So You Want to Be a Captain?
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SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN ? ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY FLIGHT OPERATIONS GROUP SPECIALIST DOCUMENT SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN? COMMAND COURSE TRAINING MODULE Authors Captain Ralph KOHN, FRAeS Captain Christopher N. WHITE, FRAeS OUT OF THE FOG SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN ? 1 September 2010 2 Prologue SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN ? INTRODUCTION A GUILD OF AIR PILOTS AND AIR NAVIGATORS AND ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY FLIGHT OPERATIONS GROUP SPECIALIST DOCUMENT This SpeciAlist Document is intenDeD to be An instruction mAnuAl to be useD in prepArAtion for, then During A commAnD course. The whole is A reference mAnuAl to be reAD AnD stuDieD At home, or As pArt of A course. It is intenDeD to give prospective cAptains more bAckground to ADd to their experiences as first officers. Some mAterial has been included As A refresher And As an offering on how best to Apply everyDAy procedures, such As entering and then flying holDing patterns inter alia. It is not really meAnt to be referred to en-route as it were. Some excerpts, such as the useful shortcuts AnD ideAs items offered in AppenDix A, might be copieD by reAders for reference; but the whole SD is not aimed for carrying in briefcases. The Flight Operations Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society has made every effort to identify and obtain permission from the copyright holders of the photoGraphs included in this publication. Where material has been inadvertently included without copyriGht permission, corrections will be acknowledGed and included in subsequent editions. The intent of this compilation is to mAke it self-sufficient, so As not to have to go to other Documents for information. However, ‘Source’ documents should be consulted for their amendment status. The content as offered mAkes this manual A one-stop source of relevant DAtA that should be of interest to A captain-to-be. At the time of going to press European Flight Operations are governed by EU-OPS but the European Community hAs decided thAt from April 2012 both Flight Operations and Flight Crew Licensing regulation will become the responsibility of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EASA has alreADy produced draft requirements which are currently under consultAtion with industry, together with other stAkeholDers AnD expects to promulgAte these during 2010. EASA Regulations are baseD largely on EU-OPS, now that JAR-FCL is no longer in force. From April 2012 A new set of regulations come into force being 'EASA-OPS'. In most areas there will be little or no chAnge from EU OPS. However, EASA OPS Applies to All professionAl flying incluDing Business Jet OperAtions AnD the operations of Professional Aviation Training OrganisAtions. For exAmple FTL schemes are required for this category of operators. The same thing applies to FCL mAtters. SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN ? ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY GUILD OF AIR PILOTS AND NAVIGATORS At the forefront of change A Guild of the City of London FounDeD in 1866 to further the science of Aeronautics, the FounDeD in 1929, the GuilD is A Livery CompAny of the City RoyAl AeronAuticAl Society hAs been At the forefront of of London, receiving its Letters PAtent in 1956. Developments in AerospAce ever since. ToDAy the Society performs three primary roles: With As PAtron His RoyAl Highness The Prince Philip, Duke • To support AnD mAintAin the highest stAnDArDs for of EDinburgh, KG KT AnD As GrAnD MAster His RoyAl professionalism in All Aerospace Disciplines; Highness The Prince Andrew, Duke of York, CVO ADC, the • To proviDe A unique source of speciAlist informAtion AnD GuilD is a charitable organisation that is unique amongst City a central forum for the exchange of ideas; Livery Companies in having active regional committees in • To exert influence in the interests of AerospAce in both AustraliA, CanaDa, Hong Kong and New ZealAnd. the public AnD inDustriAl ArenAs. Main objectives Benefits • To estAblish AnD mAintAin the highest stAnDArDs of Air • Membership grADes for professionAls AnD enthusiAsts Alike safety through the promotion of gooD AirmAnship Among • Over 17,000 members in more thAn 100 countries air pilots and air navigators. • 175 CorporAte PArtners • To constitute A boDy of experienceD Airmen AvAilAble for advice And consultation and to facilitate the exchange of • Over 100 BrAnches Across the worlD informAtion. • DeDicAteD CAreers Centre • To rAise the stAnDArd knowleDge of Airmen. • Publisher of three monthly mAgAzines • To mAke AwArDs for meritorious Achievement AnD to issue • Comprehensive lecture AnD conference progrAmme Master Air Pilot AnD Master Air NAvigAtor CertificAtes. • One of the most extensive AerospAce librAries in the • To Assist Air pilots AnD Air nAvigAtors AnD their worlD, the NAtionAl AerospAce LibrAry in FArnborough. dependents with their children’s educAtion and those in need through A Benevolent Fund. The Society is the home for All AerospAce professionAls, whether they Are engineers, Doctors, Air crew, Air traffic The first concern of the GuilD is to sponsor AnD encourAge controllers, lAwyers, to nAme but A few. There is A grADe of action AnD Activities designed to ensure that aircrAft membership for everyone - from enthusiAsts to cAptAins of wherever they mAy be, Are piloteD AnD nAvigAteD by highly industry. competent, self reliAnt, Dependable and respected people. The GuilD hAs therefore fostereD the sounD eDucAtionAl AnD To join the Society please contAct Membership, RoyAl training of Air pilots AnD Air nAvigAtors, from the initiAl trAining AeronauticAl Society, No.4 Hamilton PlAce, LonDon W1J 78Q, of the young pilot to the speciAlist training of the more UK - Tel: +44 (0)20 7670 4300; Fax: +44 (0)20 7670 4309. mature. It rewArDs those who hAve reAcheD the top of their e-mAil: [email protected] & website: profession through long yeArs of experience AnD www.Aerosociety.com accomplishment and those who, by their outstAnding achievement, have ADded to the lustre of their cAlling. The RoyAl AeronAuticAl Society hAs 24 SpeciAlist Group Committees, eAch of which hAs been set up to represent the The majority of GuilD members are or hAve been Society in all aspects of the aerospace world. These professional licence holders, both military And civil, but many committees vary in size And Activity, but all their members Are Also privAte pilot licence holDers. GuilD members operAte contribute An Active knowleDge AnD enthusiAsm. The Groups not only AircrAft in airlines and All the branches of Her meet four or five times A yeAr AnD their mAin Activities centre Majesty’s ArmeD forces but Also in every AreA of generAl on the proDuction of conferences AnD lectures, with which the AviAtion AnD sporting flying. Society fulfils a large part of its objectives in educAtion AnD the disseminAtion of technicAl informAtion. The AircrAft consiDereD, rAnge from supersonic militAry AnD civil, through single AnD multi-engine fixeD-wing AnD In Addition to plAnning these conferences and lectures, the helicopters, training AircrAft, microlights, gliDers AnD Groups Also Act As focAl points for the informAtion enquiries balloons, to experimentAl aircraft. This is, for mAny AnD requests receiveD by the Society. The Groups therefore members, the pArticulAr strength AnD AttrAction of the GuilD, form A vital interface between the Society and the world at with its Diverse spreAD of interests together with An entirely large, reflecting every aspect of the Society's diverse AnD non-political outlook, forbidding any trade union activities. unique membership. To join the Guild, please contAct the Clerk, Guild of Air Pilots By using the mechAnism of the Groups, the Society covers and Air NAvigators, Cobham House, 9 WArwick Court, the interests of operators and manufacturers, military anD civil Gray’s Inn, LonDon WC1R 5DJ -Tel: +44 (0)20 7404 4032; AviAtors, commerciAl AnD reseArch orgAnisAtions, regulAtory Fax: +44 (0)20 7404 4035. E-mAil: gapan@ gapan.org & and ADministrative bodies, engineers and Doctors, designers website: www.gapan.org and distributors, company Directors AnD students, and every other group of professionAls who work within AerospAce. This specialist document represents the views of the Flight Operations Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society. It has not been discussed beyond the Learned Society Board and hence it does not represent the views of the Society as a whole. 1 September 2010 4 Prologue SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN ? SO YOU WANT TO BE A CAPTAIN? by Captain Ralph Kohn, FRAeS & Captain Christopher N. White, FRAeS THE REASON WHY? While running numerous CommAnD Courses for vArious Airlines, two questions repeatedly cropped-up from the canDidates. The first one wAs: “How do we obtAin experience and where can we find the informAtion that we need to be a good Captain?” Yes, there are references scAttered in mAny books and legal documents if, thAt is, you can Actually find the book or Document. BecAuse of this, A lArge number of cAnDiDAtes cAme ill prepAreD becAuse they hAD not been fortunAte enough to fly with cAptains who were reADy to impArt their knowleDge. In my cAse As A junior first officer on A long haul fleet, I once asked a simple question which was perplexing me, the reply to which was “I am not here to trAin you, go AnD finD out”. Thank you … that reAlly answers the question! The next regulAr question from cAnDiDAtes wAs “When shoulD one start prepAring for command?” The answer is simple. After An ab-initio pilot hAs completed six months on type with his/her first airline and understands both the aircraft and the mode of operAtion … thAt is the time to stArt preparing to be A cAptain. With this in mind, I approached my long time friend And colleague CaptAin Ralph Kohn, FRAeS, who has a lifetime of experience in Civil Aviation As a CAptAin, instructor And as a Regulatory Authority exAminer of Airmen.