A good friend is a small aircraft pilot. Small aircraft are commonly piloted by one person with no co-pilot. We got into a discussion about business jets. During the discussion I offered the opinion that if I owned a Gulfstream IV, and was type certified, I could fly the jet by myself, with no other flight personnel on board. He disagreed, especially if passengers were on board. Neither of us knows the real rules, if there are any. What’s the Straight Dope?
This happened in Canada and it was in 1993 so my answer could be out–of-date and out-of-place, but here goes.
I was with three other people on a government research grants committee. We had visited the U. Sask in Saskatoon and were to take a plane to Regina that evening to visit the unversity there the next and we had tickets on a small regional carrier called Athabaska. They had no record of our reservation and the flight was full. But the gate agent said a charter plane they owned had just returned from the far north and she would ask the pilot if he minded taking us to Regina. He didn’t and we all piled into the five seat twin engine Cessna (240, IIRC), me in the copilot seat and flew 45 minutes to Regina. The pilot appeared to be about 16 years old, BTW, but I’m sure he was older. It was fun. Our luggage was where a 6th seat could have been.
Typically, most jet aircraft require two pilots, there are some smaller private jets than can be piloted by the owner alone. I don’t believe the Gulfstream IV would fall into that category. Most turboprops can be piloted by a single pilot.
Here’s a good article on the subject. Short summary: jets certified in the transport category (12,500 pounds takeoff weight and more) are never certified for single pilot operation. Jets below that weight can be certified in the commuter category and can be certified for a single pilot. But it’s not automatic; the manufacturer has to request the certification and the FAA has to evaluate the operating characteristics and approve it for that use. Then the potential pilot has to get a single-pilot type rating in that particular model. And according to the article, the additional amount that the insurance company charges to cover that operation typically costs more than just hiring a co-pilot.
And no, the GIV is not single pilot certified. It’s in the transport category and thus not eligible.
Thanks for responding. The article makes it clear that while I am correct in certain cases, my Gulfstream IV is not one of them. I’ll sell my Gulfstream IV, pick up a twin engine Cessna, and maybe even get a pilots license.
The jet I fly now requires two pilots, doesn’t matter who owns it. I’m also single-pilot qualified in a Citation Jet, but have never been asked to actually do it. Not eager to either - I value the other pilot’s input too much, and we catch each other’s mistakes.
I got crammed into the co-pilot seat of a Cessna Caravan on a hop from Belize City to a Ambergris Kaye. My instructions where “Don’t touch anything”. No not a jet. The landing was a little terrifying as they had extended the concrete runway with asphalt and for all I could see, we where landing at the END of the runway. The wrong end.
used to be you had to have 3+ engines to fly to Europe and I assume over the Pacific. they changed that when large 2 engine planes like the 767 came out. 757, 787 and 777 are also 2 engines.
They are getting ready for a new Air Force one and they said it has to have 3+ engines. I believe a newer 747 with 4 engines was the only bid they got so that’s what they are buying , 2 of them.
I can’t really expect the current administration would allow a European consortium (Airbus) to build the next generation of Air Force 1, so a pair of VC-25Bs are being made at Boeing from a pair of abandoned 747s that had been ordered by a now defunct Russian airline a few years back.
As for flights over the Pacific, little planes can at least go halfway across. Southwest is flying to Hawaii on ETOPS-certified twin engine 737-800s.