What is the job of a First Officer?

[dash8driver]

The FO is what the captain uses to hold heading, altitude, etc when the autopilot is MEL'd.

 

[heavy_d]

Clear right, nice landing Sir I'll take the fat one.

just remember that, it'l be that way for awhile

 

[TWA 2 ASA FO]

Your MAIN job as an F/O is to keep the Captain out of the Chief Pilot's office. An pilot who has been in this industry long enough knows there is ALWAYS a rule/reg/SOP to remember. As an F/O, you are there to support the Captain and give as much assistance as he requests or needs.

Unfortunately, some Captains think the 4th stripe gives them the ability to ignore any rules they choose. As an F/O, your job is to VERY politically "suggest" to the Captain a more safe/legal course of action. It is VERY difficult to do that an not bruise the ego of this type of Captain. Once you do that you can forget having any fun. He will resort to the dictator and tell you how to tie your shoelaces.

The professional Captain views F/O's as Captains in training. The only reason anyone is Captain is due to seniority. Anyone who tells you they are Captain because "They are a better pilot than you" is just full of themselves. This doesn't mean I don't respect the Captain, I always say sir of ma'am to them out of respect.

 

[RJP]

Don't forget they do the walk-around in the snow and rain.

 

[Freight Dog]

The FO is what the captain uses to hold heading, altitude, etc when the autopilot is MEL'd.

Also to blame for certain things....

.... and perhaps to yell at when the FO starts tracking vs. homing.

 

[Propsync]

FO= Choremonkey

Good job= bananas

 

[flyer172r]

The primary job of the F.O. is to make the Captain look good.

 

[1.3XVso]

Clear right, nice landing Sir I'll take the fat one.

just remember that, it'l be that way for awhile

LMAO Funniest sh!t I've read!!

 

[Swede]

Some carriers have some mighty strange rules, here's one from AA that blew my mind - I was a 4,000+ hr MD80 FO, first leg of the trip, with a brand new Capt on type with 15 hours. We were going to some ski resort on a seasonal, and it was a "Captain-only airport", meaning the skipper HAD to make the landing. Bad wx too. The Capt was a good guy and said "This is B.S., YOU should be landing this bird". Sure enough, we cratered and gathered all sorts of snide comments from the ski people deplaning.


The FO's job is to keep the flight safe and everyone off the $hit-list, buy his round when it's time, and weild the crash axe when the bad guys come. If the FO landing sucked, he must stand in the CP door and absorb the abuse, shielding the skipper since it wasn't his fault.

Oh yeah, get your verbal "objection" to a bad capt. decision on the CVR in a timely fashion = most important.