Matthew Waugh

No, this is not some esoteric article about flying the big jets and the hours of training the airline pilots do on Cockpit Resource Management (CRM). No, this article is for pilots like you and me. Part 91 pilots who sometimes fly with a friend, buddy, acquaintance or airport bum. This article is about flying with two pilots in the cockpit and some things you should both consider before and while you commit aviation.

First of all there can be only ONE Pilot in Command (PIC). We’re not talking about logging PIC. Depending on whom you talk to, you can fill all 4 seats and everybody can log PIC with the right ratings and combinations of hood wearing. We’re talking about the 14CFR Part 1.1 Pilot in Command, the person who has “the final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight.” This person needs category and class certification as well as type certification if needed but also all the appropriate endorsements (complex, high performance, etc.) as well as meeting all the currency requirements (takeoffs and landings, etc.). So make sure you sit down, BEFORE you fly, and determine who is qualified to be PIC and who is going to be the PIC, and for which legs of the flight.

The role of the PIC is important. Some people even go so far as to make the designation in writing and leave it behind in a safe place so that in the event that there should be some kind of incident there’s no question about who is acting as PIC. The PIC gets to make the command decisions. Two heads are better then one, and we should always make sure that there has been the appropriate discussion and all the input gathered to make the right decision, but in the end, one person has to be in charge of the successful outcome of the flight.

With respect to the PIC’s command responsibility, you may also want to discuss how decisions are going to get made. A good way to handle this is to determine that the PIC will make the most conservative decision based on everybody’s input. So if one pilot thinks it may be OK VFR under a 1,000 foot ceiling but the other pilot doesn’t like the odds, then the PIC makes the conservative decision – no go.

OK – now we’ve found the chump who’s going to take the fall if anything goes wrong. Now we need to decide who will be the Pilot Flying (PF) and the Pilot Not Flying (PNF). This seems like a fairly simple decision, but you’d be surprised how many times, after the dust clears, that the pilots look at each other and go “I thought you were flying,” “No, I thought you were flying.” Just like somebody has to be the PIC, somebody, and only ONE somebody, has to be the Pilot Flying. In the flying club it’s a fairly easy decision – the person who ends up in the left seat is the PF.

My advice: For most normal operations the PIC and the PF should be the same person. It just makes sense that the person wiggling the control surfaces gets to make the final decision on how the plane is to be operated.

Another thing to discuss before you start flying is how you’ll transition the manipulation of the controls (change from PF to PNF) in-flight. Let’s say you’re approaching the end of the flight and the PF wants to look over the airport diagram, remind them self of the runway environment, figure out the likely taxi route etc. The PF could do this while continuing to fly the plane, that’s why the FAA invented unusual attitude recovery, or the PF could just simply pass the “fly straight and level” responsibility to the person in the right seat for a minute while looking over the information. When you do that you want a positive transition of control. The FAA is big on this on check rides so your instructor would have gone over it at some point. This formal transition of control is not the same as the control transition you experienced as a student when your instructor would grab the controls screaming “I’VE GOT IT” nearly breaking your arm in 2 places as they recovered from that 90 degree knife edge flight you were enjoying. No siree, in this situation it’s “You have control,” “I have control,” a positive exchange of flight controls. Make sure you brief this before you fly. Also note that the clubs rules require that the pilot fly from the left seat, a minute of straight and level may be OK, let your conscious be your guide.

So now we’ve decided who is the PF, what should that person do? Well, obviously that person gets to wiggle all the control surfaces, after all, that’s what flying is all about. If the PF wants to let the auto-pilot wiggle the control surfaces the PF is responsible for turning on the auto-pilot, monitoring it in flight and turning it off. What else? Well, I think the PF should also handle the throttle, mixture and propeller control (if fitted); it just seems to make sense. That’s basic control of the aircraft taken care of.

What about bits that dangle in the wind, flaps and landing gear? The big boys have the PNF handle these controls at the direction of the PF. You’ve heard the old time captain’s briefing to the co-pilot, “gear up, flaps up, shut up.” You can go either way on this, the PF may feel like taking on command responsibility and telling the PNF what to do, or since most of our flying is single pilot the PF may be more comfortable just handling the flaps and gear. Whichever it is, DECIDE before you fly, and whatever you decide, the PF issues the command, the PNF verifies it, and then the switch/lever gets moved.

What about the PNF? The PF may be more comfortable with handling everything and having the PNF observe and monitor, that’s a perfectly good choice, make sure the PNF knows that’s the decision before you fly. If you decide to share the activities then I think the PNF should earn his or her keep by working the communications radios at a minimum. I can have trouble chewing gum and breathing, let alone walking, so having somebody who does the talking while I concentrate both my brain cells on flying just seems like a good division of responsibility. Navigation also seems like a good primary responsibility for the PNF as well; in which case the PNF gets to tune the navigation radios and identify them. The PNF can also push the knobs and press the buttons on the GPS until the thing is so messed up it’ll take a Ph.D in electronics to get it to turn back on, let alone navigate.

What about checklists? At least decide before you go, but I like for the PNF to read the checklists and have the PF make the response. If you’ve spent your aviation career so far both reading the checklist and reading the response, this will be fun. What is the right response to “Flaps”? “Up”, “Set”, “Yes”, time to figure it out.

So we’ve got the PF flying and we’ve got the PNF communicating, navigating and nagging at you with the checklists. This is all well and good, but we need to emphasize one more thing, and this is perhaps the most important thing in two-pilot cockpits. Communicate with each other. Before the PF pitches over into their usual full power 1500fpm “cruise descent” the PF should say, “I’m just going to apply full power and pitch down for 1500fpm”. The PNF may not like it, but at least he or she knows it’s coming. Before the PNF leans over and twiddles the OBS to a new course, he or she should say, “I’m just going to switch the number 2 OBS to 045.” Before you DO anything, tell the other pilot what you’re going to do. Brief everything, do it audibly and make sure there is plenty of time for questions. Go over the weather forecast before you walk out to the plane. Discuss the important pre-flight items, gas, oil, wings. How are we going to depart, straight out, straight up? What’s our final altitude – no good having the PNF monitoring the altimeter if he or she doesn’t know what altitude you’re heading for. With two pilots in the cockpit, you need to communicate a lot!

There are few things better than flying, but sharing flying with like-minded people is certainly one of them. Have fun flying with other pilots, but remember, the goal is two pilots, double the safety. Don’t be like so many accident statistics – two pilots, half the safety.

Matthew Waugh is an ATP and CFI.