When I started the thread I had in mind
strange habits.
That means one copilot (or First Officer if you prefer) out of, say, fifty, does strange things.
In my example, keeping the left hand on the thrust levers up to about 3000ft,
is definitely strange.
Nobody else does this here.
It's not sop, and we can discuss a lot about all the points made here...
When I see this, I don't know what is happening in the FO mind: does he think we can abort after V1 if enough runway remains?
What if
he suffers from sudden medical spasm and pulls the levers?
I see he's struggling a bit to keep that hand up
all the way to 3000ft, instead of flying with both hands on the yoke, and I think "What the hell is this about? I don't want him to grow with this silly habit!"
Mind you, my reaction is not the one you may think: I'm not gonna be
immediately upset by this, and I later on ask -almost- nicely the reason for that, I get upset by the answer!
Had he told me " I do this because I think it's a good idea", then fine, we'll discuss and maybe
I will learn from him, but when I hear (or guess) the name of the geniousnowincharge as the origin of this habit, my blood makes one quick turn....
Re: the flight director commands:
Systematically keeping a lower attitude all the way to the after takeoff cklist is wrong.
Period.
As somebody stated, the flight director is not always right,
but when it is it must be followed.
First al all, we are two in the cockpit: if you keep 3 degrees less all the time, the other guy doesn't know what the **** is happening to his colleagues' instruments - or mind.
Second, you don't know better than Mr. Boeing.
Third, noise abatement profiles, economy speed and blah blah.
IF THERE IS NO GOOD REASON TO IGNORE IT, KEEP THE DAMN FLIGHT DIRECTOR CENTERED!
What else can I add...
Those who used terms like "normal Captain", or "you are not an instructor" and similar rubbish:
maybe one day you will learn things are not always as they should be in a perfect world, there are a lot of grey scales and hidden reasons...
To me, a Captain is
always an instructor, and an instructor is often a man who had to sell his soul to the management, in very poor words.
Not always, but often.
After 10 years of command, I've only received expressions of gratitude from my old copilots, even thos who, at first, thought to call in sick every time they had to fly with me.
LEM