For Byrd-ga only, please. Byrd-ga, you did a terrific job finding
local pilots that could fly copilot with me in my Cirrus SR-22 on my
initial international flights.  I also am rated in and own a Citation
501-SP, which is a small business jet that is rated for single pilot
operation.  I am rated to fly the Citation 501-SP single pilot but all
of my training experience has been with a copilot or on a Flight
Safety simulator.  Since I trained out of state, I wondered if you
could help me find a pilot who would be willing to fly training
missions with me out of Opa Locka in a Citation 501 and who is rated,
current and experienced in the Citation 501 and familiar with the
navigation and avionics equipment in my Citation.

The kind of missions I would be looking to fly would start and end at
Opa Locka and typically would involve either a half day or a full day
of flying.  The purpose of the missions would be to develop competence
setting up and executing IFR flight plans and published approaches
(GPS and ILS approaches) at various Florida airports. So a typical
mission would consist of pre filing 4 or 5 IFR flight plans in
advance, beginning with KOPA, hop scotching to a number of different
Florida airports, doing one or more published approaches at each of
these airports and then returning to KOPA.  We would land at some of
the airports, and to save breaks and tires, we might ask to do a
missed approach in some cases in which we would fly to the runway and
then go missed.  After going missed, we might either ask to fly the
published missed approach and then set up for another approach or we
might ask to open our next flight plan to the next airport. 
Ultimately we would land back at KOPA.  I would want to practice doing
these flight plans and approaches both coupled with the autopilot and
uncoupled following the flight manager. Given that I would have an
experienced copilot, I would want to do some of the approaches with a
hood (vision limiting device) to simulate IMC weather conditions.

My 501's avionics is undergoing an extensive rebuild and as rebuilt it
will have a Garmin 530 GPS with TAWS and a Garmin 430 GPS.  I have had
about 600 hours flying with the Garmin 430 GPS, so I will be quite
familiar with its operation, although I have not used Garmin's TAWS
feature. It would be helpful if my copilot also had some familiarity
with the Garmin 530/430 series.  The Citation has a Garmin MX20
multifunction display that, in addition to taking navigation from the
Garmin 530 GPS, will display weather data from a Garmin GDL69A XM
Satellite Weather source, display weather from the Bendix King ARTS
2000 and will display traffic from a Garmin 330D transponder. It would
be helpful if the copilot had some familiarity with the Garmin MX20
multifunction display, as I have not used the MX20 before.  The
Citation also has Bender King ARTS 2000 Radar weather.  I do not have
any experience with the Bender King ARTS 2000, so it would be helpful
if the copilot had some experience with this radar weather system.

Familiarity with the Garmin and Bendix King navigation and avionics
equipment that is installed in my Citation would be particularly
helpful. All other things being equal, if the copilot has some
experience in fight instruction that might be helpful, since he would
be used to flying repetitive practice approaches in a training
environment.

The avionics systems are still being installed in my plane, so I would
be ready to start training around the end of July, 2005. I would
probably want 30 to 50 hours of actual flying time with the copilot,
and I would give deference to his/her judgment as to whether I am
ready to fly the Citation solo at that point.

It would probably be more helpful to have the name of one or perhaps
two, for backup, pilots that were experience both in the Citation 501
and with the Garmin MX20, 530 and Bendix King radar weather systems in
my Citation as opposed to a half dozen references who were current in
the Citation 501, but not familiar with my avionics.

Thank you for your help.

---

Request for Question Clarification by byrd-ga on 02 Jul 2005 16:45 PDT

Hi sl7-ga,

Does your type rating for the Citation on your certificate say
"CE-500?" I ask because I'm reviewing pilot qualifications, and many
are listed by type rating only, rather than aircraft make/model, etc.
A number of sites says the CE-500 type rating covers the 501, but I
wanted to check with you to be sure before assuming anything.

Thanks much,
Byrd-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by byrd-ga on 03 Jul 2005 06:39 PDT

Hello sk7-ga,

I'm fairly sure I already know the answer to the previous question,
though I would still like your reply. However, I have a few additional
questions:

1) Are you interested primarily in someone already located in the
Miami area, who would be available on an on-going occasional on-call
basis for these training flights and will bill by the flight hour or
day rate? Or

2) Would you be open to a contract arrangement to complete the
estimated (30-50) hours within a specified period of time? If so, how
long a period? Also,

3) Would you alternatively be interested in completing the hours in a
more condensed period of time with a qualified Instructor Pilot who
would need to temporarily relocate to Miami for the duration (similar
to the IFR training companies that send an instructor to a particular
location)?

I have been in touch with several possible candidates, and these are
questions that have come up, so thank you very much for any additional
information you can provide on these points.

Best,
Byrd-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sl7-ga on 05 Jul 2005 08:48 PDT

Sorry I have taken so long to clarify, I was away for the 4th weekend.
You are correct on the Citation 501-SP rating, the license rating code
is "CE-500".  As to your second clarification request, all things
being equal, I would prefer a pilot that lived in the Miami area an
that was willing to fly with me at a set daily or hourly rate. I
believe I will want 40 to 50 hours of flying time with the pilot, but
it would be more convenient with me not to schedule it all in one
week. On the other hand, if you feel that the quality of instruction
for my specific avionics systems would improve by bringing in someone
who is not in the Miami area for a week, then I would want to go that
route. For example if you found an out of state pilot who was well
versed in using the Garmin MX-20 multifunction display in conjunction
with the Garmin GPS 430/530 series and Bendix King ARTS 2000 radar but
the local pilots were only familiar with the standard Citation 501
avionics configuration, then I would prefer to train for a week with
the out of state pilot and I might, after that training, still from
time to time want to fly with a pilot who simply has a substantial
amount of experience in the Citation 501 but who was not familiar with
my specific avionics.  Thank you for asking the question.

---

Request for Question Clarification by byrd-ga on 05 Jul 2005 17:42 PDT

Hello sl7,

Given the holiday, I rather assumed you were away. I hope you had an
enjoyable weekend. Thank you very much for the clarification. It helps
to have a better idea of your priorities as well as to answer
questions from interested parties and screen their responses more
accurately.

This is not a request for clarification so much as a status report to
let you know I'm making good progress on your question. The holiday
weekend did affect matters somewhat, of course, but I have
nevertheless been in contact with some likely candidates, and am
expecting to be able to post your answer within 2-3 days at most,
hopefully sooner. I'm waiting on some further communications, as I
want to be sure I've tracked available leads as well as possible.

Regards,
Byrd-ga

Hello sl7,

Thank you for a very interesting challenge. You'll be glad to know I
was able to locate a number of excellent candidates for your
consideration regarding your training needs in your freshly upgraded
Citation 501-SP. I have reviewed the qualifications of more than 40
possible applicants, and though I'm still receiving communications
from interested parties, I'm going ahead and posting this answer, as I
know you've been waiting nearly a week for it. This list includes
several outstanding pilots, but if I should receive information
concerning someone even more qualified after posting, I will post that
as a clarification.

As you've indicated in your clarification, you're aware they may not
all be located in Florida, but pilots are a mobile bunch, and those
listed who are outside of Florida are all willing to work with you on
the location issue. As you also surmised, some have heavy Citation
experience, but less with your specific avionics, while those who are
more familiar with the "boxes" don't necessarily have the most flight
time. But I believe all have something to offer. So here are those
candidates I think best meet your stated criteria, and have the
ability to do a good job for you according to the needs you've
outlined. I have been in direct contact with all of them, and list
them with their permission.

If any emails don't work or links are broken, please ask for help, and
I will recheck my records and repost any information if necessary.
Also, please ask if there is anything else you would like to know
about any of these candidates, as I only summarized their information
for you, rather than posting entire resumes. And of course, do let me
know if anything needs clarifying.

Best regards,
Byrd-ga

################################################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=================
  COLIN OGILVIE
=================

RATINGS: ATP (MEL/SEL); CFII/MEI, Class I medical (Exp.12/05) CE-500
Typed. Part 135 current.

AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - 21,000 hours total time
  - >1,200 hours in CE-500/550 series (doesn't know exact breakdown for 501SP); 
  - >2,000 in CE560XL and CE525
  - Supervision captain/instructor pilot for Citation Excel
  - CE500/550 Captain
  - CE525 Single pilot
  - Transatlantic flight experience in Citation Excel 
  - International experience in Citation and other aircraft, including
operations in Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and all over Europe,
especially Germany and Switzerland, and currently Saudi Arabia.

AVIONICS Experience: Is experienced with the Garmin 430/530 and has
downloadable manual, which he will be happy to share with you. Could
not recall the specific model numbers of multi-function displays or
radar weather systems, but he has used a number of them, and says they
are all similar. He is differences trained; knows how to program them;
understands the new digital formats, as well as TAWS features; and
talked knowledgably about correct interpretation of information
received.

LOCATION: Kissimmee, FL home base. 
*Note: He says he flew out of Opa Locka nearly every day while doing
cargo runs to Bahamas. He is currently on assignment in Saudi Arabia,
but due back in Florida by the end of the month, though willing to
make arrangements to return sooner if you should prefer.

TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Negotiable and flexible. 

OTHER INFO: UK Passport with U.S. Alien Registration Card (Green Card). 

CONTACT: 
  - Email: cogilviema@aol.com  
  - Phone: Saudi: 966506232598 FL: (407) 348-0759 

================
  BILL BARTELL
================

RATINGS: ATP (MEL/SEL/Glider); CFI/CFII/MEI/CFI-G (Exp6/06); Class I
Medical (3/05); CE-500 Typed. Part 135 current.

AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - 14,000 hours total time
  - More than 3,000 hours in Citations
  - Currently average 50 hours per month in Citations as a contract pilot. 
  - Citation type rating instructor
  - Citation test pilot: Sierra Industries ( http://www.sijet.com );
Garrett Aviation - Houston (flew the C501 Eagle to certification;
recurrent twice monthly test flights on aircraft w/modifications).
  - Part 135 Captain for 2 Citations based at KSAT
  - Part 135 approved Citation check pilot
  - Citation ferry pilot
  - Citation recurrency instructor at FSI
  
AVIONICS Experience: 
  - Sees all the avionics packages that are STC'd for the CE-500
series, which includes those you listed. Test pilot duties include
using newly installed engines and avionics packages, as well as doing
the differences training for the customers. Specific comments
included:
    * Garmin 530/430 is his specialty. Says he can "make it do anything you like!"
    * Very familiar with the MX20 with WSI. Says he appreciates seeing
both horizontal and vertical radar depictions, as well as being able
to get METARs in flight.

LOCATION: Uvalde, TX (south central)

TERMS/AVAILABILITY: 
  Contract rate is $500/day plus expenses. Nearest airline connection
KSAT. Flexible.

CONTACT:
  Website: http://mycontractpilots.com
  Email: bill@glider.com 
  Phone: (830) 591-1769

===============
  GUY BENNETT
===============

RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL); CFII/MEI/AGI/IGI; A&P; 1st Class medical;
CE500 typed; Part 135 current

AIRCRAFT Experience:
  - 14,400 Total hours, currently averaging 100+ hours/month
  - >350 hours in C-501
  - Annual CE-500 recurrency/certification training
  - >80 hours instructing in C-501
  - Contract positions included PIC, Chief Pilot, Chief Flight Instructor 

AVIONICS Experience:
  - Very familiar with Garmin Series 430/530
  - Differences trained on all avionics systems/boxes in the industry.

LOCATION: Jacksonville, FL

TERMS/AVAILABILITY: 
  - 1/2 day $2-350; 
  - 1 day $4-600;
  - 5-6 days/mo. inclusive $4k in-state; 
  - 7-10 days/mo. inclusive $6k in-state; 
  - per diem $40;
  - overnight $200; 
  - travel $300 in-state, $500 interstate, international at cost. 
  - Availability flexible and open to discussion. 

CONTACT: 
  - Email: guycapt@msn.com  
  - Phone: (904) 742-2399

================
  MARTIN SOBEL
================  

Located in Florida, this retired TWA airline captain also doesn't have
the direct experience with your specific avionics, but he is in
Florida, and his four decades and thousands of hours of flight
experience might be of interest to you, as you mentioned, for someone
to fly with from time to time after getting up to speed on the boxes.

RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL); CFII/MEI/GI/CFI-G; FE turbojet; Class I
medical; CE-500 typed. Part 135 current.

AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - 24,000+ hours total time; CE500 series approx. 1,000 hours CE560
Citation Ultra.
  - Flight Safety International instructor and check airman: CE 560 Ultra

AVIONICS Experience: Experienced, of course, with all types of
avionics. W/regard to yours, he attended a seminar last month in
Tampa, FL on new Garmin models and foresees no difficulty in quickly
getting up to speed on them.

LOCATION: Sarasota, FL

TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Negotiable. 

CONTACT: 
  - Email: rv8vator@comcast.net 

################################################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The above four pilots are those whose qualifications were the best
match for your needs. However, I'd like to list a few more whose
experience/credentials might also be a good fit, just so you can keep
their names as reference in case, for whatever reason, the above
people don't work out, or even if you'd just like to fly with a
different IP/safety pilot from time to time to gain perspective and/or
new insights.

================
  MICHAEL TUTT
================
Located in Texas, this former USAF fighter pilot/IP is typed and
current in the Citation 501, and is also a contract pilot willing to
travel.

RATINGS: ATP (MEL/SEL); FE; Class II Medical (Exp9/05); CE-500 Typed
AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - Total time: 6062 hours
  - Jet time 5,771 hours (incl.>1,000 hours F-16)
  - Citation time: approx. 100 hours 
  - Simuflite Citation instructor
  - Current USAF Reserve AT-38 Instructor Pilot
AVIONICS Experience: Familiar with and has used all the items you
mention except the Garmin 330D transponder. Recently ferried a CE-501
with type-rated owner/pilot, which was outfitted with the Garmin 530
w/TAWS feature.
LOCATION: Flower Mound, TX (Dallas area)
TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Normal single-pilot terms are $500/day plus
expenses; willing to negotiate on right seat contract. Has airline
passes for flight(s) to Miami at nominal cost. There are nine flights
per day from DFW, the earliest arriving Miami 9 AM.
CONTACT: 
  - Email: kingtutt11@comcast.net  
  - Phone: (214) 663-6546

==========================
  JOSEPH (JOEY) HARRISON
==========================
Another Texan, this Simuflite IP/DPE with several thousand hours in
Citations might be a good backup for flight time.

RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL/G); AGI/IGI; FE turbojet; A&P; CE500 Designated
Pilot Examiner/IP; CE500 typed.
AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - 17,500 hours PIC
  - CE-500/550: 5,500 hours PIC; 1,400 hours SIC
  - Simuflite, Inc. Instructor Pilot/Designated Pilot Examiner for CE500/550
  - GPS and avionics training instructor
AVIONICS Experience: Experience on a variety of systems, though not
your particular package, except to say he felt they were all similar
and didn't foresee any problems with using them.
LOCATION: Decatur, TX (NW of Dallas/Ft.Worth)
TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Negotiable and flexible. 
CONTACT: 
  - Email: joeyh1951@yahoo.com  
  - Phone: (817) 307-1730

===============
  ROBERT KEEL
===============
RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL); CFII/MEI; Class I medical; CE-500 typed. 
AIRCRAFT Experience:
  - 8624 hours total time
  - >500 hours CE-501
  - Experience in training pilots for type certification
AVIONICS Experience: Knows the Garmin 530; experience with a different MFD
LOCATION: Bedford, TX
TERMS/AVAILABILITY:  $450/day plus expenses. Somewhat flexible, prefer
to schedule ahead.
CONTACT: 
  - Email: keelac49@aol.com 
  - Phone: (817) 891-6418

===============
  WRIGHT BASS
===============
RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL); CFII/MEI; Class I medical; CE-500 typed
AIRCRAFT Experience:
  - 6077 hours total time
  - >700 hours single pilot Citation time; 159 in CE-501
AVIONICS Experience: Very familiar and experienced with your particular avionics: 
  - Heavy exp. w/Garmin 430/530 and MX20; 
  - Moderate exp. with B/K Rdr and ART 2000; 
  - Light exp. with Garmin 330D, TAWS, and GDLL69A SM satellite weather system. 
LOCATION: Sausalito, CA
TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Negotiable. Flexible though intermittent.  
CONTACT: 
  - Email: bassw@earthlink.net

===============
  JOHN CUSTER
===============
RATINGS: ATP (SEL/MEL); CFII 
AIRCRAFT Experience: Another example of a very high time pilot/IP. 
  - 20,300 hours total time over 30+ years. 
  - 14,200 hours Citation time
AVIONICS Experience: Limited Garmin, but extensive CE500 standard packages.
LOCATION: Camden, MI
TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Negotiable and flexible. 
CONTACT: 
  - Email: jpsacuster@frontiernet.net

=================
  OSVALDO ORTIZ
=================
I include this gentleman largely because of his enthusiasm,
flexibility, and interesting background, though of course he is also a
highly qualified pilot with experience applicable to your needs.

RATINGS: Argentina 1st Class Commercial w/Instrument, Night and ME
ratings; Flight Engineer; Flight Instructor; electronic Technician;
CE-500 typed.
AIRCRAFT Experience: 
  - >3,000 hours total time
  - Worked for Cessna-Argentina, including flying Citations as SIC
  - Has PIC SP experience in 501 also. 
AVIONICS Experience: Includes experience w/different packages, and
also comments on the similarity between makes, though didn't expressly
mention Garmin or B/K.
LOCATION: Buenos Aires, Argentina - willing to relocate without
condition to just about anywhere.
TERMS/AVAILABILITY: Open to negotiation; entirely flexible and eager. 
CONTACT: 
  - Email: noraviacion@ciudad.com.ar 
  - Phone: (+54 011)4825-4079 or (+54 011)4974-9865 

##############################################################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEARCH STRATEGY:

I began by searching pilot jobs databases for suitable candidates, and
then followed by posting targeted notices on a number of
employment-related pilot forums and job boards/employment sites. While
there are some that require payment to post job notices, I used only
free ones. To locate them, I used both the pilot jobs database on
landings.com as well as the search terms:

  [pilot jobs OR employment]
  [free pilot jobs OR employment]
  [citation training]
  [citation training florida]

 On receiving resumes, or messages of interest, I first scanned
overall qualifications for basic relevance, and then corresponded with
qualified parties to further elicit details pertinent to your specific
needs, as well as obtain permission for posting contact details.

Resources used:
  http://www.aviationcareer.com
  http://www.biggles.com
  http://www.citation-pilots.com/
  http://www.climbto350.com
  http://www.findapilot.com
  http://forums.flightinfo.com/
  http://www.flitejobs.com
  http://www.pilots4rent.com
  http://www.wingsonline.com

---

Clarification of Answer by byrd-ga on 08 Jul 2005 10:13 PDT

Dear sl7-ga,

I inadvertently left out a couple of pertinent items re: one pilot
candidate, i.e. "Wright Bass." Please note that he has
  - >400 hours instruction logged in Citations (esp.C-525) & Conquests; and is a
  - Former computer programmer and computer instructor

Thank you.
Byrd-ga

Byrd-ga: Once again, you have out done yourself. Thank you for an outstanding job!

Dear sl7-ga,

You are so very welcome! I truly enjoyed this assignment, and I am
very happy you're pleased with the results. Thank *you* for your kind
words and generous tip. I wish you much success in your future flying
adventures!

Best wishes,
Byrd-ga

Dear me, I certainly intended to thank you also for the five-star
rating. Don't know how in the world I managed to miss typing that, but
I was certainly thinking it. So thank you!  And again, best wishes.