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02-02-2012 | 09:28 AM

#26

Adlerdriver

Gets Weekends Off

Joined: Jul 2007

Posts: 4,064

Likes: 37

From: 767 Captain

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoilerUP

Wouldn't be the first time I've spoken out of school on something...so educate me.

How much multi-crew flight experience (the kind captain152 referred to) do single-seat fighter pilots typically have before they get hired by a major airline?

If airlines continued to hire fighter pilots even though the majority struggle to integrate into a crew aircraft, then I think you would have a point. The fact is they don’t. And please leave out the anecdotal story about a tool from the 5% who got fired or just made your last trip miserable. I get it, they’re out there, but we all know they’re the exception just like any other member of the “5 club”.

The mistake you made was attempting to equate a single pilot operation flying from A to B in a turbo-prop to flying a fighter. That’s easy to do without perspective. Those who have no fighter experience are at a disadvantage (through no fault of your own) in this discussion. We’ve seen both sides of this and you have not. Basically this whole discussion is about CRM, which, believe it or not, is the one of the basics to success in fighters.

Obviously, a single seat fighter pilot has no “multi-crew” flight experience if you’re going to stick the purest sense of the term. He’s never sat 2-3 feet to the left or right of another pilot in the same aircraft and flown it from A to B using a team effort.

That crew’s team effort involves: mutual understanding of procedures, delegation of duties and responsibilities, communication (usually verbal), seeking inputs from others to arrive at mutually understood decisions and mutual interpretation/discussion of various inputs from inside and outside the aircraft, just to name a few.

It seems to me, that’s really the crux of your concern. How much experience does a single seat fighter pilot have that’s equivalent to leading a team effort of two to four pilots (and possibly a group of flight attendants) during the flight planning, execution and debrief of a typical airline/cargo flight.

My answer would be more than you could possibly imagine. Fighter pilots never operate alone. The most common fighting element is a 4-ship made of two paired elements. There is an overall 4-ship lead and his deputy leads the second element should they split into pairs. Planning, execution and debrief of their mission involves every aspect of team work I listed above in addition to many others. The only difference between the team work in a crew environment and that in a fighter, is that the communication part of it, once airborne, is occurring via radio, data-link and other on-board systems. That communication is also not limited to the 4 pilots directly involved. We’re using inputs from AWACs and other surveillance assets, other fighters, strike/bomber aircraft and other support assets like SAM suppression and jammers. You might equate these external resources to company dispatchers, weather, medical or maintenance personnel available via ACARS should the need arise.

If I failed to be a good resource and use my resources effectively as a fighter pilot leading my team, I would have experienced failure just like you would if you did that same thing in your aircraft. No one is successful as an airline/freighter pilot without having some teamwork skills. Every successful fighter pilot (except for the 5%) breaking into the 121 world knows that as well and most likely brings a pretty good skill set to the game.