rj fo question

[labbats]

I try and get all the info I can from every captain I fly with. Most are very cool about it and will tell you little secrets they've learned from flying this plane for 4000 hours. Some will talk down to you a bit, but they're few and far between.

 

[Steve 737]

I've flown with quite a few 25 year airline captains who are "higher time, higher age" and I would have to disagree with you that "many of them" have "lost thier skills" or have "become complacent". Quite the contrary. I flew for 14 years at USAir and one would be hard pressed to find a more professional and highly competent group of aviators (most of them older and higher time). BTW, exactly how many "25 year" airline captains have you flown with ?

What's it like flying with some of these high time captains who think they're God's gift to aviation, that they paid more dues than you, that they fly like Chuck Yeager, and are as sharp as Einstein?

Examples:







I find that the captains with this kind of attitude usually can't fly for sh!t and that they have very little situational awareness. I am a fairly humble and quiet guy and try to trust the captain to do his/her job well but there are many out there who have to be coached through an entire 4 day trip. I often wonder how some of these guys would fare single pilot.

By far, the majority of captains out there are excellent pilots, decision makers, and leaders but it sure seems to me that many of the higher time, higher age guys have either lost a lot of skills or become complacent. I'd take a recently upgraded 2500 hr academy grad in the left seat any day over a 25 yr airline captain.

Experience only takes you so far. After you've got 500 hrs in the plane, you fly it as well as anyone. Once you've seen all the airports and weather conditions, you get a pretty good handle on that side of things. After that, it seems to me to be about keeping your head in the game, hand flying once in a while to keep your skills sharp, and earning the respect of your crew by being a competent and likeable captain.

Yes, I am an academy guy. No, I'm not the best pilot on earth and I do make mistakes but I do not EVER have to be continuously babysat through a leg or a trip like many of the captains I have flown with. Experience does not always breed competence and competence can be found with relatively little experience.

 

[Bryan D]

Experience only takes you so far. After you've got 500 hrs in the plane, you fly it as well as anyone.

Thats funny! Do you have any more of those one liners 172Driver?
"I have 500 hrs in type, giterdone"

 

[Standby 1]

I try and get all the info I can from every captain I fly with. Most are very cool about it and will tell you little secrets they've learned from flying this plane for 4000 hours. Some will talk down to you a bit, but they're few and far between.

Well said and my sentiments exactly. The right seat, like it or not, is a learning position. Experience is the only way one ever learns the skills necessary to be PIC and the only way to get that experience is by flying right seat.

I learn from every captain I fly with (a few I learn what not to do, but it is still valuable learning). 99.9% of them at my company are awesome. And let's face it, when I first got out on the line, it was a babysitting job for them. I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't know my @ss from my elbow at that point. But I listened, leaned, and then applied the knowledge the captain's passed along. I'd like to think I'm halfway compentent now, LOL. But I've still got a heck of alot to learn.

I'd like to think that most captains remember that they, too, were idiots hanging on to the tail of the aircraft when they first started the job. Those that forget what it was like may be good pilots, but they are the ones that are always brought up as examples in CRM classes every year.



...

 

[V1cut]

Well said and my sentiments exactly. I learn from every captain I fly with (a few I learn what not to do, but it is still valuable learning). 99.9% of them at my company are awesome.
...

my sentiments as well.
Most Captains will also tell you the day they stop learning is the day they retire. i would, but i am a Capt no longer.

life is short

 

[CarjCapt]

Experience:

<The right seat, like it or not, is a learning position. Experience is the only way one ever learns the skills necessary to be PIC and the only way to get that experience is by flying right seat.>

Just to let you know that both seats are learning seats. The only difference between the Captain and the First Officer is the Captain got there first. You have been trained to the same standards and the difference is experience.

My last flight of my last trip was a learning experience for me. I stopped learning to add to my experience was when I walked off the aircraft for the last time.

I want to thank all the FOs I've flown with for the patience and wisdom they have shared with me over the years.

I would allow my children to fly on your aircraft anytime.

 

[pooter]

out of curiosity for those that have been to an"academy" do you get any type of turbine training?for the prices i would hope so.

 

[Dude]

I forgot who said "you ain't my boss". Like hell. That's the way it is......it's called the chain of command. If you don't like it then fly single pilot in a king Air the rest of your career. Don't worry, when you upgrade you'll get to fly with your favorite Captain everyday.

 

[Typhoon1244]

What's it like flying with some of these high time captains who think they're God's gift to aviation, that they paid more dues than you, that they fly like Chuck Yeager, and are as sharp as Einstein?

It's terrible. It's almost as bad as having a guy sit in the right seat and pout for four days because the company didn't hand him four stripes when he walked in the door.

In my experience, Bitter Copilot Syndrome (BCD) is quite rare. The two people I dealt with who had the worst cases became captains few people wanted to fly with. This has nothing to do with experience or flying ability, it's about attitude. If your attitude sucks, you're going to be miserable no matter what seat you're in.

 

[J32driver]

Its simple.. we have a few of these "class act" captains here. When they start b$tchin about the way you fly simply state "Your controls" and let them fly every leg from then on out. Tell them, yes you are captain and I respect the position, BUT you are not my boss. It completely humiliates even the biggest jerks.

Yes... I am your boss.

Yes... I will take the airplane from you permanently, right after I use ARINC to call scheduling and have you replaced.

Yes... you will explain yourself to the Chief Pilot.... and yes he is going to chew your A S S.


... and I'm about as relaxed and laid back as they come.