Left seat is iminent

On my IFR ride I was told something by the DPE which has followed me my whole life. He told me: "It's not my job to prove to you they in smarter than you. It's my job to be smarter than you and to help you along the way."

He has since become a confidant and mentor which, I think, was his intention.

Be that kind of man and not "that guy" and you'll do well.
 
JDean3204 said:
Ha I have no idea. We must know each other well though as you recognize my watering hole of choice :)
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I'll give you some hints:

You looked pretty awesome with that silly hat on in that ladies attic.

The nurse you tried to set me up with at the Belmont Inn was cute but not my type.

And one of these days you'll beat me at pool. :)

Miss ya buddy. Congrats again. Oh. And if your looking for ways to build that 25 multi towards the next step, I have a few good ideas to that effect.
 
Congrats on the upgrade!

This has been useful to me to as I am hopefully coming very close to upgrade. Which means I will be in pdx a lot. I will buy you a beer.
 
av8tr1 said:
Really? I've had captains who while flying us direct into thunderstorms give me a look like I've just said the dumbest thing in the world when I suggest we request to divert. Passenger who told him she was afraid of flying so he flies her up the gorge at low level in heavy winds so he can show her a "good time". Same guy told me to just sit there and keep my mouth shut while he tried to do everything. When the autopilot wouldn't work and he was trying to fly the plane and do paperwork he finally realized that I might be able to do more than sit there and look pretty. I was happy to let the jerk make a fool of himself in his own self importance.

Different captain never used checklists, said he was smart enough to memorize them. Started up with a cowling open, taxied and took off with baggage doors open, loosing passengers luggage, twice! Couldn't tell the guy anything. He taxied with the baggage doors open two days in a row with different FOs. He was gods gift to aviation. Same situation, happy to let the ass screw himself out of a job.

Some captains just need to taught a lesson otherwise you be finding them ignoring you or arguing with you in the cockpit. Some captains are so full of themselves that there is nothing you can do as an FO except sit and pray the jerk doesn't screw up bad enough to cost you your license or life.
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Two words: Pro Standards.
Teaching them a lesson is not part of your job description. If they're that bad or unsafe, then it needs to be addressed through the proper channels, including a call to Pro Standards.
 
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av8tr1 said:
There are a lot of pilots whose captaincy puts their ego way over the top. Often they believe they know better than op spec or FARs. There are a lot of tyrants in this industry. We have examples of this all over the NTSB database. A simple search of YouTube gives you hundreds of examples of captains who refuse to use their crew beyond organic auto pilots.

I flew with them in the military and now in the civilian world. They have no clue what the definition of teamwork is. They often think that the FO is a brand new student there to learn and have little respect for the experiance and knowledge the FO brings to the table.

There are many captains who intentionally violate company policy or FARs. Refuses to involve crew in decisions and regularly try to fly the aircraft into dangourous flight conditions because their egos will not allow them to turn back, admit they made a bad decision or can't accept that they don't know everything.

Woe the poor FO and passengers who are stuck flying with these NTSB reports in the making.

Captains take note, use your crew, involve them in decisions, don't belittle them or ignore them.
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Your experiences sound different than mine. I have to say that in 15 years of 121 flying--I have never flown with a captain that I would describe as tyrannical. Nor have I flown with any, that I can recall, who would willfully disregard a checklist.

Have I flown with egotists? Sure, but to describe them as tyrannical or to say that there are many captains who intentionally disregard FARs or SOPs is just not accurate. At least not in the 121 world, which is the breadth of my crew experience. Maybe in some fly-by-night segment of the 135 world, but not at the airlines. Perhaps because there are mechanisms in place to prevent those personalities from getting too out of check. Whether those mechanisms are interventional in the form of Pro Standards, more invasive in the form of the training department or company/FAA surveillance, or the good old-fashioned no-fly list, there are more barriers to such personalities existing for too long.

I'm not saying that they don't exist at all. Just that I've not seen or heard of them to the extent you describe. I don't think that this industry as a whole, or segments there of, consist of a bunch of Captain Queegs running amuck.
 
Which caravan operator is this? I want to make sure I never put my family on an airplane with crews that operate like this.

Edit: found it. I'd always thought better things about this operator, but it's clear I was wrong.
 
Pro Standards doesn't exist at many 121 cargo, 135, or 91 ops and mgmt likes these Capts because they always get the job done no matter what.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jtrain609 said:
Which caravan operator is this? I want to make sure I never put my family on an airplane with crews that operate like this.

Edit: found it. I'd always thought better things about this operator, but it's clear I was wrong.
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Don't misunderstand we are a great company, very safe and I love working here (as I have said here repeatedly). We just have a couple of captains who are a little full of themselves. They are low time new captains under 1500 hours and this is their first real aviation job.
 
Alright I am going to stop this thread derail before things get blown out of proportion. In my own personal experience, the captains I have flown with have included me in the decision making process, split the legs with me and never told me to sit down shut up and don't talk unless needed. NEVER have I felt unsafe at anytime flying with any of the captains on our line. In an environment as complex as the cockpit, personalities will clash and it is our job as pilots to sort those out and continue to fly the plane the way we were hired and trained to do so...
 
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jtrain609 said:
Which caravan operator is this? I want to make sure I never put my family on an airplane with crews that operate like this.

Edit: found it. I'd always thought better things about this operator, but it's clear I was wrong.
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Honestly man it is not like that at all, I have been with this operator as an employee for a year and a half, and an FO for about 10 months. Since I have been there I have seen multiple captains move on to 121 operators, I have heard recruiters and other pilots within the 121 world say they like the product that our company pushes out in its pilots. Even all the pilots that were spraying negative info on these forums have since then moved on to bigger better things successfully. I have put my family on our caravans, my girlfriends mom fly's on us regularly from SAN-IPL and she has never felt unsafe...she also hated flying prior to one of our captains giving her updates and letting her know all about the airplane while flying to IPL one day, now she actually looks forward to flying and watching the mountains go by underneath her.
 
I wasn't a Captain long but make sure your FO's know that they need to speak up and feel comfortable doing so with no repercussions even if wrong . One of the things I would brief would be ground ops. Something along the lines of "if there's any point you don't feel safe or you think were going to hit something/cross something, get on the brakes first THEN we'll talk about, no harm no foul" Don't just sit there, take action, we're a team. Blah blah blah. Save your energy too for things that matter, don't get worked up over stupid little non safety related stuff. Debrief it but don't go off on the guy because he's wrong or did something non standard. Have fun.

Edited: Parking brake is your friend and take your time. Also don't overload your FO. Ex. Complex taxi after landing, dont call for an after landing check until you both know where you're going or already clear of ALL runways etc. eyes outside.
 
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
ASpilot2be said:
Congrats on the upgrade!

This has been useful to me to as I am hopefully coming very close to upgrade. Which means I will be in pdx a lot. I will buy you a beer.
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Definitely let me know when you are in town. I may be in SAN for a few months but hopefully back in PDX by March. Beers will be a must!
 
ClarkGriswold said:
I wasn't a Captain long but make sure your FO's know that they need to speak up and feel comfortable doing so with no repercussions even if wrong . One of the things I would brief would be ground ops. Something along the lines of "if there's any point you don't feel safe or you think were going to hit something/cross something, get on the brakes first THEN we'll talk about, no harm no foul" Don't just sit there, take action, we're a team. Blah blah blah. Save your energy too for things that matter, don't get worked up over stupid little non safety related stuff. Debrief it but don't go off on the guy because he's wrong or did something non standard. Have fun.

Edited: Parking brake is your friend and take your time. Also don't overload your FO. Ex. Complex taxi after landing, dont call for an after landing check until you both know where you're going or already clear of ALL runways etc. eyes outside.
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Ditto.
 
Well it is no secret with what has happened to the company I fly for in the last few weeks, which sucks indeed. On a positive note I was able to upgrade, just finished week two of left seat flying in the south. So far it has been a great experience. Also my first taste of the commuting lifestyle, I already understand why living in base is desired. Thankfully Purple makes it easy, besides the overnight aspect of the flight.
 
Cptnchia said:
Here's the thing. Everything you just said, that you don't like about • captains, doesn't exist in 121 land. So, you have no desire to fly 121, yet the exact conditions, which you desire, only exist if you fly 121.
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Yeah, I'm going to call BS on that. Perhaps not at the lofty environs of SJI, and admittedly pretty rare elsewhere, but they exist.
 
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