Originally Posted by
NightIP
Or we're just trying to knock some rust off...
We have a very odd CRM culture here at Atlas. Many of us have several years or more on type, and should be seen as an asset rather than a guy "just trying to learn" by hand flying and asking the captain questions.
Obviously, everyone up front is still learning all the time, but somehow your post struck the wrong chord.
Not trying to offend you. Unfortuantely just like email, typing all of ones thoughts and expressions in TYPE format on a forum leaves room for unintended interpretations of ones thoughts and feelings.
I agree with you. We should ALL be learning something all the time. Watching from the jumpseat can be just as valuable as sitting in the front seat. Knocking the rust off is just as valuable as learning it the first time. I agree, some have lots of previous time in type and as an FO your opinions do matter. But, having said that, Atlas (and other major carriers) aren't hiring young pilots fresh out of an aviation academy. Many new hires without a type rating in the 76/74 have 1000s of hours of aviation experience and have the situational awareness to know when something is right or wrong. I think some folks tend to forget that fact. Each of us has arrived at Atlas from various commercial (76, RJ, 74, etc) or military (C17, C5, F18, F16, etc) backgrounds, but all have arrived with an aviation list of "been there done that, scared my self" situations in addition to the docile vanilla flights when we're thankful "nothing went wrong today". It's those experiences which we all bring to the table - with or without a type rating.
In my view - the jumpseat is a millisecond behind the crash of the front 2 seats. Each of us has a responsibility to teach and learn the entire system. The best phrase one can learn as an FO or a captain is "I don't know." Losing the fear of not knowing an answer makes you look for it (thank goodness for the iPad). Once you become a captain you are by default "the expert on the crew", an instructor. My point was WRT to autopilot or hand fly, each has it's own merits. Neither is right or wrong, but you should know how to do both. If you don't, then force yourself to learn your weakest area and become a better crew member. Unfortunately due to the nature of our flying I find myself in the jumpseat more often than in the front seat. So trying to work on both can take months. That's why I like the 2 man Sushi runs - 3 legs and more flight experience than 1 14 hr flight from CVG.