Wiz
I am referring to the supervisory pilot, not the pilot AICUS. There are some subtle and not so subtle differences flying RHS. Firstly there are issues with muscle memory and skills developed over many hours of manipulating controls from the LH seat. Also, there are optical issues (parallax specifically) with gazing at instruments 'only 2 1/2 feet away' from an angle. Not many bugsmahers are equipped with anything more than an extra AH or Altimiter on the RHS, possibly a stray ADF or something like that, let alone a full panel. So it's not a matter of being 'any kind of pilot should be able to fly from any control seat' but a matter of exposure and proper explanation of the differences involved.
LE,
The instructor would be familiar with flying from RHS, and therefore aware of the subtle differences (hopefully!!). True, the instructor may be less experienced than what I suggest above, but one would expect they would have reasonable experience on manoeuvres such as UA recovery etc, as well as having experience on the training twin (BE76/PA44etc). Plus, the instructor is generally on a training mission that can be aborted if the weather gets too nasty for training. Your last point about losing the plot on a Chieftain, you shouldn't be there in the first place is part of the sub-point I am trying to get across in this post.
JE,
Good points about recognising the experience of the pilot being endorsed. This is a very valid point . However, in this post I am pointing to the situation of an inexperienced supervisory pilot who may be supervising an inexperienced pilot on a machine that quite often, they may both be out of their depth in, in different roles.
Ibex,
Paragraph 1 very true.
Here's a scenario:
A pilot with a ME endorsement and 50hr on a BE76 (mostly VFR) gets themselves a Chieftain or Aerostar endorsement. They also hold a ME CIR, yet have no IF experience except for the IF time gained under the hood and their only logged IF time is for their initial rating and recency requirements. They approach Company X with view to paying $60/hr and gaining enough command 'experience' to satisfy the regs (10hrs), and maybe a little more in order to try and get in to the company as one of their below award wage pilots. Supervisory pilot 'X', who has little experience in the aircraft type or type of all weather and Night IFR commercial operations, no experience in flying from RH seat, is tasked to 'supervise' the new paying AICUS pilot on in operations in bad weather and night, that require Non Precision IAP to the minima. You would have to agree, that this situation has a huge risk attached to it. This scenario is legal - but is it SAFE?
Type endorsements do not usually involve flying the new aircraft type in IMC conditions and night, nor arethey required to.
BCL - Read the post properly, I am referring to the supervisory pilot, not the person AICUS.
Dale H - It is no more difficult from the RHS, just DIFFERENT. Those differences must be explained to, and some experience given in the process, to the supervisory pilot prior to being allowed to act in the supervisory role. I am not wishing for the above mentioned scenarios, quite the contrary, I am trying to bring about an awareness of this accident waiting to happen, and sincerely hope it does not.
I think most readers have missed my point, so I summarise it:
Prior to a Pilot acting as SUPERVISORY PILOT of other pilots AICUS should:
-Be subject to minimum experience criteria as suggested above (a realistic minimum of actual ME command experience could be say, 1000hrs TT, 500ME command, with 150 hrs command on type and at least 50hrs IF, and if night operations are included, 150hrs night.)
-Demonstrate a level of knowledge in matters such as, but not limited to, IFR procedures, General Knowledge, aircraft type technical and operational items (including normal and abnormal procedures)
- Be given instruction, and demonstrate proficiency in, flying from the RHS, and in the prompt recognition of errors, the ability to clearly advise any corrective action and take control at a point not too early, but before the situation becomes critical etc etc.
- Be give a company qualification, signed off by the Chief Pilot eg an approval to act as a supervisory pilot.
If it's good enough for >5700kg, it should be good enough for bugsmahers.