Last week I needed to attend recurrent training on the Learjet 75 simulator is in Dallas, Texas. I decided to fly there with my plane instead of an airliner.
Without passengers the Learjet will climb direct to FL450 and about an hour into the cruise it will climb FL470. That allows flying above some of the jet stream, with a little weaker headwind. Adding wind, the longest leg was over 1900NAM. Learjet has a marketing range of 2080NM, so it was pretty close to maximum.
Even with good pressurization of 9,2 PSI (7100ft cabin at F450) I found that using an oxygen concentrator is beneficial. I did not feel very tired after the three legs flown in one day. Keflavik was a quick and efficient stop. Arriving in Canada we had to use the ArriveCAN app to submit Corona details. In the US we had no such complications.
Recurrent training is two days theory, two days sim exercise and an exam. It is mostly about single engine flying, handling abnormal and emergency situations. I got checked from both left and right seats, which finally allowed me to fly left seat and PIC on NCC flights. I am still SIC on commercial flights until I get my ATPL unlocked.
After completing the exam, I picked up some friends from Austin and we flew to Space Coast KTIX to see the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and had a nice lunch. Later that day it was back to Austin and next day we flew home using the same fuel stops. This time we stayed overnight in Keflavik. Crews are allowed to stay for 48h in a hotel without PCR and such.
Sorry I didn’t take any pics. Here’s a map and a pic from KTIX with Falcon 9 in the background taken by ground staff.
Great trip! How much disadvantage is it to need the copilot all the time? Did you consider to skip Iceland on the return flight and go more or less direct St Johns to western Europe? Do you have MNPS certification or do you get a direct climb above that airspace?
Great trip, thanks for sharing.
Ever since you mentioned CS25 I’m really fond of the Lear. Great „biggest little“ airliner you have there.
@Sebastian_G
According to my wife, it is a great advantage that the plane requires a two person crew :-) She describes our flights as uneventful compared to the TBM. On the other hand, I sometimes think I could get a Phenom 300 and fly alone, but then I would be giving up some features and also the “AOC drill” to which I got used in the last couple hundred hours. Multiple checks, paperwork and so on. It makes flying boring, but also safe.
I am not sure about MNPS. I see NAT HLA under special approvals in the OM-A for our plane. Anyway, we got direct climbs to F450 each time over the Atlantic.
I did have a look at other routes, but the one we flew was very close to Great Circle between KDAL and EPPO and fuel stops were proven, so we went the easy way.
@Snoopy
Yes, it does make one feel safe knowing that the plane is CS25 certified. It is a good performer too. One can fill the seats with full fuel. Not common on small jets. It will also climb single engine, not to mention those 4-5k fpm climbs with both engines running.
NAT HLA is the term for what used to be called MNPSA.
Nice trip! What does she burn up at FL450?
Great trip! Few pics from FL450 and cockpit would be even greater 
I know nothing about jets so may compare apples to oranges.
Is it the same kind of beast as a CJ4 ?
About AOC: is it restricted to CS25 aircrafts ?
Impressive trip again thank you for sharing.
AdamFrisch wrote:
Nice trip! What does she burn up at FL450?
About 460kg/hr at mid weight.
PetitCessnaVoyageur wrote:
About AOC: is it restricted to CS25 aircrafts ?
No, smaller jets are CS-23, commuter class.
