Thanks! Do they allow PDF in lieu of paper docs for required issue (except required flight deck manuals)?
We are all issued the following (pardon me if some of this is common knowledge):
- FOM: Flight Operations Manual: all fleet common DAL policies and procedures. Captain is required to carry, F/O is not.
- Vol 1: Operations Manual, Vol 1, which is all the normal and supplementary checklists. All pilots carry.
- Vol 2: Systems Book. No one must carry (but must be in paper form in the cockpit). You are also supposed to take it with you to recurrent, but I have never seen anyone do it.
- FCTM: Flight Crew Training Manual. This is the manual fully describing lots of different maneuvers, both normal and "non-normal." This is not required to be carried by any crewmember, nor is it required in the cockpit. You are required to take it to training--again, not everyone does.
- Jepp charts and approach plates. Paper form in your flight kit, required for all pilots except the "B" captain on 4-pilot crews (most 777 flying, for example).
So where do all our non-normal/abnormal checklists come from? From the QRH--Quick Reference Handbook, two copies of which are kept in every DAL aircraft. Whenever you have a non-normal, you comply with the boldface (if any) then break out the QRH and follow the procedure. I love the idea in theory. And for the most part it works pretty well. However, sometimes I feel the QRH is written for the lowest common denominator--like a 3rd world pilot who barely speaks English...hey, I think that is exactly who it is written for!
ALL the above are available in .pdf format from the Flt Ops website. However, that fact does not alter any required-to-carry policy as spelled out in the FOM.