Hello Julie, and all you nice guys/gals of the line,
These questions were so naïvely candid, though to the point, and the answers so refreshing, that I can't help adding my pepper spoon to the broth. (Sorry, native language idiom).
I am an old fart flying an Old Lady who carries only silent, motionless payload, on long, long, long, loooooong haul flight.
1 - Duty time is automatically computed as starting one and an half hour before schedule departure time; it is verified and logged on by clicking my staff number (with the corresponding password) in the appropriate computer agressively staring at me when I enter the crew room. If I am going to be a bit late, Mr. Effo or Mr. Dispatcher will have done this for me if I phone them in due time (with my pasword). Effos, Essos don't come late.
2 - There are very few aircraft of the type I fly in my airline, so the one I will operate when I report is the only one on the pave, the other ones being scattered around the globe. It has such a bright colour scheme that missing it would be a sure sign I would fail my next medical. Also, Mr.Effo knows it all (really, he does!) and will lead the way to the right gate/door/crew bus.
3 - YES, you bet! No pax to feed hence no flight attendant to attend anybody; complete, genuine, unabashed and unshared freedom. We have to be checked out on the oven and galley equipment usage and handling though, but you have no idea how swiftly one can learn that.
4 - YES. However, I do not see the point, as the catering stored in OUR galleys is of prime quality, abundant, varried and outrageously addictive (some of it goes straight from the wrapping down to the guys' tummies and ladies' hips).
5a - Pilot Non Flying (Monitoring, Non Handling…) will do the walk around; however, some Sirs do not trust anyone and would rather go for a long stroll around the lady, leaving the punching to the young chaps, even when sirs do the take off and landing. When Mr. Esso (Coco, Cruise jockey, relief pilot - what a degrading denomination! - ) is joining the team, he will (is expected to) courteously propose to go and do the marathon walk prior to prepare the paper work, the coffee and heat up the boilers and ovens.
5b - Part of its job description is in 5a. After take off, he will usually start the flight by vanishing in the bunk for a deep dreaming sleep lasting one third of the cruise time. Then he will come and sit alternatively in Sir's and Mr. Effo's seats to keep them warm (the seats!), complete the paper work, sort out the Jepps, talk with ATC, occasionally learning to say "Hello, good bye, thank you" in twenty five different languages including American English and Gaëlic. Sometimes, he gets to take off and land the Lady, in which case Mr. Effo will show him how to perform those previously described tasks the right way. For the record, NO amount of time in the flight sim has ever been decent: it is always too little for the IPs and Checkers, and way too much for the students/checkees and the CEO/CFO.
You are welcome, and that is all for now too.
All the best in your career.