9 Mar 2011
The Bar is Being Raised. Set your Operating Standard Appropriately.
Promotions – Please join me in congratulating Robert Stark (UAL5191) and Robert Martin (UAL509) on their recent promotion to Flight Officer. Please also join me in congratulating Jim (UAL007) on his promotion to Captain.
PSR’s, Higher standards - For some time now we have been discussing on skype and in OpNotes that the operating standard for United Regional is being raised. Regular readers of OpNotes will remember that controllers have asked for a system for identifying and correcting deficiencies by individual pilots in their operations. That system has been identified and controllers have begun to document and file Pilot Safety Reports (PSR’s) as needed.
The purpose of PSR’s is not to fire anyone, nor to beat up on anyone. It is to identify learnings that should be addressed. It is to help make all of us better pilots, and a better team . Here at operations, when a PSR is received it will be forwarded to the pilot in question and that pilot will have an opportunity to respond to the PSR. After reviewing the incident and prescribing and appropriate resolution the matter will be documented and the case closed. In the vast majority of cases no further action will be warranted. However in the unlikely event that a series of PSR’s is received regarding an individual pilot there may be further steps that are required up to and including possible suspension or removal from UALR. Again, the point isn’t to fire pilots, but it has become clear that a system for dealing with ongoing issues is needed. Again, the purpose is to ensure that UALR upholds a quality standard in operations that is commensurate with our stated goal of being one of the top operators on BVA. Actions taken regarding PSR’s will be based on the “three strikes” system. Any questions or concerns regarding handling of PSR’s please see your group leader or instructor.
Chain of command and interpersonal respect – There have been a handful of questions recently regarding chain of command and who is in command of whom. In my opinion as Chief Pilot and founder of UALR (essentially God in this matter) I don’t feel that anyone is in command of anyone. If we were being paid to be here, if this was our job, then perhaps yes there might be some level of authority implied here. But we are not. We are here to have fun, and we all volunteer to be here.
In my view, the titles of Flight Officer, Captain, and Senior Captain are for decoration only. While they are certainly badges of honor and achievement, they are not to imply that anyone has jurisdiction over anyone. In my view, officers exist to lead and set an example, and if there is any indication of command here it should be via the Principals of Attraction. What does that mean? Well, it’s more complicated than I can spell out in a paragraph. But the point is that command at UALR is to be exercised by attracting people to serve the goals of the company by making those goals so much fun and so attractive that no one can help but want to do them. It is not to be done by ordering people around, or disciplining people. The moment that people start getting bossed around is the moment I start to have problems.
Does that mean that pilots can show disrespect to each other and that this is a free-for-all? Absolutely not, and I will personally investigate and deal with incidents of disrespectfulness. It won’t be tolerated. But it won’t be tolerated NOT because of any sense of a command structure. It won’t be tolerated because professionals - - no, scratch that - - human beings have no business being disrespectful to each other in any capacity whatsoever. It’s morally and ethically wrong and it should be checked whenever it arises.
United Regional was designed to be - - and will never not be - - all inclusive. In other words, if a pilot wants to participate in UALR, and meets all the technical and operational standards for doing so, they will not be denied. I will not tolerate cliques being formed, bullying, disrespect in any form, or pilots being excluded from something based on personality conflicts. I don’t care to hear about who likes who and who doesn’t like whom. It’s dumb and it expends time and energy that could be used for operating airliners instead. I don’t care how old you are… you can leave all that crap on the grade school playground.
One of United Regional’s purposes is to be a leadership laboratory. That means that in addition to providing flight training, we also provide leadership and management training at the FO, and CA level and beyond. In fact the SrCA path is all about organizational management, leadership skills and styles, and interpersonal effectiveness. In this organization officers have the opportunity to take charge of something, to manage something, to lead, to interact, and to learn how to grow and build an organization. These are very good life skills, and pretty much everyone reading this will at some point in their lives find themselves as a participant in a group effort where personality conflicts will arise. UALR is an opportunity to learn how to deal with them in a forgiving environment, and to learn how to participate in a group while making that group as effective - - and attractive - - as possible.
At United Regional, mistakes are allowed provided that we learn from them, grow, and become stronger. This can be in the form of a flight operations mistake, OR it can be in the form of a management, leadership, or interpersonal mistake. Many of you are just now learning how to work in a group, and how to lead a group. And if we can’t make room here for learning and growing in this way as well, if we can’t have tolerance for the little personal offenses that sometimes occur, then UALR should be shut down and I’ll be the first one to do it.
Therefore, if we can’t play nice and we can’t include everyone, then we won’t play at all. Dig?
End of Sermon.
Flight for the Fight – FFTF is coming. United Regional has been asked by BVA ops to make a strong showing. At the moment we are planning a big splash on that Sunday evening similar to our usual Thursday night group event. More on this to come. Any and all ideas that lead to generating more traffic during that weekend are welcome and encouraged. Gangs of jets are encouraged, and officers and leaders should take this chance to rise up and make something happen.
For now please mark your calendars for April 8-11, 2011. BVA is providing 60 hours of nonstop ATC coverage and ALL UALR PILOTS ARE EXPECTED TO FLY THAT WEEKEND. We have never asked for “all hands on deck” before. However, we are now. This is an important event for BVA, but more so it’s for an important cause and it’s a good chance for all pilots to do something good in the world doing what you love.
Takeoff Runups – Recently there was a discussion on the BVA forums about having to have severe rudder correction on takeoff in order to avoid sliding off the runway to one side or the other. There was discussion on reducing the realism settings on FSX as a possible solution. I might suggest another. If you’ve ever flown in a real airliner you’ll notice that pilots don’t typically just slam the throttles forward and tear down the runway. They tend to advance throttles slowly, or in stages. That is in part to get the ship lined up properly down the runway at a lower speed before accelerating to high speed. UALR pilots may want to experiment with this. Advance your throttle in stages, and line up more carefully at each stage as you go. You will find that you may need less rudder deflection if you point the ship in the right direction in the first place, and that if you do need rudder deflection it will be more manageable when you finally open the throttles up full.
Map function on FD vs BVALive - You may have noticed the BVALive is gone. It’s likely not coming back. However the map function on Flight Desk seems to be working well and is a suitable alternative. In order to view the aircrafts on the map function, you must right click on the pilots folder from the list of aircraft flying. You will see an option there to draw all aircraft or a specific aircraft on the FD map.
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