because you will probably also have Flight Director systems to use—you don't get to use those in training. Alternative Seat Position Check Only needed if you fly in any other seat than your normal one; you might become a Line Training Captain, where you need to be able to fly the thing home or get it on the ground if your examinee fails en route. Also, in a helicopter you may have to do a compass swing from the other seat so the engineer can conveniently make his adjustments, or you may be a Commander who occasionally needs to be a co-pilot. If the latter is the case, provided you still have a valid Proficiency Check, this one may be abbreviated at the discretion of the Training Captain, but not below a minimum of an engine failure after take-off, an asymmetric go-around from DH and an asymmetric landing. For whatever reason, if done, it will coincide with a Proficiency Check. Crew Resource Management CRM training will normally be addressed during Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT). Otherwise, Training & Testing 315 you must complete elements of CRM every year, with the major elements of a full course over a three or four year recurrent training cycle. It will be included as part of all the above checks, and is covered more fully in a later chapter. Recent Experience Not a test as such, but to be considered current as a Commander, you must have completed whatever it says in Chapter 5. In addition, some companies may require some approaches or real Instrument Flying within a certain period. Others may even require recency on type and will have special procedures should you be absent from the Company for more than 28 days. Multi-Type Currency Unless your company only operates simple types of aircraft (refer to your Inspector), it's rare for anyone to be current on more than three types at once. Not only is this sensible, but multi-type currency causes all sorts of other problems—training costs could get out of hand, and it will be quite difficult to keep up normal 28- day currency as well (and I speak as one who was once current for over a year on 6 types of reasonably different helicopter or aeroplane— not easy, I can tell you). Mixing things always causes complications. For a combination of aeroplane and helicopter, you can fly one aeroplane within the same type or class rating, and one helicopter, irrespective of maximum take-off weight or number of passengers. If types are not within the same type or class rating, you need some recency on top. For multi-pilot aeroplanes, or those that can carry more than 19 passengers, you cannot operate more than two types that need a separate type rating. You also need at least three months and 150 hours on the first type before the conversion for the second, on which you must do some days and hours afterward before getting your hands on the first again. You can only fly one type in any duty period. Otherwise, you cannot operate more than three piston types, three turboprop types or one turbo-prop or turbojet and one piston type. Freelance Pilots Freelancing need not be as precarious a living as it sounds. Like a lot of other things, it depends very much on who you know as well as what you know. If you're known to be reliable, that is, get out of bed in the morning, turn up on time, don't crash and generally deliver passengers safely, you will always get work. Even airlines use freelancers. If you do decide to make a living out of it (at least it gives an illusion of control over your life—you are in a position to say no, after all, especially to companies who are known to be less than enthusiastic about maintenance), the taxman will be watching to ensure that you are in fact working for more than one customer, but it doesn't pay to be too dependent on one anyway. While their usefulness is recognised in relieving short term problems, especially in smaller companies, the use of freelancers used to be (and still is) frowned upon as they're more difficult to keep control of, at least 316 Operational Flying as far as Duty Hours and paperwork are concerned. Now that aircraft are more complex, and it's increasingly difficult to hop |