I’m never going to need a type rating, so I’ll just ask instead of poring through the regs.
Some aircraft require two type-rated pilots to fly. So how does a non-type rated pilot get a type rating? Is there a waiver that allows such an aircraft to be flown by one type-rated pilot who is instructing the pilot seeking the rating? Or if not a waiver, is it simply written into the rules? Or do you still need a second type-rated pilot in the cockpit (perhaps in a jump seat)?
I haven’t kept up with the changes, but about 7 years ago I was trained in a Learjet. Under Part 91 a PIC rated captain could issue you a second-in-command rating. That wouldn’t be useful under 135 or 121, but it did suffice for that operation.
The regs I recall at the time stipulated no passengers, so it had to be a flight purely for training, and it required a minimum of three landings and systems knowledge review at the discretion of the PIC. So we went out with me in the right seat, flew around a bit, did some single engine stuff and some landings and that was it. I then flew some trips as first officer in which I mostly swung the gear and talked on the radio.
But the FAA has changed some of this stuff. I asked an inspector when I flew for an airline if I could get the Lear SIC onto my license, and he said probably not. These days type ratings are generally given as PIC, but possibly with restrictions. I was typed in my airliner as a PIC (though flying as a first officer), but my license carried a restriction for circling approaches in visual conditions only. Can’t recall what I had to do to get that removed, but it was probably handled during the upgrade to captain, which I didn’t do at that company.
My last type rating was in a Citation jet, and that carried no restrictions at all. I even got certified for single-pilot, although I’ve never exercised that privilege.
I don’t know how it works in the part 91 or 135 world. In 121 …
We get type rated in a simulator. By the time we actually strap on a real jet the first time (with real customers of course) we already have the rating in our back pocket.
Organized FAA-approved training programs have a concept of FAA-designated check airman. Which is a little different from the “FAA designee” idea that do most private certificates including mine lo those many years ago.
These folks are instructors first, examiners second. Or rather, they do both roles but not for the same trainees. There are lots of exceptions in our FAA-approved procedures that carry the same force as actual regs that say things like “two qualified pilots or one check airman and one trainee.”
That’s not a complete and coherent answer. But it is all the rule-bites I’m aware of.
Heavies did occur to me, and I assumed there was a lot of simulator training for the type certificate. But was in the top of my mind was something like a DC-3, or that PBY that prompted questions from me recently. Or a Lear.
If you go to get a type rating in a modern bizjet from Flight Safety FlightSafety International World-Class Training and Simulation or the like it’ll all be done under an FAA-approved program in a sim. That probably won’t be true for an early Lear and definitely won’t be for something like a DC-3
Now that I think more about Part 91 ops I think there may be a different misconception at work here. FAR 61.31 requires type ratings for PICs only.
SICs, even if required crewmembers, do not require a type rating. They do require aircraft specific training and a checkride but it goes under a different name. I have about 5000 hours in the right seat of a 727 in US major airline service. I have no 727 type rating because I never flew it as PIC. But it’s certainly large, complex, high performance, pressurized, and turbine powered. All of which 61.31 outlines as having extra training requirements.
ICAO requires SICs to be type rated for over-water operations. My current employer uses all their aircraft types at least some for international so all FOs’ training on any aircraft culminates in a checkride that includes all the type-rating squares and results in them getting a type rating. But it’s not needed as far as FAA is concerned for domestic ops.
SIC training & checking requirements are addressed in 61.55. Which include the idea of an SIC-only type rating. And which includes restrictions on what operations can be going on (e.g. no passenger carrying) while an SIC is receiving training.
If you can point to a place in the aircraft (not pilot) certification standards that point to any requirement for two type-rated pilots I’d be glad to see it. Absent that I tentatively conclude the bottom line is under FAA regs airplanes simply don’t need two type-rated pilots. Many of them do require a 61.31 type-rated PIC and a 61.55 “appropriately trained” SIC.
During the in-aircraft training of someone to be an SIC, the legal PIC is a type rated instructor sitting on the left. During the in-aircraft training of someone to be a PIC, the legal PIC is the type rated instructor even though he’s sitting in the right seat.
I’m not positive I’ve got this right for part 91, but it “feels” about right. FAA rules lawyering is efinitely not my strong suit in aviation, and doubly so for Part 91 ops.