Because of your contact with so many pilots, let me elaborate a little about Executive Flight Training. I would recommend this training without reservation to pro pilots who are already well familiar with King Airs. Doug made it clear that he’s not really after the initial training market. I think he has probably considered his niche carefully and made a wise choice. Here’s the deal.

He has put together an extremely good ground program, and he presents it very well. His program is Windows based and he goes through slides in facilitated discussion just like the majors do. Honestly I thought his ground program was noticeably better—and far more efficient than most of the training I’ve had at Sim Com or even Flight Safety. This is probably attributable 25% to really clear programming and 75% to Doug’s ability to present it. He’s very knowledgeable about the airplane and its systems and would be a top level instructor at any training facility I’ve attended.

The only potentially limiting factor is the Sim. It is capable of becoming several different airplanes. As a result, while it replicates the performance of the airplane quite well, it is not 100% King Air in its switch arrangement etc. Already having experience in the airplane I didn’t find this to be a problem, and I think Chuck would agree. But if someone were going for initial training, where half the objective is to learn the placement and feel of all the switches and controls, and to develop the muscle memory to flip the right ones without looking, I think there would be a few limitations. I’m sure that has a lot to do with Doug’s request that we send him experienced guys and I think that’s a good choice.

Pick and send the right pilots and I think Doug will give the majors a serious run for their money. I’ll be glad to speak with anyone who has any specific questions about the program.

Don Stansberry, III, President, Big South Fork Aero