Back in the early 1950's a pilot needed (among other things), 500 hours command time to qualify for a senior commercial pilot's licence (SCPL) or a First Class ATPL.
This was to prove a head-ache for the Qantas cadet pilot scheme where, after graduation with a bare CPL, the pilot would spend upwards of 10 years as copilot on Super Constellations, Boeing 707's and other types of the international fleet.
By the time their seniority number got to where a command was available, the lack of 500 hours in command proved the stumbling block. Remember, they started as cadets with no hours and the most they might have had was the 75 hours in command needed for a CPL. Yet by now they would have nearly 10,000 hours of copilot time.
Qantas solved the problem by using a DC3 and HS 125 and allowing these experienced copilots to pick up real command time by flogging around Australia towards 500 hours command in their log books. In most cases, too, Qantas cadets were farmed out to compliant charter operators in Australia and the Solomons to obtain command hours on singles and light twins. This was to prove excellent value in terms of making command decisions - something that has been lost with the current practice of cadets going directly into the right seat of big jets and turboprops.
All this proved awfully expensive so before long Qantas talked the regulator (DCA) into accepting the concept of ICUS and before long the 500 hours in command was watered down to 250 in command and 250 ICUS - or thereabouts.
The years passed and the regulator quietly permitted the erosion of the original ATPL standards for in command hours needed for ATPL. To be fair, overseas regulators through ICAO may have also influenced the steady lowering of the command hours needed for issue of an ATPL. Perhaps our regulator of each era chose to take the easy way out under the pretext of harmonisation?
At the time of writing, Aeronautical experience requirements for the issue of an Air Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) are detailed in Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 5.172. The requirements are summarised as follows:
1500 hours total flight time, which includes:
750 hours in an aeroplane, which includes:
- 250 hours PIC and ICUS, which includes:
- 200 hours cross country, which includes:
- 75 hours instrument, which includes:
- 100 hours night PIC or co-pilot.
- ............................................................ ....................................
So, now all the pilot needs for the ATPL is 170 hours (?) pilot in command. The rest is made up of ICUS or copilot. A far cry from the post war 500 hours real in command time. Most experienced pilots quietly agree that ICUS hours are no more than dual or copilot in sheeps' clothing and worth SFA in terms of real experience. Rather like the position of "cruise captain" in some Australian registered airlines where a copilot logs in command while the aircraft captain (who also logs command at the same time) has a snooze down the back.
Recently, a well known regional airline that has its own cadet training scheme, is about to introduce PICUS. Not ICUS - but PICUS. Seems their first officers (copilot sounds too old fashioned), who have graduated with a bare CPL and the regulatory 75 hours min in command time, are going to strike future problems with the total hours needed before a command upgrade is available. A figure of 3000 hours total aeronautical experience is perhaps the company minimum required to fly in command of the airline's twin engined turbo-props.
Since copilot time is halved for the purposes of logging total aeronautical experience flying time, this could cause lengthy delays in years before promotion to captain is attained simply because twice the number of copilot hours are needed to reach 3000 hours of total aeronautical experience.
The solution is brilliant and the airline is working on poor old CASA. That is the introduction of PICUS or Pilot in Command Under Supervision. Copilots in this airline are not allowed to start the engines. Also they are not permitted to fly from the left seat. That is the captain's job. On these turbo-prop types, the nosewheel steering is on the captain's side and the copilot cannot therefore taxi the aircraft.
But once airborne and given the sector, the copilot will log PICUS all the way (in lieu of copilot time) and thus log the full flight time in his log book. It does not have to be halved anymore because PICUS/ICUS is logged full time. The cadet pilot can soon pick up the minimum required combination of PICUS/ICUS to supplement his paltry 70 hours command time from his CPL, and eventually qualify for his ATPL.
This suits the airline, which seems unconcerned about low hour copilots flying its aircraft - since the main airline worry is losing its experienced captains going for jet jobs and leaving vacancies in the left seats of its turbo-props. Instead of the cadet copilots spending double the normal years reaching say 3000 hours total aeronautical experience, they log PICUS instead of copilot and reach the minimum hours in half the grand total flying time and with far less flying experience. Problem solved...
Makes you wonder when the time will come that CASA will dropped the standards so low, that copilot time disappears from log books and every new copilot will legally log PICUS from the time he first flies as second in command. In other words, his first copilot trip after completing line training. And all the time he logs PICUS it will be the automatic pilot flying the aircraft. Now that is another worry..