25 hours of supervised operating experience as PIC in the Beechjet (14 CFR 61.64(g)) — for most 135 pilots that's the line flying you did next to a captain holding the unrestricted rating — each flight attested in writing in your logbook → administrative removal by an examiner, no checkride. Daytona DPE issues the unrestricted temporary certificate on the video call.
The BE-400 SOE, in plain English
The BE-400 type rating covers the Beechjet 400 and 400A and the Hawker 400XP — the same airframe under three badges, and one of the most affordable ways into a real mid-cabin-speed light jet. That price point keeps the fleet busy in Part 135 charter and with owner-operators, and it keeps the sim schools busy minting fresh BE-400 ratings. Under 14 CFR 61.64(f)(2), a rating earned in the simulator prints with the Supervised Operating Experience limitation unless you brought one of the §61.64(b) experience outs — a prior unrestricted turbojet type, 1,000 hours in two turbojets, 500 hours in the Beechjet itself. First-jet charter pilots and step-up owners rarely have any of them. Until removal, you act as PIC only under the direct observation of a pilot holding the BE-400 without limitations.
Because the Beechjet is a two-pilot airplane, the fix is friendlier than in the owner-flown single-pilot world: the qualified observer you need is often already in the other seat.
Your 135 line flying probably counts
If you fly the Beechjet commercially, the hours are likely already flown: legs where you performed the duties of PIC while a captain or check airman holding an unrestricted BE-400 observed satisfy §61.64(g)(1) and (g)(3) exactly. The trap is §61.64(g)(2) — each flight must be logged and attested in writing in your logbook. Company training records and OE sign-offs document things for the operator and don't follow you to your next job; plenty of Beechjet pilots discover at contract-renewal or interview time that the limitation is still printed on the certificate years after the flying was done. Get the attestations into your logbook while the captain still remembers the legs — the sample attestation wording (PDF) is what it should look like.
Owner-operators run the same math as the rest of the owner-flown fleet: insurance mentor time doubles as SOE if the mentor holds the unrestricted BE-400 and signs the book properly.
The MU-300 cousin — one catch worth knowing
The Beechjet began life as the Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond, and Diamonds still fly. But the MU-300 is its own type rating — a BE-400 rating doesn't cover it, and vice versa. The SOE hours must be flown in the type the limited rating names, supervised by a pilot unrestricted in that type. Mixed Beechjet/Diamond logbooks are exactly the kind of thing to send ahead so we can sort the eligible hours before the appointment. The removal process itself is identical for both ratings, and we handle both.
Why Beechjet pilots don't sit on this
- It follows you into your next type ride. Under §61.64(b)(1), a type rating carrying an SOE limitation doesn't count as the prior unrestricted turbojet type that lets you take a future type-rating practical entirely in the sim.
- Applications and interviews. An unrestricted certificate reads cleaner, and recruiters do ask what "subject to pilot in command limitations" means.
- It's 20 minutes of paperwork. The hours are usually already flown. There's no reason to carry the limitation another month.
On the certificate side this is the same administrative machinery as the CFI-world SOE limitation removal — evidence verified against the reg, certificate reissued, nothing flown. The full regulatory walkthrough lives in our 61.64(g) guide.
What removal requires
- 25 hours of flight time in the Beechjet while performing PIC duties, under the direct observation of a PIC holding the BE-400 without limitations (§61.64(g)(1), (g)(3))
- Written attestation for every SOE flight in your logbook (§61.64(g)(2))
- Certificate + government photo ID
- IACRA application for the limitation removal
Common tripwires we see in Beechjet logbooks: OE legs documented in company records but never attested in the pilot's own book, attestations signed without the observing pilot's certificate number, and SIC time counted toward the 25 (it doesn't count — the hours must be flown performing the duties of PIC under observation). Send your documents ahead — you'll get a checklist after the contact form — and we verify everything before the appointment. If the documentation is thin, we'll tell you exactly what to go get before you've paid a dime.
How the appointment runs
- Identity verification (valid, unexpired photo ID)
- Certificate + logbook review — 25 SOE hours and attestations verified against §61.64(g)
- IACRA application signed live
- Temporary certificate without the limitation issued on the call
About 20 minutes, from anywhere with a stable connection — FBO, hangar office, layover hotel. 24-hour advance notice required for FAA DMS oversight entry.
Pricing — $200 flat
No travel fees, no rescheduling fees, no charge if you're determined not eligible during the appointment. Details → Pricing
Related
25 hours in the book? You're one video call from unrestricted.
Submit the contact form and you'll get a document checklist within 24 hours. $200 flat.
Schedule your BE-400 SOE removal →