Start by knowing the SOP, FOM and OPSspecs to the punctuation level, study the seasonal stuff like summertime W&B changes and wintertime stuff, like Low Vis operations for takeoff. 90% of the time it's just 2 guys working through a 4 day trip, one leg at a time. Whats hard is the stupid stuff, like reflows, and added flying that makes a semi-short overnight into a min rest overnight.

 

thanks, i was more so wondering about some of the original scenarios presented in the original post

 

This thread is fun!

I had about 800 hours in type when I upgraded...1,515 TT. How do you make captain decisions when you have such low time? Easy.

Don't do stupid things, don't think you know better than the checklist, and if maintenance tells you to start pulling circuit breakers to override computer logic in flight...don't go.

I refused several airplanes, and one flight due to weather. Took over one airplane from an FO during landing (wasn't the time for mentoring) and had one RTB due to equipment failure.

When my class was upgrading, I had a few friends at other regionals who said "you guys just aren't ready yet". Truth is, I'm sure there were some that weren't, but you don't choose your timing. I've met plenty of pilots who've turned down upgrade for personal reasons (family, moving, better schedule, holidays, etc) but I never met one who said "just not ready yet".

The key to making the transition to Captain, is to remember who you are once you take the job. The buck stops with you,it's your job to develop the next group of leaders at the company, and to safely conduct the flight. If hte FO crashes the plane, it's your fault. If you crash the plane, it's your fault...and if the damn thing loses a wing and crashes to the ground, you can bet they'll still find a way to blame YOU. At that point, you should realize that you have to be the one making decisions, and hopefully you've had the proper training and mentoring to be able to do that...accurately, and quickly.

 

Sorry, 4 days isn't enough to do anything except discuss sports, religion, politics. As an F/O, its your job to prepare for the position, how you do it is up to you. If you are planning on an upgrade the most difficult question you can ask a Captain is "Am I ready" The hardest answer I ever had to give was to a guy who had spent the last 6 years as commissioned ballast. I gave him my honest assessment, and he did receive the LOI in 6 months. The remainder that asked are doing fine and in fact are LCAs for the most part.

 

"Company tells you to ferry the aircraft without a critical engine instrument (torque/fuel flow/etc) Can you stand up to that? The winglet was damaged by a tug, but they speed taped it and "should be good to ferry to maintenance"?
You got the guts to refuse? Or just "do it and grieve it " later?"

The MEL is the limiting document, as well as the mechanics sign off. If the "critical instrument" isn't listed in the MEL as deferrable, no go, The mechanics signature "insures" airworthiness for that operation. "Grieve it" and FAR issues are completely separate.The PIC is the final authority as to the operation of the aircraft.

You have two FA's that don't get along over something stupid en route to the out station and refuses to fly back to the hub with them? What you gonna do now, college boy?

If you cannot use logic to defuse an illogical situation that's a crew support issue.

The gate agent refuses to deal with the jump seater that has his nose pressed to the window 20 minutes before the last departure.

Go to the gate and deal with it. My experience says they want you to leave and if the only way you will leave is with the jumpseater, there's your answer/solution.

The FA's have a squabble with gate agent over who gets to sit in the last First Class seat.

Thats a non starter, close the door and W&B the customer where ever you want.

Company requests you to extend your duty day: works for you. FO has to buy a motel on his dime, FA's are stranded,what do you decide? Best for you? And screw the crew? Or best for the crew and suck it up?

Look after your crew.

Too many scenarios to post, and others may bring up others. But being a "Captain" involves more than your ability to fly the aircraft.

But at 1500 hours or 2500 hours or 3000 hours? Do hours matter?

"Yep, I can handle it , I'm ready to be Captain"

Really?

 

I agree with that 100%. I know way too many FOs sit there and don't do anything unless asked. That's not write.

 

When you're loudly implying "I am not out of line, it is just that everyone else is......", you might want to reevaluate yourself, at least on this thread. Perhaps more simple pictures might help you.

 

Good question.

Pay attention. Stay involved. Be Proactive. Use your time as an FO to prepare.

Especially when you are on reserve, and the shenanigans start. This is the
situation you will find yourself in when you upgrade, and senior lineholding
FO does not give you all that much exposure to the weirdness. Don't just
check out and troll the interwebz on your phone or hit on the FAs when its
gonna be a long delay while the captain is trying to figure out *** is going
on - Ferry flights? Jacked up MX/MELs? Pax issues? Scheduling / Contract/
FAR issues? Company doesnt know where your crew is or why you actually
need a hotel for the night in that city? This is the time to learn some stuff.
Some captains are arschlochs and will exclude you from a lot. This is still a
learning opportunity. Always be taking mental notes. What did this captain
do that I liked or didnt like? And just as important - why and how? What
did he(or she - implied if I dont repeat) do that was smart or stupid? How
did he make the situation worse or better? How did he treat other people
(you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat people below
them on the org chart or socio-economic scale, just like you can tell a lot
about any business by the condition of their bathrooms). Flying airplanes
is not that hard, most of the time. If it were just learning SOPs and
profiles and blah, blah, blah, any monkey could do it- or more disturbing
for our career- machines. But it is the decision making capability of the
person in the front left window seat that makes the crazy "aviation
system" we have in this country work, thousands of times a day.

Be the FO you would want to fly with as a captain. And when the time
comes, have your mental file full of ways to be the captain you (and your
FA's and passengers) would want to fly with.

And dont be too quick to want to upgrade. When you got your Instrument
Rating, did you go out and fly all kinds of planes that you were rated for in
all kinds of weather into all kinds of airspace at all times of the day or
night? Hopefully not. A man's got to know his limitations.

The actual flying of airplanes around is just the stuff that distracts a
captain from the difficult and rewarding work of being pilot in command.

Oh, and a whole lot of this:

 

I think what ****ed some people off is the experience you posted rips on said FO. There hasn't been any post that shows when an FO made an intelligent suggestion, did their job, showed they were indeed ready to upgrade, etc. It essentially lumps all the FO's into this mouth - breather, ballast, category. Which, we all know is not the case.
Amen. We have tons of manuals at our disposal to back up decisions that the crew makes. I say crew, because that's the way it should be done. It drives me insane to fly with a micro manager that just does things. Diverting downwind of TSTM for example. A good Captain… maybe you already know the answer still asks the FO..Hey what do you think about this, or What would you do? Give the FO a chance to make a decision… If it's the wrong one and/or you disagree take the chance to tell them why your decision is the better one, etc. Like CBreezy and others have said, you need to be a mentor. That's part of what being a Captain is.

The amount of technology and information at our fingertips is endless. You can consult numerous amounts of people before making a decision. A good Captain will do that.

Good Post BTW…at the end of the day, hours don't matter. Critical Thinking skills and leadership ability matter. Some 23 and 24 year olds have it some don't.. the same can be said for some 45 - 50 plus year olds.

 

I feel like a very good piece of advice I got that is worth sharing is that for every decision you make you need to ask yourself three questions. Is it legal? Is it smart? Is it safe? If the answer to one of those is no then that should raise a red flag for further investigation and if you answer no to two or more of those then you really need to pump the brakes and take action to find ways to change those answers to Yes or just don't go fly.