Demo Pilots...?

[Pilot Hopeful]

What do demonstration pilots for aircraft manufacturers like Cessna, Piper, and Cirrus do? Are they involved with providing instruction to new aircraft owners? If so, what else does their job entail? If not, who provides this instruction?

[C650CPT]

My experience with Demo pilots is that while they do interface with the corporate customer thier main job is to fly the airplane during demo flights. The sales rep, who is always on board does the "talking", he/she sells the airplane to the CEO / Flight Dept. The corporate pilots may have questions that the sales person may not know the answer to, so the sales person may defer the question to the demo pilots. Alot of pilots will talk to the demo pilots on the side to get the real answers as to perfomance and range issues, not that they don't trust the sales person ... yeah right. Training is left to the "school" houses, ie: FlightSafety, Simiflight etc.

Jim

edit: My answer is from a coroprate operations perspective dealing with jet aircraft, for single engine aircraft the demo pilot may well be the sales person. I believe a CFI is required for this position but not 100% sure. Training is dependant on the contractual agreement.

[kellwolf]

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I believe a CFI is required for this position but not 100% sure. Training is dependant on the contractual agreement.

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I'm pretty sure a 200 hour private pilot can legally "demonstrate an aircraft for sale," however, there would be no payment involved for his services. I'm also pretty sure that Cessna and Piper would prefer their demo pilots have more than the 250 minimum for commercial, too.

[GregCollins2]

Cessna Pilot Centers and dealers are normally part of a flight school. Once an owner buys a new Cessna he can choose any instructor he wishes. Cessna and Piper do not provide instruction directly. Cirrus employs high time flight instructors as both demo pilots and salesmen. Cirrus provides several hours of instruction to all new owners when the aircraft is picked up. There are also Cirrus approved instructors around the country that have gone through training with Cirrus.

[pilot602]

No, a private pilot may be paid for services as an aircraft salesman (including flying the aircraft) ... one of the very few exceptions to compensation as a private pilot.

[mtsu_av8er]

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There are also Cirrus approved instructors around the country that have gone through training with Cirrus.

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I'm a flight instructor with one of a very few Cirrus Standardized training Centers (I've always wanted to say something like that.... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img])

Unfortunately, I'm not one of those instructors... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

You don't, by the way, have to go through Cirrus to become one of those CFI's...just through one of the programs - I believe.... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[GregCollins2]

That's how I understood it too Lloyd. The Cirrus site directs CFI's to UND for applications and training. There is an application process, followed by home study, a test, then a couple of days of flight training and standardization. Cirrus is also starting to talk about yearly recurrent training in advanced systems, as well. I've been to the two day school with a client that purchased a Cirrus, but I'm not an official instructor either. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I can't justify spending the money at this point as there aren't enough Cirrus owners around here yet.

[pilot602]

Ya know ... right now the Cirrus' airframe is life limited at like 4,500 to 5,000 hours!


Of course as the "stress test" factory planes rack up hours that figure will rise, but for $500,000 +/- I want an airplane that can fly for more than 5,000 hours (as a trainer 5,000 hours can swing by pretty quick).

The new Liberty2000 that just got certification is limited to somethng like 250 -300 hours! Again as the stress test airplanes rack up hours that will raise.

[kellwolf]

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I'm a flight instructor with one of a very few Cirrus Standardized training Centers (I've always wanted to say something like that....

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Yeah, my flight school is one of those. My instructor is one of the Cirrus instructors, too. So, on the cross countries, I get to hear all the bad stuff about them. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Didn't know the Avidyne screens are prone to failure, and you can't display the same thing on both screens like the Garmin 1000. So, if you lose your primary flight display, all you got is the cool terrain display and your back up instruments. On the Garmin, you can select the secondary screen to display your flight instruments in case of a screen failure. It's also cheaper to rent the Seneca than the Cirrus, but you'll get there MUCH faster in the Cirrus. On the positive side, he says that the side stick thing is VERY easy to get used to.