Flight Time And Duty Hours 39the Company, including any FDP(see below), positioning, groundtraining, ground duties and standbyduty. A Flying Duty Period (FDP), onthe other hand, is any duty periodduring which you fly in an aircraft ascrew. It includes positioningimmediately before or after a flight(say in a taxi or light aircraft) andpre/after-flight duties, so the startwill generally be at least 30 minutesbefore the first scheduled departuretime and the end at least 15 minutesafter last chocks on or rotors laststopped time, though these may varybetween companies (see also Pre- andPost-Flight Activities and Positioning). InCanada, Flight Duty Time startswhen you report for a flight orstandby and finishes when theengines stop after the final flight ofthe day, including time used forduties prior to the reporting time.Presumably, after-flight duties aren’tincluded, as there are no specifictimes laid down, except withreference to airlines.If a Flying Duty Period immediatelyfollows ground or other duty, theFDP commences from the start ofthe other. With split duties (seebelow), the intervening time on theground is also included. Themaximum rostered FDPs are intables in the Ops Manual whichactually come from CAP 371 (TheGuide to Requirements on the Avoidanceof Excessive Fatigue in Aircrews). Thesetables (only two reproduced below)give limits dependent onacclimatisation (or not) to the localtime zone. You're considered to beacclimatised if you've had threeconsecutive local nights free of dutywithin a local time zone band of twohours (for a definition of 'local night'see under Duty Cycles).Maximum FDP—Fixed Wing;single pilotSectors to 4 5 6 7 8+0600-0759 10 9½ 8½ 8 80800-1259 11 10¼ 9½ 8¾ 81300-1759 10 9¼ 8½ 8 81800-2159 9 8¼ 8 8 82200-0559 8 8 8 8 8Maximum FDP—Helicopters;single pilotLocal start MaxFDPMax Flying0600-0659 9 60700-0759 10 70800-1359 10 71400-2159 9 62200-0559 8 5FDPs for aeroplanes are moreflexible than for helicopters becausethe latter involve relatively shortflights during which several sectorsare flown without stopping rotors,giving you a high workload. In fact(as you can see), in a helicopter,there's a maximum number of hoursyou can fly within any FDP, in viewof the lack of sector limits, and thefact that 4 hours’ helicopter flying isthe equivalent of 8 hours’ hardlabour, and double that when longlining. In Canada, that sort ofrestriction seems to come with helilogging or spraying.Helicopter pilots doing repetitive
short sectors at an average rate of 10or more landings per hour (e.g.pleasure flying or load slinging)should have a break of at least 30minutes away from the aircraftwithin any continuous period of 3hours (you need it, too). After 3hours' offshore shuttle operations inconditions other than day VMC, you40 Operational Flyingshould get a 30 minute rest free ofall duty.As the objective of these restrictionsis to ensure that you're adequatelyrested at the beginning of each FlyingDuty Period, it follows thatflexibility should be applied at theend. All FDP limits can be stretchedby Split Duties, In-flight Relief orExtensions, which are describedbelow. Extensions can be used onthe day at your discretion, to caterfor unforeseen delays, etc., but theothers must be planned.Discretion to Extend FDPsThere are always delays in aviation,for anything from technical toweather reasons, and a Flying DutyPeriod may be extended if you thinkyou can make the flight safely andhave consulted the other membersof the crew about their fitness.However, the normal maximum isbased on the original reporting time,and calculated on what actuallyhappens, not what was planned tohappen (everything must be plannedproperly). Sometimes, for example,you may have to exercise it if a lowerperformance aircraft is used insteadof a larger one, and consequentlytakes longer to get round the route.This discretion is yours (asCommander), but some Companieswill make the decision for youbefore the first flight of the day,which is not when it should be used.In these circumstances, you mayonly extend the FDP by 1½ hours,saving the remainder of the 3normally permitted for later.In UK, extensions up to 3 hours areregarded as the absolute limit, exceptin emergencies, which are situationsthat, in your judgment, presentserious risks to health and safety,such as Air Ambulance flights,where the patient may be put at riskby the delay caused by a rest-period.In such cases, the figures may beextended by up to 4 hours, providedthat no in-flight relief has beenallowed for and the previous restperiod has been taken in full.There must be at least 48 hoursbetween Air Ambulance flights, anda spare (qualified) commander mustbe carried if you plan to extend bymore than 2 hours of the permitted4. The need for the trip itself mustalso be certified by a competentmedical authority, and no passengers(other than next-of-kin of thepatient) must be carried. Once thepatient has been de-planed, you can'tuse any further discretion over thepermitted 4 hours to get you home.You can only do 3 of these flights inany consecutive 28 days.Whenever discretion is exercised, thecircumstances should be reported toOps on the Discretion Report Form (in
the Ops Manual). If the Duty Periodis extended for more than 2 hours,the report should also be forwardedto the CAA within 30 days.In Canada, most people extend to 15hours, if the following rest period isextended by the same amount (1hour) or you do less than 8 hours’flying a day. Transport Canada canissue a special permission for 15hours, so check your Ops Manual -in some cases, your next rest periodmust also be an hour longer, or youcan’t do more than 8 hours flyingthe next day. Spray pilots arerestricted to 14 hours anyway (andmust have 5 days off in every 30).Flight Time And Duty Hours 41Minimum Rest PeriodsAs well as having a maximumnumber of hours on duty, there'salso a minimum rest time betweenduty periods. A Rest Period is timebefore a Flying Duty Period which isintended to ensure that you'readequately rested before a flight. Itdoesn't include excessive TravellingTime (over 90 minutes or so) orPositioning. During it, you should befree from all duties, not interruptedby the Company and have theopportunity for a minimum numberof consecutive hours sleep (8, inCanada) in suitable accommodation,plus time to travel there and back,and for personal hygiene and meals.In Canada, the minimum rest periodis defined in only one place in CARs,right at the front, under Interpretation,where it says that you should be freefrom all duties, not be interruptedand be able to get at least eighthours’ sleep in suitableaccommodation, travel there (andback) and take care of personalhygiene. Realistically, therefore, therest period should be about ninehours long. It’s an hour extra anywayfor spraying, with 5 hours of sleeptaking place between 2000 and 0600hours. Time spent on essential dutiesrequired by the Company after dutyare not part of any rest period.You should have your rest periods(see also Duty Cycles) rostered enoughin advance to get your proper rest.Minimum Rest Periods should be atleast as long as the preceding DutyPeriod, and at least 12 hours (inUK), except when accommodationis provided by the Company, inwhich case the minimum may be 11,subject to any exemptions you have.Rest starts from the end of the DutyPeriod and not the Flying DutyPeriod (see earlier for thedifferences). A Rest Period mustinclude a Local Night if it follows aDuty Period longer than 18 hours.Discretion to Reduce a Rest PeriodYou can reduce Rest Periods belowthe minimum, but like extendingDuty Time, it's at your discretion,and can only be done afterconsulting the crew. In any event,you must be able to get at least 10hours at the accommodation whereyou take your rest, subject to therequirements of Travelling Time.Use of discretion for reducing rest isconsidered exceptional and shouldn'tbe done to successive Rest Periods
(it's very much frowned upon). Ingeneral, you're better off extendingan FDP than reducing a Rest Periodif at all possible. Also, at no timeshould a Rest Period be reduced if itimmediately follows an extendedDuty Period, or vice versa (this is evenmore frowned upon).Your discretion to reduce a restperiod (following a non-extendedFDP) should not be for longer than1 hour. If a Rest period is reduced, awritten report should be submittedto Operations on the Discretion ReportForm (again, in the Ops Manual). Ifthe reduction is by more than 1hour, both you and the companymust forward the report to yourInspector within 30 days.Split DutiesYou can extend a duty day by othermeans than discretion, though, andyou can do it on duties with a longtime gap between flights.Technically, a Split Duty is a FlyingDuty Period with two or more42 Operational Flyingsectors separated by less than aminimum Rest Period, typicallybeing a situation where you deliverpeople to a place and wait for themto come back. In other words, youcan claim some of the period spenthanging around in the middle as"rest" and tack it on to the end ofthe basic working day. What's more,you can plan to do this from thestart, extending the FDP by half ofthe "rest" taken if it's between 3-10hours (inclusive, providing the hoursare consecutive). In Canada, theextension is up to 3 hours, so youneed 6 hours off.The Company should makearrangements for a quiet andcomfortable place (not open to thepublic, which doesn't mean theaircraft) for the rest to be taken. Ifyour rest is longer than 6consecutive hours, they should alsoprovide a bed in the previouslymentioned "satisfactoryaccommodation".The rest period doesn't include anytime required for immediate post-and pre-flight duties, typically 15minutes for each (see also Pre/PostFlight Activities).If the rest period gets to be longerthan 10 hours, just start a new FDP(but see also Minimum Rest Periods).Also, there's nothing to stop youhaving two split duties within oneFDP—the only proviso is that thedifferent sectors (and their dutyperiods) should be separated bymore than 3 hours to claim the extra.In Canada, you can go beyond 14hours by half the rest period up to 3hours, if you have been givenadvance notice and you get 4 hoursin suitable accommodation, and areuninterrupted. This means that themaximum time you can possibly beon duty is 17 hours, if you have 6hours off during the day. Your nextrest period must be increased by atleast the extended time.In-Flight ReliefAlthough small operators don'trequire it (because their aircraft don'tgenerally have the endurance), just in
case you were wondering, this worksin a similar way to Split Duties, inthat you can extend the working dayby using a proportion of "rest" takenwithin it, but you must be away fromboth Flight Deck and passengers,and it’s subject to certain limitationsoutside the scope of this book. Ifyou've been relieved and have nofurther duties on the flight, then theremainder of the FDP is treated aspositioning.PositioningPositioning means being transferredfrom place to place as a passenger insurface or air transport, usuallybefore or after a FDP, but also atany time as required by theCompany (this shouldn't beconfused with normal travel fromhome to work—see Travelling Timebelow). Many airlines use taxis forthis, but you may be lucky and get acomfortable bus or a light aeroplane.All time spent on positioning isclassed as Duty, and when it comesimmediately before a Flying DutyPeriod is included in it, so thesubsequent rest period must accountfor (and be at least as long as) thetotal FDP and positioning.Positioning is not, however, countedas a sector, and in case I haven’tmentioned it before, a sector is theFlight Time And Duty Hours 43time between an aircraft first movingunder its own power until it nextcomes to rest after landing (there areno sector limits for helicopters).Travelling TimeTravelling time (that is, notPositioning but normal travel fromhome to work) is not classed as dutyand therefore not included in thetotals, but should your journeyexceed "a lengthy period" (about 90minutes), you should makearrangements to get nearer. Whenaway from base and travelling timesbetween the aerodrome and sleepingaccommodation exceed 30 minuteseach way, the resulting rest periodshould be increased by the excess (ora lesser time) enough for at least 10hours (9 for cabin crews) there.If you have to travel from yourhome to an aerodrome other thanyour normal one, the actual timebetween the two aerodromes (if any)is also Positioning (for example, yournormal trip to A is 20 minutes, but ittakes ten to get to B from A, sothere's 10 minutes' extra to add tothe FDP). You must also includeexcess travel to the new aerodromeover and above your normaltravelling time.Standby DutyAside from crews actually flying,resting or taking time off, some mustbe available for emergencies, likesickness or extra flights. Standby iswhen the Company requires you tobe on call and able to report within,say, 90 minutes, but not where youneed merely to be contactable fornotification of a duty that starts 10or more hours ahead.Should you get called out, yourmaximum Duty Period is what yourmaximum allowable FDP should be,according to the tables, plus 6 hours
for the standby itself, whichpresumably means that if youhaven't been called out after that,you're safe. The ensuing Rest Periodmust be based on the combinedlength of Standby, FDP andpositioning. Standby alone shouldnot exceed 12 hours, and all standbytime counts towards the totals,except when a predetermined noticehas been given before reporting,when it can be halved.In Canada, you can either be on OnStandby, On Call, On Reserve or Free ofDuty. For the first, you must be in aspecified location and available atless than an hours’ notice - for thesecond, the location requirement isremoved (these are for commuter orairline operations). When on reserve,the notice period is more than onehour, with each day having anuninterrupted rest period scheduledin advance, giving you the chance ofat least 8 hours’ sleep. There are 3ways of dealing with this:·
You get 24 hours’ notice ofwhen your rest period will start,and how long it will be. Itcannot start more than 3 hoursearlier or later than thepreceding rest period, or morethan 8 hours in a week (that’s1.1 hours a day). So, if your firstrest period starts at 8 in theevening, the next one must startbetween 5 and 11 (pm), andthose for the rest of the weekaround 7-9.·
You get at least 10 hours notice,free of all duty.44 Operational Flying·
You get no duties and are notinterrupted between 2200-0600hours.Most companies use the third. If theabove cannot be complied with, thatis, you get no notice at all, yourmaximum duty time is 10 hours, andthe next rest period must beincreased by 5 hours (actually halfthe duty time).Cumulative LimitsUKYour weekly total of Duty Hoursshould not exceed 55 (60 forhelicopters), with an occasionalincrease to 60, counting everything(flying duty, ground duty, split duty,standby and positioning). In any 28consecutive days, it’s 190 (200).The number of early starts and latefinishes must not exceed 3consecutively, or 4 in a week.Officially, Early Starts and LateFinishes arise from duty periods thatimpinge on the period between 01-0700 local acclimatised time, tocover ringing your customersbetween 23-0700 hours before youpropose to fly, and letting themknow if you can go or not becauseof weather. If this go/no go time isearlier than 1 hour before theproposed start of the FDP, it mustalso be added to the FDP.Your total hours in the previous 28consecutive days should not exceed100 (90 for helicopters) at thebeginning of any flight, but the expiry of
the 28 days is at the end of the daythe flight begins, so a bit of baddrafting makes things confusing,because you don't know what you'regoing to do that day. Also, helicopterpilots shouldn't do more than 18hours in 3 days, 30 in 7 and 240 in84 (3 x 28). You shouldn't do over900 hours (800 helicopter) in a year.Canada1200 flying hours a year, 300 every90 days, 120 hours every 30 days or,if you’re on call, 100 hours every 30days. For commuter and airlineoperations with aeroplanes, 40 hoursa week, or 60 hours a week for aerialwork or air taxi. For single-pilot IFR,8 hours a day. There are nocumulative limits for duty hours.Duty CyclesDays off are periods available forleisure and relaxation that are notpart of a Duty Period (that is, notrest periods, although their functionis the same; the essential phrase isfree from all duty). A single Day Offincludes two local nights (definedbelow) and should be at least 34hours long. Subsequent days off willinclude a further local night for eachadditional one, the first being at least20 hours long and the rest 24. A dayoff may include a Rest Period. ALocal Night is 8 hours falling between2200 and 0800 local time.If the Company can't manage toschedule much in advance (althoughthey must make the effort), days offmust be rostered at least 7 daysahead and may only be given up withyour permission, assuming thatrostering limits are not exceeded. Ifyou lose a day off you must have oneto make up for it inside the next 28days (days off are intended to besacrosanct).You should not work more than 7consecutive days between days offand must have 2 consecutive daysoff in any consecutive 14. YouFlight Time And Duty Hours 45should also have at least 7 days off inany consecutive 4 weeks and anaverage of at least 8 days off in eachconsecutive 4-week period, averagedover 3 such periods. Helicopterpilots (as always, a special case)should also have 2 consecutive daysoff after 7 consecutive days on dutyand at least 3 days off in anyconsecutive 14 (a single day off forhelicopter crews may only follow upto a maximum of 6 days duty).In Canada, for commuter and airlineoperations using aeroplanes, or whenon call, at least 36 hours a week or 3days every 17 days (all in one go).For aerial work, air taxi andhelicopters, 13 days every 90 or 3every 30, although you can beassigned duty for up to 42 days after5 days off instead of the latterrequirement. You must, in any case,have 5 days off after everyassignment over 27 days. In otherwords, before and after anyassignment of duty over 27 days, youmust have 5 days off, and themaximum assignment is 42 days.Records To Be MaintainedOperations are responsible forcompleting your Record of Flying and
Duty Hours from the information yougive them at the end of each flight.Try and resist maintaining them ontheir behalf, as this will ensure that,if somebody is fiddling the hours, itwon't be you that gets it in the neckfirst (I once worked for a companywhose totals were consistently 100hours a month less than my figures).Records must contain informationconcerning the beginning, end andduration of each FDP (and thefunction performed during thatperiod); the duration of each dutyperiod (whether or not it includes aFDP); the duration of each restperiod prior to a FDP or standbyduty period; the dates of days offand weekly totals of duty. Thesemust be preserved for 1 year fromthe last entry, while discretionreports are kept for at least 6months. There's a 7-day example ofan FTL record overleaf. The lefthand side deals with flying hours andthe right with duty hours.Pre And Post Flight ActivityPre-flight activity (for flightplanning, etc.) is about 30 minutesbefore the first departure; Post-flightactivity is about 15 minutes after lastchocks on/rotors last stopped time.For a Split Duty, they are about 15minutes each. All these may beshorter if the flight is despatched (thatis, the work is done by other people).Delayed Reporting TimeIf you're informed of a delay to yourreporting time before leaving yourplace of rest, the new FDPcommences 4 hours after theoriginal reporting time, or at the newtime, whichever is earlier. The maxpermitted re-scheduled FDP,however, is based on the originalreporting time from the tables.In Canada, if the delay is over 3hours, flight duty time starts 3 hoursafter the original reporting time.Pleasure FlyingBriefly (because it's dealt with morefully in Chapter 12), pleasure flyinginvolves short flights which take offand land at the same aerodrome (notincluding photography). Thispresumably includes load slinging46 Operational Flyingfrom helicopters. Under thesecircumstances (if you only dopleasure flying), a single FDPshouldn't exceed 10 hours, but youcan stretch this to 12 if you'repositioning to and from base. Withinthat FDP, you should not spendmore than a total of 7 hours at thecontrols, except for up to anadditional 2 when positioning only (inany case, you should not be at thecontrols continuously for more than3 hours). Also, you should havebreaks at least 30 minutes longaccording to this:FDP Duration Restup to 6 hours at least 1 hour6-8 hours at least 1½ hoursover 8 hours at least 2 hoursSplit Duties do not apply, butnormal rest periods do.DefinitionsA couple of stray definitions that Icouldn’t fit in earlier:
Week7 consecutive days starting at 0001local time on any set day of theweek, as determined.Rostering PeriodNormally four consecutive weeks.Rostered, Scheduled or PlannedDutiesSingle or a series of duty daysnotified to you in advance.OperationalProceduresHow a company operates, fromweather minima to deicing …..Flight PlanningProper Planning Prevents PoorPerformance. Quite true. As we're notstrictly talking about drawing lineson maps (which you should knowabout already), I've combined theoperational planning that technicallyis up to you with the procedure forsetting up a charter, since they areboth part and parcel of the samething. With any luck, Ops will havedone their part for you, but therewill always be some overlap whichwill have to be sorted out amongstyourselves.Procedure For Charter QueriesYou may be the only one in theoffice one day, and a customer wantsto go somewhere. How do youquote for a job? There's nosubstitute for experience in what isreally the function of Ops or Sales,but the following is based on soundpractice. All quotes (including subcharters) should be recorded—therewill be a book or file somewhere,and your figures must be put underthe appropriate headings. Initially,you need to know:·
Customer's Name & Contact no·
Date of trip·
Route details·
Load details·
Timings·
Alternative action if divertedThe last one is quite important, asyou will quite often have to makethat decision on their behalf, and themore knowledge you can get beforeyou go, the better you will look ifthings go wrong.This information (and more) is puton the Flight Brief, a document youget before you take off telling youwhat you're going to be doing. Thecharterer shouldn't be expecting a48 Operational Flyingservice that's illegal or unsafe—themost common is landing withoutpermission ("It's alright, he's a friendof mine") and flying overweight("We got it all in last week"), not tomention bad weather at thedestination ("I can see the end of thegarden"). It's too easy to get areputation as a cowboy companywhen attempting to give customerswhat they want, and they’ll drop youin it if something happens, so whybother? Actually, whilst on thissubject, if a customer insists the lastpilot managed to do the job, checkthat he wasn’t using something a lotbigger (“Oh yes, now you mentionit, it was an Astar” Duh).When quoting, try to give theinformation they want, so they will
be less likely to go elsewhere. If youhave to call back, do so within, say,15 minutes. Always ring back whenyou say you will, even if it's just tosay you haven't got the informationyet—it's all salesmanship! Quotesshould be valid for about 7 days,because things change, as if youdidn't know already.Invoicing is based on flight times, sokeep them and costs down, which isas much for the customer's benefitas yours. It's hard enough to sellflying, but once you start the addons, they often start to back off.Normally, just take the hourly rateand multiply it by the flying time,rounded up to the nearest 5 or 6minutes (the latter for decimalaccounting). The aircraft speed forflight planning purposes should bein the Flight Planning or Technicalsection of the Ops Manual, andhourly rates should be on a chart inthe office. Some companies haveprecalculated figures for frequentdestinations in a spreadsheet or onthe wall somewhere. You will thenneed to add up everything else thatcosts money, namely landing fees,handling charges, Customs/SpecialBranch etc., not to mentionpurchase taxes, except for foreigntrips and those in aircraft with morethan 12 seats, which are exempt(more details on going overseas later,but don’t forget to claim the fueldrawback).Payment should be made in advance,as it would be if they went by train,though some approved customersmay be invoiced afterwards, buteven then a written or faxedconfirmation of the booking, or theequivalent of a purchase order isrequired. This next bit is VERYimportant: The more rush on the part ofthe customer, the greater must be yourinsistence on payment first!If they can’t pay in advance (nocredit cards, cheque book eaten bythe dog, whatever) politely referthem somewhere else; you won'tlook very good if you incur a baddebt, as, once the panic's over, they'lllikely complain about the weather,service, etc., and make every excusenot to pay. The Company shouldaccept all major credit cards anyway.Tip: Some customers say they'regoing to put a lot of work your wayand want a discount as a result.There's nothing wrong with that, it'snormal business practice, but don'tgive the discount straight away,otherwise you'll find they have onlyone or two trips and disappear,effectively getting cheap flying. Thebest way to deal with anyone whomay be half-serious is to give aretrospective discount, such as everyOperational Procedures 4913th hour free, or a cheque for 10%of the money spent every fortnight.If he's any sort of businessman, yourcustomer will understand. If hedoesn't, then he may cause othertrouble as well, like arguing aboutthe bill. For photographers, take themoney first and refund it when theirstuff is published.When invoicing, have some sort ofsystem where the customer signs for
