Normally I considered it good management to give the F/O the more 'difficult' legs - on the basis that they probably needed the handling more than I did and it left me free to 'manage' the show. They got at least half the flying, but I got to tell them which half - for their own good.
Occasionally I would (and still) take a really tricky sector just to show the tyros that old age, bastardry and rat cunning can still overcome youth, exuberance and enthusiasm in most endeavours short of iron-man competitions.
But one particular smart arse F/O really got under my skin. Because he had more FMS time than me, he could beat me hands down in the green machine stakes and lost no opportunity to get in there first and type our way through the sky. Shame that his stick and rudder work was pretty ordinary but he didn't see that as a problem in his automated world. To show me how good he was, he would have most of the landing card filled in before top of climb - even on a 4 hour sector. And talk about 'hovering' with gear and flaps, checklists etc! Of course the more he did that, the more I delayed actions just to piss him off. One day he went a bit too far with the suggestions and pre-empting. I had done the 1st sector, and when I got back in the cockpit it was all set up with the flight directors transferred to his side. So, I flicked them back to the left. He asked 'Isn't this my sector?' to which I just grunted 'nope'. As it happened we were paired for several days and I kept this up until he cracked and asked why I was hogging all the flying. To which I replied 'Well, you have made it quite clear that you think I need more practice, so I will practice until such time as I reach the standard you require'. CRM old-school.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 27th Feb 2010 at 22:57.