First Officer
 

Can somebody please tell me what the job of a 'First Officer' is really like.

Cynical description:

• Captain's Sexual Advisor - If I want your f'ing advice, I'll ask for it
• F/O - Flap Operator

Realistic description:

• An opportunity to learn from a fellow professional.
• An opportunity to see mistakes made, and their resolution.
• An opportunity to learn.
• An opportunity to hone one's skills.
• A source of occasional frustration because one's not in charge.
• An opportunity to learn how to deal with different personalities.
• An opportunity to learn.
• An opportunity to teach.

It`s lousy pay. Grumpy old Captains. Lots of paperwork. ****ty rostering. And LOTS more. :}
As with all things in this life it all depends - on the company u work for the plane u fly and ur total flight time and so on. If u get a good job then it can be real pleasure and u lear a lot.But if ur job is in a company that usually dosent use SOP`s, CRM is almost non-existent and there are language problems then u start to think- am i in the right profession?


Hope its the first one for u:ok:

lennu

First Officer
 

Thanks to both Capt Claret and lennu. Just what I want.:) If it can be that bad, why would anybody want to do the job? Why not just have a ppl and fly for fun. Must be real fun if you are a female First Officer.

Where i work the first officer does exactly the same as the capt, with the obvious exception that the capt has overall responsibillity for the aircraft and so signs all the paperwork etc.

Flying wise we take it in turns, one flys one way, the other flys the other way, If its your sector you are encouraged to do the briefings, fuel decisions, liase with the cabin crew etc etc.
The captain usually has more experience, not always more on type, so you can both learn from each other.
Think you will find that all this applies to most of the Uk operators.

F/O is the entry level job in airlines where there isn't a Second Officer. it's a place to learn and excel. I have only worked with a few bad F/O's...

To keep the captain from killing you!

For a 74 Classic:
Window Heat
Pitot Heat
Time to eat!

For over thirty years yours truly has been a Captain on heavy jet transports, and I have one rule...

LET THE FIRST OFFICER FLY AS HE HAS BEEN TAUGHT BY THE VARIOUS TRAINING CAPTAINS, AND LEAVE THE GUY ALONE.

In most all cases, the flight turns out just fine, and the First Officer does an outstanding job.

Works for me.:rolleyes:

CAT,

I don't think it's "all that bad". I've probably got just over 1000hrs F/O. Some captains I didn't really look forward to flying with, most I did.

I learned lots, made mental notes on how I thought I would, or would not handle different things. As an example, I was caught twice in icing conditions with the pitot heat off with the same captain because he didn't believe in wearing out the pitot heater when the weather was fine, and occasionally when entering icing conditions, turning it on would be overlooked. My lesson - turn the heat on before take off and off after landing. In 11000+ hours, I've never suffered a burned out pitot heater.

With 10 years in command now, I'm sure some F/O don't enjoy working with me, I hope most do. But none of us can like every one, the art, is being able to get on, and be a cohesive crew despite not being best of mates. That's a good lesson in itself.

I think its as good as you want to make it. It'd be easy once you had your first job, to do the minimum, look out the window all day and have a captain nurse you along. If you work hard and make the most of each flight to learn from the captain (where you think he/she is making good decisions) and mentally think what 'would I be doing in this situation' your standard will improve quickly, you'll be able to make more educated decisions and back up/give ideas to the captain. They'll appreciate you more as they don't have to babysit you and your days will go well.

Life is good...most of the time.

As a recent convert, I can tell you things I found that were funny in the right side are not so funny in the left seat!!

Picture the scene:: Hotel room.....wake up not knowing the day only knowing the crew bus pick up time.
Paper work >
Vending machine for breakfast/lunch/dinner >
flight good/bad fun depending on captain >
runway + land >
paper work >
T/O flight and land >
Paper work >
No time to fill in those precious hours in logbook only sleep>
Sleep>
Sleep>
Sleep>
Sleep>
Do ya see the trend???????????
After a long long hard road and financial hit.......i gotta go sleep now...
At the end of the day I love it and wouldnt do anything else.
Now excuse me gotta go sleep........

I am fairly new to the FO experience on a commecial jet,but I've learned one thing.The captain is your best teacher.Some are anal,some are'nt.But remember,Pilots are paid to be anal.They are ultimatly responsible for the aircraft,passengers and crew.Check,report,and check again.Until its second nature.
I've had nothing but good times flying as FO,and hope to keep learning so I can someday become a captain and teach others to fly like numerous people have taught me.:ok:

Why do you think it would be real fun being a female FO?? It actually is, but I'm just wondering why you think that......

Sarcastic comment perhaps? Suggesting it would NOT be fun when you have to fly with some old sexist bastard?

Er82's not that bad - I'd be her captain!

lol :}

Back to the original thread (not another one about er82's assets!:ok: :ok: )

The life of an F/O is great. You get to do a job you love and everyday you will face a new challenge of some description! You never stop learning, you might fly with the odd grumpy chap in the left seat but its only short term and most of the guys are great anyway.

Most of all, enjoy the job!:)

Great job as an FO.

A bit of paper work - mostly logging the chocks time, fill in the flight report and occasionally write a snag in the TL36.

In my company we fly leg for leg. Most captains would give you the opportunity to make the fuel decision etc.

Salary is good for the amount of responsibility you carry, and flying with Boeing/Company Standard Operating Procedures makes the job easy, because we both know what to do when and how. There is no GUESSING what your fellow crew member is going to do next.

Sure, sometimes you fly with a "difficult" captain, but I take that as an opportunity to hone my people skills. Its impossible for everybody to get along and like each other.

When sitting on the ground looking up at the cockpit window he's the one who spits out his dummy when ATC tell him he has missed his slot 'cos of a slow ground crew!!!!!!lol.