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Old 17th Aug 2018, 20:15
  #92 (permalink)  
FullWings
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tring, UK
Posts: 1,823
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For fuel, I normally ask the other pilot(s) what they think and take the biggest number. I feel if I don’t, I might as well say: “I value your input... just not very much."

At the end of the day, I’m not that concerned about the fuel on board if it’s safe and legal (and all the people I fly with are aware of the commercial implications), I'm much more interested in what happens when we start running out of it and that can happen irrespective of how much you took in the first place. When I got my command, I remember the manager handing me the four stripes advising me to put some extra on over the next few trips, even if I felt I didn’t need it, just to leave more thinking time until I bedded in.

To answer the OP, having done ~10,000hrs in the RHS, I would expect a new captain to lead the operation but utilise the skills and experience of those around them. There’s no shame, in fact quite the reverse, in asking others who may have better knowledge in a particular situation, e.g. the FO has 5,000hrs on type and the captain has 50. If they wish the aircraft to be operated in a particular way inside SOPs, then they should make this clear, not rely on mind-reading from the RHS. I would also expect them to be confident but not overly so and interact in an open way with all their colleagues both on and off the flight deck.
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