Definitions:
There are three groups referred to in the Flying Manual:
1. Captain and First Officer
2. P1 and P2
3. Handling Pilot and Non-Handling Pilot
The first group basically refers to rank or in other words the seat occupied and cannot change.
The second group effectively defines the pilot who is ‘flying that leg’.
The third group depicts who is handling the a/c at the time.
It is therefore possible for the First Officer to be the P1 (his leg) during which time he will be both HP and NHP as required by the procedures. The same mixture also applies to the Captain; he will be P2 when giving the leg away to the F/O.
.
The Standard Leg:
The Flying Manual only refers to the Standard Captains leg when outlining SOP’s. The term ‘Role Reversal’ is used when it is the F/O’s leg.
Captain’s (P1 in this case) duties: F/O’s (P2) duties:
External + internal/cabin inspection Carries out the checks
Obtains the departure clearance from ATC Works out performance etc
Calls for ‘start and pushback’ as reqd Starts the engines
Talks to the ground engineer during the push
Once push and start completed
Capt calls ATC for taxi clearance
(Capt always does this because tiller only on LHS)
Capt calls for flap (done before moving off) Sets flap for takeoff
Commences taxi Does the checks+ R/T once moving
Once airborne duties as follows
Flies the a/c (HP) Normal P2 duties + R/T (NHP)
Landing Brief given 10 mins before TOD
Hands over control to F/O (Now HP) – flies descent & approach
Takes control and Lands a/c
(at approx 1000’ or when visual if later)
At end of the landing rollout
Capt takes control and steers a/c off runway F/O (now NHP) completes after landing procedures - starts APU - talks to ATC etc
Capt taxis onto stand F/O shuts down engines (this is always done by whoever started them)
If the Captain gives a leg away (leg and leg about normally) the F/O will become P1 and
carry out the duties as per the left hand column (Capt’s duties), apart from the taxi to/from
the runway. This is called role reversal in the FM.
Remember that the Captain is always the Capt but can be P1 or P2 plus HP or NHP as
appropriate.
Where a duty as indicated above is shown as Capt’s …….. it means that only the Captain
can perform this task and is usually because the tiller is only on one side.
Notes:
Although not mentioned above there is a fourth group of responsibilities aligned to those of
P1 and P2.
These are known as DFA (does f*** all) and DFE (does f***ing everything) !!!!