Berry Aviation

[Latko]

Just wondering if this company in TX uses co-pilots for their Metros or is it all single pilot? Thanks in advance.

 

[OtterFO]

The Berry guys I've run into fly all two pilot, with no autopilot, no gps, no rnav. One Capt. I ran into in Memphis was commenting his rental car had a gps in it, but not his airplane......

 

[DC9stick]

I believe the Metro's flown by Berry are all Metro III's as such are sfar 41 A/C over 12,500 gross wt. and must be flown 2 pilot in pax carrying ops. I don't know about cargo. Does Berry haul cargo or just pax?

 

[scottm]

You know what, I just realized that I was talking out of my butt. I apoligize. You are completely right. The 3 is certified to 16000 and the 23 is certified to 16,500.

It is the 2 that is 12, 500, therefore not requiring a type.
Its been a year since I have flown one and my how you forget things quickly.

If you are going to fly the Metro here are a few tips:
1. Do not expect advanced technology
2. You will learn "how to fly"
3. start working out those biceps
4. get ready to have some fun- solid airplane and an excellent initial turboprop

Have fun and good luck
Scottm

Metrosherrif-
I edited my post because I realized that I was refering to the 2. I did know the aircraft , in fact spent 900 hours in it in 8 months and even caught a few nights sleep in it. The lovely world of freight.

 

[tdvalve]

Metro 3's are certified (no winking required) at 14,500 and 16,000 MTOW, depending on the serial number. They are routinely flown single pilot on freight runs. The early Metro's were certified at 12,500 MTOW because that was the maximum allowable under FAR 23. When SFAR 41 allowed higher weights, subsequent Metro's were certified under that rule. I've never heard of a landing gear limitation that limited a Metro to 12,500.

 

[MetroSheriff]

scottm,

For a guy who flew 'em (per your profile) you sure don't know much about 'em.
If you had taken a little time to learn about the a/c, you wouldn't have to have done so much "winkin" while you were loading the plane...you were probably legal all along.

 

[travis]

To answer the original question....

Berry uses co-pilots for nearly every flight. I was a captain there for about 17 months, up until 2 years ago. I had a single pilot metro rating, but they only took advantage of that on a handful of occations to reposition an aircraft, mainly from ACY to FRG, but once from HYI to ACY. I didn't mind doing it, but it was rare to fly without a co-pilot.

They are super nice people, and I really did hate to leave. They treated me with more respect than I had received before and since. I had a pretty cushy run, flying the casino junkets from FRG-ACY. The FRG base isn't around anymore, but there are casino crews in ORF and RIC. They have bases all over the country, from ORF to SAN.

I think they had about 17 metros, mostly IIIs. The IIs are used strictly for cargo or defense courier contracts. I never did those runs, so I don't know much about them.

They kinda specialize in collegiate sports charters, but I never did one of those either. I suspect because NY is so far from TX, I was really out-of-pocket for anything but casino trips.

I sure had a lot of fun working there, and met some great people.

Good Luck.

Travis