Quote:
Originally Posted by CBreezy
I don't weigh-in when enough people share my point of view but since you asked, I'll share.
If the First Officer gets in the right seat and tries to learn and get better every day, 1000 hours is a good minimum. There actually has to be an attempt though. Each person needs to understand his or her own weaknesses and upgrade when he feels like he is actually prepared and not when his number is called. I've run into quite a few FOs that just sit there and do only their job. They assume they'll learn by osmosis and it'll all click when their upgrade comes along. Being a Captain isn't about how well you land the airplane.
I personally felt adequately prepared at 1000SIC. Of course, I did everything I could to do as I said above. I'd do my best stay mentally 2 steps ahead of the Captain. I'd make "command decisions" internally and compare how my decision compared to what he decided to do. I picked up trips in the north in the winter and the south in the spring. I'd ask questions on why certain decisions were made if they were drastically different from my own which is sometimes met with "because I'm the Captain and you do what I say." So I learn from him about poor leadership techniques.
Of course, if you take the attitude "I don't get paid enough," or "why do I care, it's not my job," you'll probably woefully unprepared at 1000SIC.
Yep, sat on both sides of the pedestal with both types.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cruiseclimb
Being a captain is independent of the hours.. but it is dependent on the environment you have flown in.. In the Navy, a single seat, F-18 pilot is released to fly in the fleet, launching and recovering on the Carrier with less than 400 hrs.. and doing much more with the aircraft than flying from point A to point B.. It is all about leadership development and decision making (and all of the factors that go into that). To be honest, we have all flown with guys that should be in another line of work, to where no matter how many hours they have, they should not be a captain. The focus should not be the hours, unless we go to a evaluation/board type of procedure, where 3-4 senior captains, sit with a upgrade candidate, give him/her a question session, then a sim evaluation.
I came up through the old check hauling ranks. Many of the folks I flew with early in my 121 career (TSA) thought I was crazy because I did, or didn't, behave like they did. I knew how to protect my @$$, many of the noobs didn't. Flight time doesn't matter as much as attitude and aptitude. Hopefully the the training department or the Captain applicant figures that out. Obviously history shows that the system isn't perfect.
I was never more proficient than flying single pilot, night, hard IFR, in the check hauling world. NEVER. As far as ADM, it has continued to improve even though I feel much more like a manager than a pilot nowadays. I hope that it continues to improve every day until I hang up my headset for the last time and tell the FAA to pi$$ off.
Yes, I had <250TT FOs in the EMB, all I could do was shake my head when they didn't want to listen. Hopefully they learn before it is too late.
Back to lurking (and my beer.)
03-27-2024
AIRLINE
