Well well, I certainly seem to have stirred some emotion with my post, and I'd like to try and answer the points raised, in a reasoned manner.
I do not apologise for my reaction to your post CYB, I'm afraid however many times I read it, I still detect a derogatory overtone, which in my experience has a divisive effect on the flightdeck in terms of CRM. I strongly deny displaying an attitude which suggests I base my success purely on flying talent and the ability to make better landings than the Captain, absolutely not!
Liffy, having had a previous long career in the military, I would say my ability to read and absorb is considerably heightened, as well as my ability to plan, provide, direct & control; in other words lead and organise! an ability which doesn't take upwards of 5,000hrs in a flying logbook to possess; as CYB comments : a Command position is not strictly about flying. To answer another of your points, 85% of what little experience I do have is in fact '...part of a multi-pilot crew operating in an IFR environment'
I admit to possibly being a little defensive with regard to the Captain-F/O relationship, because unfortunately and all too often, I fly with (and DivingGoose, attend CRM courses with) colleagues who quite blatantly display an attitude that the F/O is there:- primarily to get the aircraft safely on the ground should he himself become incapacitated. They rarely allow decisions of an operational nature to be made by the F/O, and contrary to the sound advice given by I.L.Get-Mecote and Sir Fly a Lot, they would never ever admit to the fact that they could actually learn something from the F/O. If it's not done their way, it's definitely wrong!
Unfortunate as the fact maybe, the guys who display this sort of attitude are of certain types, but I'm not going to say any more on that. Believe it not I do not like to court controversy.
CYB, I relish the opportunity to be an 'operational contributor' making my own decisions with regard to departure fuel, weather/fuel alternates, technical matters, flight planning, liasing with airport services to ensure safe and speedy handling of our aircraft, and making decisions on and off the flightdeck that I deem to be beneficial to our Company and its success. Although 'some' of these tasks may be mundane, I do not consider any of them to be below me, but equally I do not consider other, more important decisions, to be purely within the Captain's domain, and I have considerable respect for Captains who, in true leadership fashion, take on board the views of the whole crew.
I say again that your original post did not give this impression, and that is what I reacted to, however, your second post displays a different, more approachable attitude which would merit a different reaction altogether.
Bellerophon - expand please.
[This message has been edited by RAFAT (edited 01 February 2001).]