Command course

[Pin Head]

Hi

If you are a very very experienced copilot and flown multiple heavy EFIS aircraft in a variety of flying environments around the world, what does a command course really teach you.

We all know about the hard skills and then there is the non-tech soft skills but what else is taught?

Kind regards

Pin

[Intruder]

While you may have had exposure, you may or may not have had specific training on the paperwork side of the Captain's duties, including log book, DDG, maintenance reporting, Op Specs, etc.

Dunno what you consider as "soft skills"... Do those include policies regarding groundside duties on layover, reporting, etc?

[Piltdown Man]

If you are ready for a command, not a lot. You will have accumulated the required experience and knowledge sitting in the right seat. The course is therefore you getting used to flying from a different seat and formally showing that you are ready to be trusted with a company aircraft an everyone and everything on board. In addition the top notch courses will also run through many of the legal aspects of the job and provide tuition in company ethics, standards, policies etc.

PM

[B737900er]

The course looks at aspects of CRM, Legalities, Decision making, and also paper work. The command course hardly looks at your flying ability, its testing you on everything but.

[parabellum]

The hardest part of the transition from RHS to LHS is the mental transition and the longer you have been in the RHS the harder it will be. Have seen many a fine fellow begin to come unstuck in the SIM when things start going wrong and he/she realises that everyone is looking at them for the answers, possibly the first time any real associated pressure has been felt. Now add all the points made above about fuel policy and planning, MEL, weather minima, (and how to calculate them), etc. etc. When I got my first jet command the CP said, "From here on you will find that most FOs will fly better than you, you now have a whole load of other things to consider, not just the menu!"


The actual flying is the same as before, just a different seat.

[tom775257]

As others have mentioned, however I would also stress the legal aspect of it. We had a briefing with the company lawyer that covered many possible scenarios and what we can and can't do which was very useful. Why this isn't taught to FOs I don't know however. Apart from that for me it seemed a general test of knowledge probing parts of the ops manuals that you rarely reach for rather than a course teaching you, although I suspect like most other people it highlighted the odd area that you had lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding.

I was amused by a comment at my final management meeting before flying the line. The gentleman in question (and he is a true gentleman) said 'You'll go from trying to get the slickest approaches possible thinking you have made the captain happy to being the most happy when the FO makes an average approach to average landing all comfortably within stability criteria.' How true.

[Speedbird83]

As someone told me once, when things start to go bad as a first officer you turn to the left and look for confirmations/answers.. As a captain you might still want to turn to the left for the same purpose, but all you'll see is just the reflection of your image.
Now you'll be the one giving answers and making decisions!

[eckhard]

If you are a very very experienced copilot and flown multiple heavy EFIS aircraft in a variety of flying environments around the world, what does a command course really teach you.

We all know about the hard skills and then there is the non-tech soft skills but what else is taught?

As others have said, you will (or should) be taught:

to handle the aircraft from the left-hand seat;
to develop a sound decision-making framework;
that when making a decision, you have to balance the requirements of the regulator, company, passengers and crew;
about your responsibilities (both legal and more general) to the four entities mentioned above;
about what support is available to you from within the company; and
which different channels of reporting are appropriate.

As you are experienced, you will be expected to arrive for the course with a sound knowledge of various subjects, including but not limited to:

company fuel policy;
airfield operating minima;
Flight Time Limitations regulations;
your aircraft type; and
your route network, including any 'difficult' destinations.

During the course you will be expected to demonstrate that you have learned the material presented and that you can operate to a safe, repeatable standard, in accordance with the provisions of the Ops Manual, adopting a pragmatic approach where applicable.

What they are looking for is a 'safe pair of hands', who can get along with flight and ground colleagues and deliver a safe and punctual operation, with an appropriate level of customer care and focus on business issues, as they arise. In other words, would they want to send their family on a flight with you on a dark and dirty night?

[Lookleft]

As someone told me once, when things start to go bad as a first officer you turn to the left and look for confirmations/answers.. As a captain you might still want to turn to the left for the same purpose, but all you'll see is just the reflection of your image.
Now you'll be the one giving answers and making decisions!

I was told exactly the same thing when I graduated from the RHS to the LHS of a turboprop. I was so impressed with the succinct summation of the job I still remind myself of it every time I post on PPrune!