Originally Posted by
Cycle Pilot
Oh, boy, are you one of those F.O.'s that questions every little decision the Captain makes? Man, I hated flying with those guys. Ummm... he/she is the Captain and yes... if it's not a "safety of flight" issue it is his/her "show." Pick your battles as an F.O. If the Captain wants to fire up the APU, let him fire the APU. It's his ship.
Errmm...not so fast there chief. I'd like to reference my second post. The kind of FOs I hate are the ones who sit there with their thumb up their butt totally disengaged from the process and who, when asked for input supply a heartfelt "hey man, what ever you want to do". Real frigging useful.
Originally Posted by Freezingflyboy
Honestly though, I think you're getting wrapped around the axle for no reason. If its hot, start the APU. If the captain questions you, explain your reason (show him the ball sweat on your seat if you have to). If he is particularly difficult about it, see if you can get the FA on your side. If he is still being a pill, then I guess you'll have to decide if being a few degrees cooler is worth the aggravation of butting heads with this guy for the next 4 days. Pick your battles man. If it's that important to you or it affects safety, speak up! Otherwise suffer in silence.
I still think the guys who drop the flaps to 9 as soon as they hit 10K or leave the APU running the whole flight, taxi everywhere on 2 engines and waste time and gas other ways, just so they can feel like they are making some kind of statement, are shortsighted, self-centered tools. But fine, if that's how you want to fly your legs, go nuts. Its not how I'll be flying mine.