fly 50 hours this year. Just got home, I'll post over the weekend.

A dry lease has to meet several criteria to pass the FAA sniff test. The lesee has to control the destination and timing of the flight and chooses the flight crew. The leasor maintains the plane and is paid an hourly rate. In my case, $1,000 an hour hobbs off the squat switch. I am PIC and have an SIC; Leasor pays all maintenance, hangar, insurance. I ran the numbers and for 50 hours a year, this is more reasonable than me owning. If I was flying 150 a year or more, it might make sense to own. So, I do own the King Air and flew it almost 150 hours last year. 40 on the Citation this year that I dry lease, although 80 Citation hours for the year.
It's an excellent opportunity to see if I really use the plane and like it. If I don't, I can cancel any time. Not on my financial statement which is important since I use a lot of credit in my business. I do disclose the lease but state it's cancelable at any time. For the leasor, it lowers his fixed maintenance cost. He was only flying it 50 hours a year. He's happy and I'm tickled pink. $25MM smooth insurance.