I'll be out there in the airplane for the first time tomorrow. Any words of advice? Maybe ought to get a block altitude btw FL270 and FL370? Just kidding. But seriously, any advice that could be offered would be great.

 

Ask Questions, and don't worry, IOE is proof that its possible for an ERJ, to be flown by one pilot, hahah just kidding, enjoy it. Bring the Check Airmen Coffee, and tell him you went to ATP so he doesnt have to worry Good luck.

On the Radio start everything with "and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" delay it for as long as possible

 

Don't screw up.

 

every time you mess up just say "they didnt teach us that in the sim" ...then hell just give you a startled look and badmouth the training department. works like a charm

 

DON'T ARGUE WITH THE CA, just do it his way. You'll learn over time that each CA does things a little different and you just have to adapt. Some want the AP on immediately and some don't care. Some are straight SOP and some are far from. Best advice is to ALWAYS stay straight SOP, it will help you on your PC and you can't get in trouble for following the book.

 

What kind of TOOL CA wants the A/P on immediately?

 

Amazing enough I had a CA on the Bro that wanted the AP in at 600'. He briefed me before we took off that he wants the AP on at 600 regardless of how good I was at flying the a/c. He said that it's company policy for a reason. I then explained to him that 600 is the min ALT for AP to be engaged and not the max ALT for hand flying, he did know this but was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I then asked him how pilots are going to gain experience hand flying that a/c (great a/c to hand fly BTW) seeing that a day might come when both AP's are deferred. We battle on the topic for a few flights and wouldn't you know it, the next day we received a bird with the CA AP deferred and on that very leg my AP craped out with 5 legs to go. He tried like hell to get another airplane but could not. He was a lazy jacka$$ nearing the end of his career. For those flying the Bro in FAT his initials are GA, so BEWARE he’s a TOOL!

 

Sounds like someone who couldn't fly anyway..... A/P is a useful tool, to be sure, and I use it a lot, but handflying once in a while is nice too!!!

My old (and maybe future company.......) had a limitation on the A/P of 50 feet! Cat 3.

Anyway, back to the point!

-Follow your profiles
-Be humble - ready and enthusiastic to learn
-If you get confused, go back to the checklists, flows and profiles you were trained. That training is there for a reason.
-Never be arrogant. Ever. But especially in the beginning.
-Be polite to all ground personnel.
-Fly visual approaches conservatively, more like an ILS. You can 'chop and drop' later.
-LIGHTEN UP!!! HAVE FUN! THIS IS WHY YOU DID ALL THAT CRAP IN THE CESSNA, ISN'T IT?!?!?!

 

Man most of the time my IOE captain WOULDN'T let me use the AP below 10,000'...

 

One leg on my IOE was to hand fly the entire way. I assumed it was one of the required items for us to do. Either way it was a great experience. Maybe not for the pax!