Excellent post captjns
"I will say this however, when given the chance, F/O's perform pretty well when given the chance to hand fly the jet. Their levels of motivation are highly increased too.
That being said most F/O's enjoy flying with the expats in India for that reason. Perhaps they can shead the title "Microsoft Pilot" with the more hands on experience they are able to... that their own commanders will not allow them to get."
Couldnt agree more with you...
It seems like such a simple thing yet for some reason a lot of captains and even instructors find it impossible to understand it. I think any captain who doesnt like to give controls to the F/O is doubtful of his own capability (unless of course he knows the F/O to be incapable in which case, he should have a chat with the guy and he should pass him off to a instructor). Its a simple fact. If all i do in a 3 hour flight is turn a few knobs and make some radio calls, what good will it to do my skill, motivation, confidence and knowledge and indeed my confidence in the captain.
When I was even greener than I am now, I was really fortunate to fly with some excellent captains both locals and expats, and the experience and motivation one got from their simply being in the cockpit made up for all the BS we had to go through outside of the cockpit.
One of the best instructors once told me "
Now go on and fly her son, and dun worry too much, there is precious little you can do in this aircraft that I cant recover from. And in time so will you"
Can you imagine the sheer confidence the FO will have about the captain and his capability, the drive it instilled in one to do their best to get a simple "well done" from such a man? Unfortunately men like him are in real short supply today. A real pity.
As far as the expats vs local debate goes. once again the wisdom from yet another gem of an instructor comes through : "
I have never claimed to be better than anyone else, so I see no reason to agree to being worse. And I believe no one else should."
With the same training, opportunities and motivation every pilot can rise up to the same level of competence.
keep it simple, keep it smooth.
Happy landings