Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

Breaking in a new SIC...help

  • Thread starter Thread starter dhc8fo
  • Start date Start date
  • Watchers Watchers 12

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web
How do you break him in? Do you possess a rather large stick?
 
For those of you making smart comments about his right seat comment. Consider this. It may have nothing to do with "getting over himself" as you say.

I have always been very generous about letting new guys fly. With a qualified guy, I swap seats. BUT! If the aircraft has a tiller... No Way! If the unqualified occupant who would be in the left seat would block my access to major system switches / controls / breaker panels... NO WAY!

If this person has never dealt with a rookie and is unsure of the situation, he is making the proper call to limit him or her. I have experienced situations where a unqualified SIC was more of a liability than an asset. In fact, I have flown with people with a current .135 check who were a liability. Don't judge without the facts. He asked for advice, not a beat down.

My advice, In addition to regs, make sure you spend plenty of time on the ground in the cockpit. Make sure he or she is familiar with the switches you want them to handle and which ones you make clear that you will handle. Good briefings and a clear understanding of this persons duties will minimize difficulties. Don't ever assume that a new guys knows what is standard or correct. Never assume that anyone has the same version of "standard" that you do.
 
400a makes good points IMO...

I could care less how long a guy sits in the right seat, and why would he care? does the pay change?

If you are running a plane for someone you have more on the line than someones fragile ego about sitting in the left seat. Of course, show you are capable over a period of time - no problem. I certainly dont care what you did at previous jobs etc..

Also - what is "qualified?"....does that mean a PIC check and type from FSI? - because that means all of ZERO to me. All that says is someone paid for you to go to some (marginal?) training at a sim center. Most of us have met plenty of self-proclaimed typed "Captains" who we would hardly let shut the door.

Anyone with some decent skills and confidence would gladly fly right seat for awhile to show what they can do, and the same goes for a confident PIC - he should be willing to move over and let the other guy fly at a point also, otherwise his skills are in question IMO..
 
Last edited:
No, not at all. All I was saying is that we all fly as Captains. We swap seats. Therefore, there is really no flying from the right seat. That is what I mean when I say that I am not comfortable putting this guy in the left yet. He has more time and types than me, but from years back and he isn't typed in THIS PLANE yet.

You still got pedals and a yoke in front of you in the right seat?
How could there possibly any sort of comfort issue from either seat?
Ego issue, yes. Comfort?????

This thread seems to not be about him. It's about you.
New guy on your turf....... He's got more time, more types and you hesitate to let him touch THE wheel, even though both wheels do the same thing.

You were there first and it's YOUR plane. Even if you are in the right seat. There is nothing wrong with letting him drive YOUR plane, even if he's more 'qualified' than you.

Any 'breaking in' that he requires will most likely have everything to do with what the owners expect in terms of rental cars, catering, washing the plane, etc. He will likely need nothing more from you than to set the mold for your company's expectations for standardization, work ethic, alcohol enjoyment, Captain's Confidence/Authority, etc...........
 
He's got to be just as perfect as me or he doesn't get to touch anything!!!!
 
You still got pedals and a yoke in front of you in the right seat?
How could there possibly any sort of comfort issue from either seat?
Ego issue, yes. Comfort?????

This thread seems to not be about him. It's about you.
New guy on your turf....... He's got more time, more types and you hesitate to let him touch THE wheel, even though both wheels do the same thing.

You were there first and it's YOUR plane. Even if you are in the right seat. There is nothing wrong with letting him drive YOUR plane, even if he's more 'qualified' than you.

Any 'breaking in' that he requires will most likely have everything to do with what the owners expect in terms of rental cars, catering, washing the plane, etc. He will likely need nothing more from you than to set the mold for your company's expectations for standardization, work ethic, alcohol enjoyment, Captain's Confidence/Authority, etc...........

Very dangerous thoughts here. He already stated that he is new in the aircraft himself, and now you are advising him to throw someone that has never been in the aircraft in the left seat? As I stated before, in many aircraft, there is so much more than a yoke and pedals. We have not even established what kind of aircraft is involved here. I can tell you from 5 years of check airman experience, that correcting screw ups from the right seat is far more challenging from the right side. He already stated he has NEVER done this before. Why in the world would you advise him to leave his comfort zone and blame it on ego when you know nothing about him. There is a reason rookies are not allowed to do IOE.

If you really want to talk about sensitive ego's, why would you be offended by the right seat of an aircraft you have never flown? When I do contract, I could care less were I sit. Pay me my daily rate and I am more than happy to talk on the radio, sling the gear and look out the window while not having to sweat all the management details.
 
. I can tell you from 5 years of check airman experience, that correcting screw ups from the right seat is far more challenging from the right side.
It's hard to correct your own screw ups when they come from your seat? Huh?
He already stated that he is new in the aircraft himself.........
Actually, what he said was that the aircraft, which he must be current and qualified in at PIC was new. He also said that there was NO flying from the right seat.
If there is NO flying from the right seat and he refuses to sit in the right seat, how is the new guy supposed to get his hands on the wheel?
If you really want to talk about sensitive ego's, why would you be offended by the right seat of an aircraft you have never flown? When I do contract, I could care less were I sit.
My point exactly.
 
Last edited:
My point exactly.

Not hardly. You are bashing him for not putting him in the left. Point and case. If my boss got on the plane and saw a new face that he knew nothing about in the left seat, he would simply get off. Most corporate operations have strict policies about this. There is a long line of bent airplanes and dead people that confirm why we do it this way. I have yet to see a company SOP refer to the Captains sensitive ego that you keep fussing about.

Stop bashing the guy for making good decisions considering all factors.
 
Not hardly. You are bashing him for not putting him in the left. Point and case. If my boss got on the plane and saw a new face that he knew nothing about in the left seat, he would simply get off. Most corporate operations have strict policies about this. There is a long line of bent airplanes and dead people that confirm why we do it this way. I have yet to see a company SOP refer to the Captains sensitive ego that you keep fussing about.

Stop bashing the guy for making good decisions considering all factors.
No touching the wheel in the right seat...
Therefore, there is really no flying from the right seat.
How's new guy going to get his hands on the wheel?
 
As I stated before, in many aircraft, there is so much more than a yoke and pedals. We have not even established what kind of aircraft is involved here.

What, exactly, (besides a tiller) do you not have full, unrestricted access to in any aircraft from both seats?
 
Last edited:
Read it again, he did not say the new guy could not touch it from the right. He said that HE was not comfortable from the right because they do not normally do that.

Our operation is similar. We are both Captains and swap seats every other leg. I have yet to fly the Hawker from the right seat. There is no way I am going to put someone in the left seat with a tiller the has never flown the aircraft. He is more than welcome to fly it from the right, once I have seen 3 bounces.
 
What, exactly, (besides a tiller) do you not have full, unrestricted access to in any aircraft from both seats?

In the Beechjet there were several items on the left side panel. Citations have switches over by the Captains left knee. King Air electrical panel is by the Captains left knee. all fairly critical if the stuff hits the fan.
 
Read it again, he did not say the new guy could not touch it from the right. He said that HE was not comfortable from the right because they do not normally do that.
I can read just fine. Feel free to quote where that was said. All I've got is a quote where the exact opposite was said:
Therefore, there is really no flying from the right seat. .
I'm not the only one that caught the tone, either.
 
In the Beechjet there were several items on the left side panel. Citations have switches over by the Captains left knee. King Air electrical panel is by the Captains left knee. all fairly critical if the stuff hits the fan.

Electrical emergency in Beech, Citation, King Air scares the Captain so bad he has a heart attack while you're in the right seat...............The flight is doomed and all the passengers die because you're helplessly unable to do anything about it?
 
I can read just fine. Feel free to quote where that was said. All I've got is a quote where the exact opposite was said:
I'm not the only one that caught the tone, either.

He already explained it to you once. You can not only quote one sentence and show the whole picture. Go read the entire paragraph you quoted. He stated very plainly that because they are all PIC qualified they do not fly in the right seat. Don't know how else to make you understand that.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top Bottom