14 Dec 2010
Promotions and Welcomes – Please join me in congratulating Jack (Jacksam – UAL436) on passing his Fight Officer’s checkride. Please also welcome new candidate Brandon (SoaringOwl) and Jace (Jace.Jensen) to the line
Raising the bar – There have been a number of comments from various sources that the time has come for UALR to raise the bar on performance standards. While there is no question that United Regional is one of the top operators on BVA, there is always room for improvement.
In the past we have allowed certain leniencies in order to foster growth and advancement. And while we will always seek to balance the desire for growth with the desire for perfection, the time has come ask all United Regional pilots to raise the bar. This and future OpNotes will outline areas where there is room for improvement, as well outlining areas where standards for advancements will increase.
In the past, controllers have sent pilot reports to the Chief Pilot on an ad lib basis. I am going to ask controllers to formalize this process more fully. Going forward pilots may receive written commentary regarding their flight from various reporters, and those reports may also be added to the pilots STC training logs. The purpose of such reporting isn’t to admonish pilots, it’s to both reinforce excellence and to heighten awareness of areas for improvement. Remember we fly as a team, and we should seek to enhance the total team wherever possible. No UALR pilot – including the Chief – should be exempt from operational excellence. That’s what we do.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this company direction, please feel free to contact an officer at any time.
Did you know? – Did you know that BVA controllers consult FlightAware.com on a regular basis to determine what the real world activity and runway use is? They use this information to further enhance your flight experience and are constantly seeking ways to enhance realism. FlightAware.com is an excellent resource for doing so, and pilots can do the same. UALR pilots are encouraged to create an account (FREE!) on FlightAware and use that resources to further enhance the BVA “blurring the lines of reality” operational style. You’ll find many useful tools there for doing so.
Scenery updates – As a reminder, the #1 wish list item from controllers is for pilots to have completely updated scenery. Please take a moment to download ALL the scenery updates from the BVA scenery page. The scenery design team takes a considerable amount of time to create these updates. It would be only courteous for us to actually take the time to download and install them. Going forward, pilots lacking updated scenery will be noted by ATC controllers.
Departure and arrivals – Please also take a moment to familiarize yourself with the KLGA departures. Recent operations out of LGA have shown that there is room for improvement here, and that pilots should review their understanding of the proper departure turns out of KLGA. They are certainly more challenging than KBOS departures, but certainly not impossible. The turn–by- turn procedures for departures are published on page 2 of the LGA2 chart available from Airnav.com. Please contact an instructor if you need any assistance in interpreting the instructions. Not knowing a departure chart should be embarrassing for a UALR pilot, and those pilots who don’t follow the procedure may find themselves embarrassed by the departure controller on air.
Also of note is the increased use of published visual arrivals by controllers. Don’t be caught off guard. It is recommended to take a moment to print off the charts for the commonly used published visual arrivals and have them as part of your chart binder. You do have a chart binder, don’t you? Good. I hope so.
COCOM use – A number of pilots have asked if monitoring COCOM (122.90) is mandatory. It is not. COCOM is available for your convenience when operating as a group flight, or when on the ground to coordinate flights. The suggested method for setting up COCOM is to page fellow pilots on Skype and invite them to COCOM when needed, but not necessarily to monitor it at all times.
Landing by hand requirements – FAA airline transport rules state that every third landing should be by hand. UALR will follow this rule. During winter operations, weather conditions are likely to be reduced both by increased storm activity, and excessive darkness, leading to increased use of APPR HLD. This is not necessarily an issue and safe landings should always take priority. However, pilots should not be over relying on APPR HLD and should seek to conduct every third landing by hand.
FMC use – in relation to that there has been an increased interest in FMC training in the E-jets. FMC use is authorized for qualified UALR pilots, but only to the extent a pilot can show they are not over relying on it. The Chief Pilot receives regular updates on pilot proficiency from ATC and if it is noticed that a pilot is relying too heavily on FMC, and struggling when operating via VOR, it will be brought up.
Pilot weather reporting – as an enhancement, UALR pilots and controllers are asked to note the type of weather software they are operating when they report weather observations either to controllers or to other pilots. Since different weather software produce different observations, an observation would be more useful if the type of weather software in use comes along with it. For instance, and aircraft observing low visibility on approach at KACK might say “zero viz down through 500 feet, Active Sky,” or a controller might say “RVR reported at 1000 feet, FSX Weather.” With enough practice and reinforcement this habit could enhance the value of our weather observations over time.
Mentor training – A number of flight officers have expressed an interest in becoming an instructor. That’s good news. The more instructors in the company, the faster and more effectively we will be able to assimilate new pilots. It should also lead to more promotions to Captain. Also a good thing.
However, there exists some confusion as to the process for becoming a mentor. With that in mind the SOP will be updated to reflect the following enhanced procedure. This procedure is designed to ensure that our mentors and instructors are providing the highest quality training standards possible, and are effective as the first stop in setting the tone for United Regional operations.
Step one in becoming a mentor is to express an interest in doing so to the Chief Pilot. At that time the Instructor Candidate (IC) should adjust their quality standard to MAXIMUM and seek to operate their aircraft on as many UALR routes as possible with ZERO mistakes and FULL professionalism. The IC will also be provided with an instructors training outline for orientation flights and beyond. The IC should know that document cold - as well as the UALR SOP - and at their first IC training flight they will be quizzed mercilessly on both. IC’s will become certified instructors in large part based on their level of professionalism, dedication to zero defect operation, and having enough time in their schedule to train. Instructors will be asked to dedicate at least one night per week (preferably two) to training new candidates without dropping the ball. This process is overseen by the Captains, and once CA’s are satisfied that the IC is in the right frame of mind and has the proper dedication level for the train-the-trainer process, the dispatch will be updated such that the tag IC (Instructor Candidate) appears next to the pilot’s name.
The IC should then monitor Skype actively. At the first opportunity, the IC will be asked to join an orientation flight conference call with an approved instructor and a new candidate. This is likely to happen spontaneously, as many orientation flights happen without an appointment. But of course if an appointment for training can be scheduled, we will schedule it.
Once an orientation flight is set up the IC will then monitor the call in progress and follow along with the flight in a separate CRJ aircraft. They should listen in on the call and perform the actions along with the certified instructor as a way to become familiar with the teaching methods and objectives.
IC’s will be approved to conduct their first solo orientation flight by the consensus of UALR Captains. It may take more than one such train-the-trainer flights before the IC is approved, and defects in operation and character of the IC will be worked out during this process. Once approved, the IC should seek out candidates to fly with on their own. They may be assigned candidates when available, but experience has shown that the instructor will get the most traction when they actively seek out candidates to work with on their own.
During their first orientation flight as an instructor, the Skype call roles will be reversed. The new instructor will conduct the flight with a veteran instructor monitoring the call. Assuming that flight goes well, the new instructor will be approved to conduct training flights on their own, will be given access to make entries in the BVA STC training forums, and have their status on the dispatch updated to Certified Instructor.
Certified instructors will also be asked to checkride with another certified instructor at least every 6 months in order to maintain their qualification level.
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