Captain upgrade question

[123567]

Giday

I am running a general survey on what other corp operators minimum requirements are for a command upgrade. Do you have them?

We are Operating a Falcon internationally.

Is it more common to have two captains or a captain and a Co Pilot?

If you have two capatins what minimum jet time would you require/recommend for an upgrade from first officer.

Any comments would be appreciated as we are trying to produce a company policy for our operations manual

[Miles Magister]

This is a very difficult question. The only real limit is what is on your insurance policy. Make sure you put a phrase similar to "except as authorised by the chief pilot" in so you can legally vary the decision if you need to.

The best minimum requirement is when you really feel you can trust the chap to go away with a junior FO and you can still sleep at night without worrying about them. This normally occurs about 2 months after the chap stops telling you he should be a Captain!

MM

[Formally Known As]

My minimum requirements are these.

"Could I sleep at night if my wife and kids were on board, when that person that is considered for command upgrade, is the PIC?

F/O "Could he/she get the A/C down safely if said PIC in the above scenario were to be incapacitated?

[gigi116]

My personal opinions

pre-requisites :
3000 total time
1500 jet-multicrew
minimum Age 35
minimum 500 on type (if first command course)

course :
familiarization on left seat with TRI (steering?)
operator proficiency check on left seat with TRE
flyng under supervision for 20 legs with Line Training Commander
line check with Chief Pilot

:)

[AA717driver]

On the Gulfstreams we won't even look at anyone with less than 5000 hours total time and they (the non-aviation dept. suits downtown) recently balked at a guy with 6500 and a lot of jet experience (WW and Astra).

We are all Captains and swap legs and Trip Captain duties (senior guy is TC the first half of the month/junior guy is TC the second half).

I guess to directly answer your question I would have to look at the individual. Do they have a lot of time in large Falcons? As PIC? If not, what have they done before?

I agree with Miles and FKA on the "comfort" issue.TC

[Kent BeTrue]

As is usual in these types of discussion, total time of xxxx is stated as a requirement.

4000 hours in a Cessna 172 and 1000 hours in a twin jet still gives one 5000 hours TT. The type of hours and the type of flying are significantly more important than TT IMHO.

1000-1500 hours of jet time should provide an active co-pilot the opportunity to demonstrate his command abilities to the relevant crew-members with which they fly.

Family / loved ones in the back is an excellent indication.

Cheers

[JB10]

Gigi,

Just a quick question about your mininmum age of 35. Are you saying that If I am 21 with nearly a thousand hours in jets/tp that I am gonna have to wait another 14 years for a command?? Sounds a bit unfair.

Jb

[gigi116]

21 age with a thousand hours on jet it's not a so common situation unless you find a job on a jet at 18 just after CPL.

Anyway if you are so lucky, probably you could be "ready" for command before age 35 but anyway, to reach the usual operator required thousand of hours, you should wait other 8 to 10 years. (21+10 =31).

To be "Ready" for me means not only flyng skills but also "life experience" to manage people and any unusual situation that a worldwide airtaxi operations may require.

[Roland Burgyan]

dear Gigi,
maybe JB10's situation is not so uncommon as you think, I'm 28 with 2300 jet time (2500TT) and flying GV in intercontinental operations. What does it mean to you life expirience? I think that age is not a good method to judge people maturity.

[rvator]

My minimum requirements are these.
"Could I sleep at night if my wife and kids were on board, when that person that is considered for command upgrade, is the PIC?
...............
Just doing the same exercise as a TRI & E...when the required technical skills have been checked...........that's a way to take an objective look at that crucial question...that is not a game of chance !

[gigi116]

it's is not only a question of "maturity" , it's a question of "experience" which increase day by day for all our life.

[Roland Burgyan]

Gigi, you're right saying that is not only maturity but a matter of experience. I'm just saying that I don't think is right to put a strict age limit. When somebody has the skills, has the legal requirements and feels ready for it should also go for it.