Originally Posted by
Chiefttp
“ If you think flying a raw data, A/T off departure in a busy airspace with low level offs, tight turns, stepped climbs and speed restrictions somehow makes you a superior pilot, you’re wrong. It makes you a moron.”
Actually it does make you a superior pilot, It’s essentially what we did every day in military pilot training, You’d be surprised at how well you could do it too if you take your time, study the departure/ arrival and have done it dozens of times before. Like others have said, the correct level of automation, at the proper phase of flight is the best course.
No it doesn’t. We are talking about the airline world, not the military. Good CRM makes a good airline pilot, and if you think saying things like “in the military we did this” creates a positive crew environment, you’re mistaken. Quite frankly, if I’m sitting next to you in the flight deck of a passenger aircraft, I couldn’t give two hoots what you did in the military, as much as you couldn’t give two hoots about how many birdies I got on the golf course the day before. Oh, and the girls in the back aren’t interested either.
Originally Posted by
TRENT210
Flying ability aside what’s the general consensus on what these (usually) young MPL / Integrated FO’s are like to fly with as far as conversation is concerned?
A ex mil, legacy captain once told me that, in the main, their flying ability was usually very good however trying to make conversation at FL390 became a massive chore.
He said trying to chat with a 20 year kid who’s gone straight from college to a sausage factory school was a massive effort and made the cruise extremely boring. He was glad when he got an ex mil or an older FO with either previous flying experience or previous work experience to have a chat to.
Obviously we are paid to fly not to socialise but he had an interesting opinion.
This seems to be the issue. People assume that anybody who did an MPL or integrated course is fresh out of nappies. I was the youngest on my integrated course at 24. The oldest was 35. All of us had life experience, all of us could hold a conversation. But where in the ops manual does it say it’s the FO’s job to entertain the Captain? How do you know that some FO’s just aren’t interested in Maverick bleating on about his military days, or how many cars he has or his pension or that he’s lost money because the company share price has gone down? I fly with plenty of captains who can’t hold a conversation either, or who I simply have nothing in common with. And I’m certainly not there to massage somebody’s ego.
I’m not denying that some people are boring, introverted or have no life experience. But that applies to both seats, and goes back to the problem with people making first impressions based on how their colleague completed their training.