Navajo

[Tverhie]

Hi everyone,
Just wondering for anyone that flies (or has flown, or just knows for that matter) Navajos [PA31] (or Chieftains) as a First Officer - when you were the pilot flying, did you fly the aircraft from the left seat or right seat? If it was from the left seat, was there a minimum hour requirement, or did the pilot flying always fly from the left seat? Thanks a bunch for any info!

[justcurious]

As I dimly recall, when the FO was flying, he was in the right seat. This was generally every other leg, unless they had hurt my feelings.

The only time an FO was in the left seat with me, was when they were ready to occupy it full time as captain. Generally, we would run them for about 100 hours left seat, and then do a captain's ride. We did an hour's worth of dedicated training, then gave 100 hours of selected legs, then the remaining 4 hours dedicated training, then the ride. Seemed to work well.

That was about the time the navajo was still made out of cloth and wood, so, no idea how they do it now.

[m&v]

This is agood question ,for those people flying the 31? as a flying job. TC won't recognize the rt/seat time unless the OC requires a'two pilot' operation.When candidates write off their ATP's,TC quieries these times..Also get the chief pilot to 'credit' you with half the f/o time to PIC credit(TC approval needed):rolleyes: