飞行员操作飞行手册Pilot Operational Flying Manual

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Aviation ones, and it's a credit to the

people in it that things run so well.

In the Corporate world there are two

types of Company. The first is the

large conglomerate, where the

aircraft is just as much a business

tool as a typewriter is. You are

genuinely a Company employee,

people are used to the aircraft, you

collect customers and move

Company personnel around, from

the Chairman to the workers, and

your decisions as a professional are

respected. There is a high degree of

job satisfaction in this type of work,

especially as you will build up

relationships with regular passengers.

On the other hand, you might end

up where the aircraft is the personal

chariot of the Chairman, with you as

its chauffeur (or, if you look at the

books carefully, a gardener!), in

which case nobody else gets to use it

Introduction 7

and what you think doesn't matter,

because the sort of person who is

dynamic enough to run a large

company single-handed also thinks

the weather will change just for him,

and you're constantly under pressure

to try and find the house in bad

weather, which, naturally, hasn't got

a navaid within miles. Unless you

can establish a good personal

relationship with your passenger, or

have an extremely strong character,

you are unlikely to get much job

satisfaction here, especially if the

company is family-run and you get

to take the kids to horse shows, etc.

at weekends.

Having said all that, there are some

decisions that are not yours to take,

whoever you work for.

Unfortunately, you are only In

Command where technical flying

matters are concerned. If it's legal to

fly then, strictly speaking, it's nothing

to do with you whether it's sensible

or not—it’s an operational decision.

If the Chairman (or Ops) wants you

to fly and risk being left to walk if

things get too bad, then it's entirely

up to them—it's their money. For

example, say you check the weather

the night before and advise your

passengers to go by car, because,

while the destination and departure

will be OK, the bit in the middle is

iffy and there's no real way of

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knowing what it's like unless you go

there and have a look (this is

assuming a VFR flight in a

helicopter, although the same

principles apply elsewhere).

However, they must get there and

the timings mean they can’t delay

things till the weather gets better, so

it's the car or flying—a straight

choice. If your man wants to try and

fly, and risks missing the meeting at

the other end because you refuse to

either start or carry on when it

becomes impossible, then that, I

suggest, is up to him. Similarly, an

airline could be viewed as employing

you right down to Decision Height;

you might very well be aware that

your destination is socked in, but it's

not your place to say "I'm not

going", unless you have no

alternates, or you think it unsafe for

any reason. If your company says

"Try anyway", then go down to 200

feet (or whatever) and come all the

way back again—they're paying the

bills and you get the hours in your

logbook. This situation may arise if

the weather reports at the

destination must legally reflect the

worst conditions, but local effects

will always ensure there's actually a

good chance of getting in, which is a

common situation in the Channel

Islands. Of course, you can't plan to

go without an alternate, or to land if

the weather is below limits, but this

is a typical workaround.

Another one airline pilots use when

pressured to go in bad weather in the

US, where thunderstorms are

common, is to taxi from the

terminal, so the departure is

technically on time, and wait by the

takeoff point until the weather

clears. Mind you, I wouldn’t want to

be on the receiving end of passenger

complaints. Please note that I'm not

advocating flying in bad weather as a

normal procedure! The problem is

not just your ability to fly in those

conditions, but what might happen

later, such as 15 minutes afterwards,

when you can’t find your way back.

Minor Digression: Another

thought springs to mind, having

8 Operational Flying

mentioned a VFR flight in a

helicopter, concerning met forecasts.

You have to check the weather,

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someone wearing boxing gloves.

It wouldn't be so bad if you were

given time to read it, but you're

usually expected to do so overnight,

at the same time as learning the rest

of the Company procedures and

studying for the exams you will no

doubt be expected to sit the

following morning (as you've

probably discovered already,

everything happens yesterday).

The Operations (or Ops) Manual is

like the Standing Orders or SOPs

(Standard Operating Procedures) issued

by any military unit, hospital or other

type of large organisation. It's a book

of instructions that are constant, so

that Company policy can be

determined by reference to it,

containing information and

instructions that enable all Operating

Staff (i.e. you) to perform their

duties. It’s partly to save you

constantly pestering Those On High,

but mainly for situations where you

can’t speak to them anyway and need

information with which to make

decisions. As part of the Operating

Staff of a Company, you are subject

to the rules and requirements in it,

and it's your responsibility to be fully

conversant with the contents at all

times. You will be expected to read it

at regular intervals, if only because it

gets amended from time to time.

The Chief Pilot is usually responsible

for the contents and amendment

policy (he may well have written it as

well, so be careful when you criticise

the English). Amendments, when

they're issued, consist of dated and

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10 Operational Flying

printed replacement pages on which

the text affected is marked, ideally by

a vertical line in the margin. On

receipt of an amendment list, those

responsible for copies of the manual

incorporate the amendment in theirs

and record it on the form in the

front. You should find a proposal

form for changes somewhere as well.

The manual will have been compiled

from several sources; first of all, as I

said, there are other peoples’, but

after that comes experience, and

documentation from the Authorities.

In the UK, a sample manual is

available as a book, with the text on

a floppy disk inside the cover, in

Microsoft Word 2.0 format, which

sometimes crashes Windows. This,

in turn, has been based on the

requirements in JAR Ops Part 1 (3

for helicopters), which tells you what

should be in a manual, and which

replaces CAP 360, although I do

detect an American influence.

Unfortunately, you can’t use the

sample manual straight away, as it

needs to be personalised for your

company; regard it as a shell into

which you put your own

information. When doing this, don't

just cut out sections you don't

need—it’s very important to keep

the numbering system, as one reason

for the Joint Requirements is to

make it easier for pilots to move

between companies and find

information in different manuals, so

replace the text in the paragraphs

you don’t need with the words “Not

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required”, or a similar pair with the

same meaning.

You can also expect to look at CAP

371 (and its amendments), which

talks about Flight Time and Duty Hours

(Chapter 7), and any Operating

Handbooks for your aircraft.

Another good source of information

is Notices to AOC Holders

(NTAOCH), but, when writing the

manual initially, you don’t officially

have access to them, as you don’t yet

have an AOC. On top of all that,

you might find various extracts from

other manuals discreetly left on your

desk after one of your Inspector’s

regular visits. In Canada, most of the

information you need is in CARs

(Civil Aviation Regulations), which has

separate sections for Airline,

Commuter, Air Taxi and Aerial

Work operations.

JAR, by the way, stands for Joint

Airworthiness Requirements, which

works on the premise that aviation is

the same in most civilised countries,

and can be standardised to a certain

extent. Essentially, certain European

countries have agreed upon common

procedures to help with importing

and exporting aircraft, type

certification and maintenance

between them, based on existing

European regulations and FARs

(from the FAA in the USA), where

acceptable. In fact, the maintenance

side of JAR, 145, is directly drawn

from FARs Parts 43 and 145.

Naturally, there’s a committee

somewhere that jollies things along,

which is somewhere in Holland, and

the bottom line is that your company

will find it easier to use foreign

aircraft. The Canadian equivalent is

CARs, or Canadian Aviation

Regulations, which is the subject of

another book, where I have

translated them into plain English.

The prime objective for the Ops

Manual being written in the first

place is to promote safety in

Company flying operations. As the

The Operations Manual 11

authorities are involved, it’s

therefore compiled in accordance

with the law (in fact, as far as you are

concerned it is the law) and all flights

should be conducted to the Public,

uh, Commercial Air Transport,

standards set out in it. There should

be a definition of Commercial Air

Transport, which, officially, is an

aircraft operation involving the

transport of passengers or cargo for

remuneration or hire, which

definition does not include Aerial

Work or Corporate Aviation. Also,

there will be a declaration of who

you're actually working for, which

may sound daft, but many

companies trade under several

aliases, and they will be pinned down

as to their real identity somewhere in

the first few pages.

Some parts of an Ops Manual apply

even when you think you’re flying

privately, because the aircraft will

still be operated by an air transport

undertaking. There should be an

indication of what bits relate to what

types of flight, but most companies

apply the same rules to everything—

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it makes life easier. Usually

consisting of several parts, the

Manual can be the size of a single

volume with a small operator, or

several in the average airline.

The separate parts will consist of:

Part Contents

A The main volume, with Company

admin and operating policy.

B Flight Manuals and performance

schedules for each type operated.

C Flight Guides (Jeppesen, Aerad,

etc., or even your own).

D Training Manual.

Manuals are notoriously difficult to

navigate around, so a good index is

important, as is a table of contents.

This helps two people; you, trying to

find the answer to a question in a

hurry and the Ops Inspector when

reading the thing in the first place.

Although the manual will be

supplemented by statutory

instructions and orders, not all of

them will be mentioned. It doesn't

mean that you should ignore those

that aren't, but being acquainted with

all regulations, orders and

instructions issued by whoever is all

part of your job. Naturally,

references made to any publication

(such as Air Navigation Orders of

whatever year) should be taken as

meaning the current editions, as

amended. When they are mentioned

in the Ops Manual, they acquire the

same legal force.

There will be several copies of the

Operations Manual around, the

numbers issued differing with the

size of the Company, but the typical

distribution list below should be

regarded as a minimum; each aircraft

will have its own copy. All must be

clearly marked for amendment

purposes, and there's no reason why

you can't have small versions for

small aircraft, but remember they

must all have the same text.

Copy Who has it

1 Master Copy—Operations

Manager

2 Relevant Authority (CAA or

Transport Canada)

3 Chief Pilot

4 Training Captain

5 Maintenance Organisation

6+ One per aircraft or pilot

12 Operational Flying

A large airline will likely have its own

print shop just to produce Ops

Manuals and amendments.

Flying Staff Instructions And

Crew Notices

Minor or temporary changes to

company procedures are brought to

your attention by Flying Staff

Instructions (FSIs), to save too many

amendments to the Ops Manual.

They are among the list of items to

be checked before each flight and

will be found on the Ops Room

notice board and in the back of the

Manual (with a copy sent to the

authorities). FSIs are displayed until

they are either not relevant, or for

six months, whichever is the sooner,

after which time they will either be

destroyed or incorporated in the

Ops Manual.

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Anything of a non-flying nature, that

is, pay and admin, will likely be dealt

with by Administrative Notices.

Operating Regions

These will be specified for the types

of aircraft flown and may be shown

by a map if it's not obvious. For

example, you may be licensed to

operate in a particular state or

province, and just stating its name

will be sufficient, as the details can

be extracted from any atlas; if you

operate in a specific area inside, you

may have to describe it. There are

several internationally defined areas

covering other parts of the world,

and different rules apply if you wish

to operate in them. Examples will be

in the back of JAR Ops 1.

Company Personalities

An effective management structure

is essential, especially in Operations

(it's a mistake, by the way, to skimp

on Ops—if you ever start your own

company, by all means get decent

pilots, but not at the expense of a

good Ops Manager).

The Company will have appointed

certain people to undertake

particular tasks, and you will find

some described below. Naturally,

some will change, depending on

your setup, and one person's

functions may be combined with

another’s, but most companies will

be laid out as follows, bearing in

mind that names of appointment

holders will be included. Larger

companies may swap the Ops

Manager and Chief Pilot positions in

terms of seniority.

In Canada, the people described here

must be qualified as per Commercial

Air Service Standards (CASS).

For a police operation, expect to see

a Chief Constable in charge, who

will appoint an Executive Officer for

day-to-day running.

You must also supply a list of

contact telephone and fax numbers

for all Company personalities, who

can only act under one AOC.

The Managing Director (or CEO)

This person has the ultimate

responsibility for the efficiency,

organisation, discipline and welfare

of the Company, ensuring that all

activities are safe and legal and that

the Company is commercially viable.

This will include marketing and

projection of the Company image.

The Operations Manual 13

The Chief Pilot

Next in line is the Chief Pilot, who is

the main point of reference that

Inspectors and other officials will

relate to, and they will expect to see

him with some measure of control

of the day-to-day happenings of the

Company, although technically the

job is just to keep things legal.

However, to do that, there will have

to be some involvement in the more

commercial aspects (in Canada, this

position, that is, next one down

from the MD or CEO, may actually

be occupied by the Ops Manager,

for which see below).

The Chief Pilot is responsible to the

Managing Director for the overall

safety, legality, efficiency and

economy of flying operations by the

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establishment of proper drills and

procedures, and for ensuring that

people (well, pilots, anyway) are

properly qualified, so he will be

responsible for hiring and firing.

Whilst the MD handles the

administrative acceptability of work,

the Chief Pilot has the technical side

of things to worry about, like

keeping control of the Flight Time

and Duty Hours Scheme (sometimes

by random inspection of returned

flight documentation) in addition to

supervising aircrew currency,

maintaining aircrew records,

compiling and updating the Ops

Manual, raising occurrence reports

and Flying Staff Instructions.

Randomly inspecting returned flight

documentation is a real chore, and is

done for three reasons; the first is

that it’s part of the Company’s

Quality Assurance Scheme (see Chapter

3), and the second is to ensure that

you're doing your job properly. The

third, and most important, is to

eliminate nasty surprises when the

Inspector drops in for coffee. You

will greatly endear yourself to your

Chief Pilot if you make sure that all

boxes on all forms are filled in

(whether or not you think they're

relevant), especially on the Technical

Log, Loadsheet and Navigation Log

14 Operational Flying

(Plog), and not at the end of the day,

because you might get ramp-checked

before then.

Digression: When ramp-checking,

Inspectors are looking for (amongst

other things), altimeter settings,

holes in the dashboard, approach

plates out (or not), general condition

of the aircraft, cleanliness, etc. and

scruffy paperwork, with parts not filled

in. They will especially be interested

in Weight and Balance calculations.

With regard to the above items,

where a signature is required,

produce one, and always ensure that

your departure fuel in the Tech Log

agrees with the fuel load in the Load

Sheet (all tanks) and the Nav Log,

and that fuel usage throughout the

flight is consistent with time, that is,

that you're not using mysterious

amounts of fuel that would indicate

somebody's fiddling the books

(some companies give bonuses if

you use less fuel, or bollockings if

you use more). Especially make sure

that the fuel loads on the Tech Log

and Loadsheet are above that required

for the trip as specified on the Nav

Log. The same rules apply to

passenger and freight loads, and you

should always check your figures,

especially when adding up in hours,

minutes and seconds—many

engineers don't let pilots add up

because it messes up the paperwork

– they do all the entries themselves.

Lastly, don't write defects down on

the Nav Log and forget to put them

in the Tech Log at the end—that's a

dead giveaway to your Inspector, as

almost every aircraft goes

unserviceable when it gets back to

base as if programmed, so use

simple psychology—occasionally use

the deferred defect procedure away

from base, not forgetting to use a

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new Tech Log sheet, so the

Inspector thinks your procedures are

working (then again, he may not,

because he’s probably done it

himself).

The Chief Pilot also liaises with the

Maintenance Contractor on

airworthiness matters, and may

designate a suitable person within

the Company (guess who!) to carry

out, or be responsible for, any of the

above duties. That person would be

directly responsible to the Chief

Pilot (as is everybody else).

The Chief Pilot may also have the

secondary function of:

Flight Safety Officer

Or FSO, who operates any Mandatory

Occurrence Reporting Scheme (MORS)

and maintains a vigorous Flight

Safety policy. That entails collecting

information from the various

sources that publish it, and spreading

it around the Company, probably by

giving lectures and convening regular

meetings with management, in

accordance with (you guessed it!) the

Quality System; this may also involve

conducting internal investigations

when somebody has an accident, and

cooking up Root Cause Analysis

reports. The reason for spreading

things around is part of the reason

for accident investigation, i.e. that it

doesn’t happen again! Safety

management involves plenty of

communication—as a Flight Safety

Officer, you have to encourage

people to speak to you, so your

personality is quite important. It’s

more than just a desk job.

The Operations Manual 15

The Chief Training Captain

This person coordinates flying

training (the FSO may do

Emergency and Survival), arranges

periodical checks and examinations,

selects training staff, and ensures

that flying training meets statutory

requirements, if necessary by liaising

with the Authorities, in addition to

compiling and maintaining flying

training records.

Where Training Captains are thinly

spread between companies, meaning

that you don’t see them from day to

day, the Chief Training Captain may

simply be the Chief Pilot wearing

another hat, for consistency.

Fleet Manager

A pilot with management

responsibilities, reporting to the

Chief Pilot, in charge of a fleet of the

same type of aircraft.

Base Manager

A sort of mini Chief Pilot/Ops

Manager, in charge of a remote base,

responsible to the Ops Manager or

Chief Pilot for its day-to-day running

and local marketing, keeping

customers happy, altering your

documentation, etc. In some

companies, the Base Manager does

the hiring and firing.

The Maintenance Contractor

The Maintenance Contractor (who

must be specified) maintains and

valets Company aircraft in

accordance with directions and laid

down procedures or, more simply,

mends what you bend. As to what

laid down procedures is a good

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question, since they are supposed to

develop the Maintenance Schedule.

More about this in Techie Stuff

(Chapter 13). If your Company does

its own maintenance, you will find

instead a Maintenance Manager and

Chief Engineer, who will have to

order spares and schedule

maintenance in a timely fashion,

together with everything else to run

an efficient organisation.

Engineers

These are the guys who keep you up

in the air, and it's not a good idea to

upset them. They start work when

you stop, often late in the night so

you can fly next morning. Not only

that, they have no duty hour

regulations, so anything you can do

to help is greatly appreciated. In fact,

engineers also do a lot of operational

stuff out in the field, and a good one

is worth his weight in gold (more

valuable than a pilot, actually).

The Operations Manager

Although the Operations Manager

may be technically under the Chief

Pilot, in practice, they have more or

less equal status and, in some

companies may have one person

occupying both positions. Having

said that, Ops have to acknowledge

your ultimate authority as aircraft

commander. In addition, where Ops

Managers must have certain

qualifications, such as in Canada, and

may therefore have more than the

Chief Pilot anyway, you may find

that the Ops Manager is well and

truly in charge and the Chief Pilot a

few steps down in the pecking order.

Look for this situation in larger

companies, where you will also find

Ops Assistants doing most of the

work described below.

Operations will provisionally accept

work and, in liaison with the Chief

16 Operational Flying

Pilot, confirm it. As a result, they

organise the flying program,

including pilot duty and rest days, so

you want to keep on their good side.

Ops will ensure that duty times are

in limits by keeping a record of flight

crew flying and duty hours, and are

supposed to ensure that you receive

a written briefing (including

NOTAMs, etc.) before going

anywhere, and that all passenger and

cargo manifests and tickets are

completed as required.

The Ops Manager must keep in

touch with the Maintenance

Contractor to ensure scheduling for

maintenance, forwarding completed

Tech Log sheets and other relevant

documents to them at the end of

each flight. This is not the same as

mentioned for the Chief Pilot, who

does it on a more lofty level—all the

Ops Manager is expected to do is

monitor the aircraft hours so that

nothing gets behind, and everything

gets serviced on time. This is usually

done by circulating coloured copies

of the Tech Log after a flight.

Operations will also maintain carnets

and aircraft documents (collectively

referred to as aircraft libraries), an up

to date stock of maps, route guides

and aeronautical charts covering all

areas of Company operations, Flight