I had 3400 hours of piston time, but I could count my number of turbine hours on one hand.  And I could count my number of “glass panel” hours on no hands.  (Zero!)  I was concerned about my ability to get up to speed quickly enough to be able to keep up with my upcoming EA-500 type training.  So three months prior to my airplane delivery I bought one of the CLS-VLJ simulators and set it up in my basement.  On my first “flights”, I was somewhat frustrated as it seemed way too difficult to consistently maintain the pitch attitude, altitude, heading, and airspeed anywhere close to the required ATP Practical Test Standards that I knew would be required for the check ride.  I tried to fly it for 1-3 hours several times a week, and after a few weeks I was doing much better.  And I also found that I had learned enough about all the systems and synoptic pages that my startup checklist time had been reduced from 30 minutes down to 5 minutes.  After 3 months, I had become much more proficient, and couldn’t really understand why I had so much trouble back when I first got it.
 
When I went out to ABQ for my type training, the instructors explained that the course is very difficult for many people.  As we went around the room and introduced ourselves, my anxiety level went up even more as I found that I was one of only two owner-operators in the class, and most were professional pilots, including senior airline pilots.  They explained several times that we would have to study hard and spend hours in our hotel rooms “chair flying” with a poster of the panel in order to minimize the time wasted on the before-start checklist so we could have enough flying time to get competent for the check ride.
 
Well … In my first sim session I went right through all the checklists like I’d been flying it for years.  That resulted in more time in our 2-hour sessions for flying, which also came naturally due to my dozens of hours flying my CLS-VLJ sim in my basement.  Several of the other students were having trouble keeping up with the aggressive curriculum.  Some of their difficulties reminded me of the same problems I had flying my little sim at home when I first got it.  It was somewhat embarrassing that I was not only keeping up, but actually getting ahead of schedule.  My sim partner was also doing extremely  well – (He’s an excellent pilot and also had another [much more expensive] sim back home) – and by the 5th session we were so far ahead that the instructor asked us to help out by experimenting with a new failure mode scenario they were considering introducing into the curriculum.
 
Of course, like everyone, I was full of anxiety for the big check ride.  But I passed it on my first try.  I’m not sure of the overall pass rate, but I understand it is quite low, even for very experienced jet pilots.  There is no question in my mind that my success is due in large part to the time I had spent in advance learning the systems and “knobology” on my CLS sim at home and practicing the procedures and approaches on it, as described in Eclipse’s Flight Training and Standards manual.  In addition to getting my brain and “muscle memory” tuned up in advance, it saved me considerable before-start setup time every day in the Eclipse sim sessions, resulting in more time available for actual flying.  (Maneuvers, approaches, emergency procedures, etc.)  Time spent on the CLS-VLJ prior to the Eclipse type training is extremely beneficial, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone planning to participate in that challenging (yet rewarding) program.
 
Jeff Rubenstein
EA500 S/N 167 - N800JR

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