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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 2520.PDF
162 AIR TRANSPORT FUCHT International. 31 July 1969 Pilot's Point of View Training dilemmas WHEN DOES THE LEARNINO CURVE flatten out for a pilot? Probably never, when we remember the constant process of re-equipment and introduction of new procedures that forms our world. The slope of the curve does vary, though, and perhaps is at its steepest during the first five years of an airline pilot's career. It is during this period that the young pilot will form his background knowledge and professional standards, and consolidate his fuller understanding of the meaning of his work and its responsibilities. At a time when many have come to look on flying as a routine occupation it can come as a shock to the new recruit when he discovers that those old qualities of initiative and leadership are needed and that the printed word is never quite able to provide all the answers. Aptitude is a word often con nected with pilot-selection techniques; it is frequently defined —badly—in terms of the ability to co-ordinate physically or to remain unflappable. My definition would be that a success ful airline pilot should be mentally flexible and receptive to training, yet able to retain an overall understanding of the truly important aspects of his work. To do this he must be offered the formative training during those first five years. Some airlines are rather more successful than others in this art. It is an art, for as yet there is a wide divergence of practice and opinion among airlines. It would seem that the route structure and operational needs of an air line do create different natural opportunities for the new pilot to reach fullest handling-competency standards, or to be exposed to the world's weather and airport patterns. In many companies there is recognition of the need to train the new pilot up to a full standard as rapidly as possible, even if this reduces his utilisation during peak operational periods. Others, with different priorities, will not allow special provision to be made for this purpose, and rely on the man gaining experience as he can. The haphazard nature of a non-system may leave an airline with a large re-training programme at a future date. You may wonder what sort of training a new pilot needs. This is extensive, covering the achievement of a good flying standard on the airline's type of aircraft, understanding of the operational environment and rules for the world areas to which he may fly, general airmanship in the airline's operations, perhaps navigational competency, or systems-operation com petency, and the full responsibilities of his position as a co-pilot in monitoring safe operation. The thousands of new pilots now being trained by all the airlines represent a capital asset—and a problem. They will soon have to take over as the sole co-pilots on many 747 operations, where the four-man crewing practised by many airlines will be abandoned with the introduction of inertial- navigation systems. The degree of co-pilot competency required in such a crew is not achieved overnight, and the training of new men to a sufficient standard is proving a planning head ache for some airlines which face concurrent retirement of experienced pilots at the time of 747 introduction. Many airlines have, in fact, been using the three-man crew for years and have in general adopted the pilot as systems operator. For example. Pan American pilots may choose which section of flight operation to work within on their way to the full co-pilot bidline, either as pilot-engineer or as second officer navigator cum third pilot. In BEA, pilots are upgraded through careful line training, but, where the two-pilot crew on the BAC One-Eleven is involved, the co-pilot qualifications have had to be specifically defined. The point which all understand is that at a time when large numbers of new men are gaining experience great care is necessary to avoid dilution of competency in any crew beyond a certain point—and this point is very difficult to define. The problem is relative to the type of operations on which the air line is engaged, and may also be relative to the type of air craft. The main insurance factor for the airlines lies in the rapid training of the new pilots to a full standard. It seems as if this is not yet recognised universally and that, despite the greater productivity of the 747 and other airborne omnibuses (ugh), the reduced crew totals required will be offset by industry growth. This will still leave a shortage of experienced co pilots. A further headache may be more easily solved; this is the need to train new entrants during the 1970s on aircraft that have no fourth position in which they may gain valuable ex perience. They will have to be carried as supernumerary pilots for longish periods, or at least under the supervision of experienced co-pilots, unless existing training techniques are revised for the better. Airlines would do well to grasp the nettle and to plan their future training programmes on the basis that they will invest expenditure on the individual new pilot until he reaches the required standard. This needs acceptance of continuity of train ing at base and down the routes, and of non-productivity during much of this period. It also presupposes the employ ment of more advanced instructional techniques and positive use of a route-training system. Failure to come to grips with this obvious dilemma will leave airlines with a surplus of underqualified men at the time.' perhaps in 1972-74, when war-time-pilot retirement causes a massive turnover. MAINLINER One of the few still- existent Northrop C-125 Raider three-engined STOL transports has been refur bished and repainted at Mexico City Airport for operation by a new all-cargo operator, Aeronaves Alimen- tadores, which is controlled and operated by Aeronaves de Mexico. Only 23 Raiders were ordered—by the USAF in the late 1940s for special transport and re serve duties
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