Newbie Guide: Second Officer with Cathay Pacific on the B747-400.

By Second Officers X,Y, and Z

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Introduction
Ever dreamed of soaring among the clouds, or pushing the throttles forward as you accelerate 400tonns of metal down the runway? Watched skilled aviators navigate through the skies, arriving with a firm touchdown some fourteen hours later and wonder if that could ever be you? Remaining calm as youre confronted with an emergency requiring all your knowledge and skill to be applied in just the right sequence to save the lives of your passengers? Well, as a Second Officer with Cathay Pacific, you can forget all that. Your function is to eat food not consumed by senior crewmembers, prepare the bunks for the real pilots and stare into darkness knowing that if anything actually happens which require the last bit of decision making or actual pilot skills, youre on your way to the back of the cockpit as fast as you can say sandwich? Since your job doesnt really amount to much, Cathay hasnt bothered to write a job description for you. The only place youre mentioned is when describing your place in the food-chain; squeezed in tightly between the ISM and the safety pilot. In real life, mind you, youre below the ISM, the captains wife, all first class passengers, as well as any positioning aircrew. If you want some respect as a result of your fancy title and giant hat, the 19 year old stationed at L5 is your best bet. Anyone wearing black, blue or purple uniform is considered above you, and if it wasnt for the fact that there are two pilots at in the cockpit, youd never see any of them from takeoff to landing. So weve written this guide to help you along in your new role as a second officer. With the ink still wet on your P2X rating and your hat still looking like a nuclear mushroom cloud, reading the following pages will at least let you pretend to know what youre supposed to be doing.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Despatch
Sign on time at Cathay City is 70 minutes prior to departure. Youd be an idiot to actually show up 70 minutes prior to departure, giving away your newbie status immediately. As a Second Officer, youre expected to be there early enough to stock the flight documents bag with all the essentials; ear plugs, sanitary wipes, moisturizers and covers for the headsets. Youll ultimately be blamed if a missed NOTAM causes any problems down the line, so youre also expected to memorize closed taxiways and shortened runways for airports youll never see from your windowless seat. You should retrieve the MEL from dispatch if there are any ADDs raised, and be prepared to wait outside the circle as the rest of the crew huddle in secrecy to discuss any implications the MEL might have. Once theyve finished, you take the MEL back to dispatch without a clue as to what just happened. This takes us to the flight documents. Gross-error checks are big part of Cathay Operations, and just like the real pilots youre expected to make your own little notes on your own little paper in your own non-standardized way about the flight. Make a note of the estimated ZFW on your paper, and when the other three decide on how much fuel to bring add that to the ZFW. You now have your very own ramp weight, and after deducting any taxi burn you should be able to estimate your TOW. A further deduction of trip-fuel should give you the landing weight, which as the SO has no meaning to you what-so-ever. Some captains, having recently completed a CRM course, might ask you about relevant NOTAMS or weather of concern. But most dont. Keeping your mouth shut, your back straight and your eyes down will make you look the role of a seasoned SO; not expected to provide any useful information and not deemed worthy to share any with. As the briefing comes to a close, expect the ISM to approach the table having finished her own separate briefing for the cabin crew at a different location. She will smile, introduce herself to the Captain, and shake your hand. With everything set to go, your job is now to collect all the paperwork, less the Initial Dispatch Message and Crew Currency Sheet, place them in the flight documents bag and carry them to the aircraft like the junior crewmember you are. If the captain wears a jacket, put on a jacket. If he wears a hat, put on your hat. And off you go to board the bus.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Boarding
Once on the bus, its normal to introduce yourself to the girls if you havent done so already. A big wave while stating your name is just fine, and expect a synchronized greeting in return. The girls always sit in the back, while you take your seat somewhere in the first two rows. Once the bus gets rolling, expect the Captain to make a briefing to the girls, which includes the flight time, the weather at destination, the taxi-time and the procedures to be used for opening the cockpit door. Any query for questions at this stage is always met with silence. When arriving at the aircraft, enter the aircraft via the L2 staircase; not the L1 leading to first class. An engineer or refueling guy will approach the captain with a water sample, and the operating FO will hand the refueling record to the same guy with either flight-plan fuel (minus 5 tons standby) or some other fuel figure unknown to you on it. Climb the stairs to the door leading into the jet bridge, preferably behind the captain as its common courtesy to let him enter the aircraft first, and if there is no strap to hold the door open, remain there as a door wedge until all the girls have passed. Theyll introduce themselves one-by-one as they pass, but youll never remember, so dont even try. And even if you do, they look completely different in civilian clothes and youll never recognize any of them ever again. Making your way up the stairs to the upper deck, the magazine rack looks very tempting. Try not to let the girls see you grabbing the last copy of The Economist, Newsweek, and Car and Driver, and depending on whom the captain is it might be a good idea to keep them out-of-view until you get an idea of who this guy is. If asked, theyre for the bunk.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Pre-Departure
Once arriving on the flight deck, the first thing usually done is a read-through of the aircraft log. Most captains will work their way from the front to the back, highlighting any noted exterior damage to be verified on the walk-around by the RQ. SADDs, PADDs and ADDs are reviewed, with any open items requiring MEL dispatch. As a second officer, you merely observe this process and are very seldom asked for input. Once the log review is complete, the RQ departs the flight-deck for the walk around leaving you with three all-important tasks; making the bunks, eating the sandwiches and performing the safety-checks in accordance with FCOM 3. Performing the safety checks should take you 2-3 minutes, leaving plenty of time for the sandwiches and bunk-making. Take note, however, that making the bunks is a catch 22. Almost all captains, increasing with seniority, expect you to make the bunks. Some captains, however, expect you to be on the jump seat observing every entry made into the FMCs, and will reprimand you for preparing the bunks when theres real work to be done (like watching the back of someones hand punching fingers into a keypad you cant read below a screen that you cant see for reasons you cant know because the ATIS and final ZFW are lying face down above the throttles.) Its a real case of heads I win tails you lose. But you make the best of it. Youre usually done making the bunks about the same time as the FO returns from his hike around the aircraft. Hell often take the middle seat, although those waiting to hit the bunk at clean speed might offer you the seat allowing them to prepare for sleep. Either way, most captains dont care whos in the middle seat since the FCOM only requires us to consider placing the FO in the seat. Once seated, youve now got ages of time to enjoy those tasty sandwiches before its time to complete your final task; checking the fuel figures. The engineer will bring the fuel order form to the flight deck once refueling has been completed. This cant be done before weve received the final ZFW, which means checking the final fuel load is one of the last things we do before departure. Your job will be to verify that the expected upload matches the actual upload. Add the sums of all the liters uploaded from the fuel receipts, multiply it by the specific gravity to arrive at the total upload in tons. Compare this with the expected upload, allowing +2t/-1t of discrepancy, and at the same time compare the actual fuel distribution in the tanks to the pre-calculated fuel distribution tables found in the overhead console. Pass the fuel-records to the captain and let him know youve checked them to be correct. Once this is complete, youre all done. Sit back, fasten your belt and try to stay awake. The final visit to the cockpit will be done shortly by the gate-agent, who provides the captain with the final passenger number and load-sheet edition. Shell close the cockpit door on her way out, and as soon as the L2 door shuts the guys in the window seats will ask for pushback.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Taxi, Takeoff and Climb

If youre in the middle seat, its often expected that you open the Jepps and follow what is going on via a third set of charts. This, of course, would require you to actually know what departure theyre going to fly and what speeds have been briefed. Unfortunately, you were tucking in the sheets on the Captains bunk during that part of the briefing. If youre in the seat behind the captain, try your best to keep your eyes open while reminding yourself why youre here. The last task which may be assigned to you prior to takeoff will be obtaining a new RTOW if any significant wind changes have occurred since we entered the takeoff data at the gate. Now youve got to mobilize yourself from complete apathy to vigorous engagement in a matter of seconds, finding the latest ATIS, remembering how the ACARS actually works, and re-enter the data which you havent entered since..well, never. Because the wind-change was not given until we were handed over to tower frequency, we dont have a lot of time and the FO usually steps in to save the day. New thrust figures are subsequently derived, the V speeds fall out and are rapidly reentered, and seconds later the jet rumbles down the runway with everyone wondering if that whole thing didnt happen just a little bit too fast. 30 seconds later the aircraft is rotated and the sandwich tray which youve been heroically trying to finish launches off the back of the desk and hits the toilet wall in a crash, while the padding for the escape hatch which you methodically inspected 30 minutes ago falls to the floor resulting in a significant rise in cockpit noise during the critical phase of flight. At this point, shrug your shoulders to the RQ and pray the skipper didnt have a heartattack. After the takeoff has been completed, its not unusual to hear the DEFO ask for flaps up during a turn while accelerating through the clean speed. As a result, expect either strong buffeting or a strong reprimand. The latter is more enjoyable, rest assured. Once clean (and out of the stall), ask for the clipboard and start doing the arithmetics of modern aviation. Once youve added all the individual leg segments to the departure time, you should be presented with an expected arrival time. Once complete, youre once again free to relax and enjoy the tranquility of the 747 flight deck.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Cruise
At top of climb, you either hit the bunk or climb into the seat for the next 6 monotonous hours. If youre off to the bunk, always take the top one. For some reason, Captains want the bottom, and one can only wonder why no-one told them that 8% of adults urinate regularly in their sleep. Once youre in the seat, youll most likely be performing the function of PM as youre getting the worst rest (SO, remember?) , and with the captain taking the good rest the only guy left for you to fly with is the poor sod whos been nominated RQ. Since he can only perform RQ from the right, and youre not allowed to fly the aircraft from the left, the only possible outcome entails you doing all the paperwork, radio work, and staying-awake work. Once youve got the seat and pedals adjusted, its time to start the paperwork. But not before missing a radio call because you cant find the microphone since youve never actually been in the seat without headsets on. And even if you did, you still wouldnt have a clue as to what the Chinese controller is saying because you cant understand a single word he or she is saying. But not to worry, few do. If youre leaving an FIR, hes just passing you over to the next controller, whose frequency is found on the flight plan. If youve just entered an FIR, reply Roger. Maintain FL[XXX]m, report [next FIR border waypoint], estimating [FIR border waypoint] at [xxxx]. That should get you through most of China, Mongolia and Russia. Now, start the paperwork by doing a fuel check, noting the difference between the totalizer/calculated total and the expected total on the CFP for a certain waypoint. Note the difference on the CFP, and compare this figure to the difference between actual takeoff fuel and planned takeoff fuel. Once every hour after this initial fuel check, youll do a new one. It might be a good idea to mark these off on the CFP so that you dont forget amongst all the other important things youll be doing, but thats a personal preference. Once youve managed to ascertain that were not going to run out of fuel quite yet, its time to put the steps in. By itself, the FMC will always calculate the optimum FL based on the aircrafts current weight and speed, and subsequently display this figure on the VNAV cruise page. However, the optimum flight levels stipulated on the CFP are based on aircraft weight, aircraft speed and forecasted winds along the routes. It may not always be smart to step up into a 50kt headwind to save a few kilograms of fuel due to weight. Therefore, you must manually enter the steps as found in the CFP into the FMC. This should update your arrival time to a more correct figure, being further improved once youve entered the expected STAR and approach into the FMC. When the ISM calls up and asks you for the expected arrival time, youll hopefully have finished this and be able to provide an accurate estimate. Keep in mind that the service schedule onboard is built backwards from the arrival time; screw this up and youll be drinking coffee sweetened with saliva and cyanide. With the initial fuel check being completed, the steps entered and the expected

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

arrival set up, youre now looking forward to several hours of utter boredom. You are, we suppose, expected to know where the hell you are, for which the Jeppesen enroute charts do wonders. If you ever actually manage to locate yourself on one, get a highlighter and mark the spot, because the chances of doing that twice are next to none. Your best bet for maintaining situational awareness is to print the maps off the route briefing pages of IntraCX or purchase a Pilots Atlas. The problem with the commercial Atlas is that it only covers certain parts of the world; parts that Cathay doesnt fly to all that often. So that leaves you with the task of printing off your own maps, which show the general routes and airports. Add your own little remarks like ICAO identifiers and runway directions. Along with the magnitude of information available to you on the PFD, this should be plenty to keep yourself oriented as you cross Continents. Apart from updating the CFP, there is nothing else to do. Your trusty RQ will fly the aircraft, get the weather, and make any decisions which need deciding. In the best Cathay style, you are being groomed for the responsibilities that lie ahead. With nobody expecting anything from you, there is no need to deliver. About halfway through the flight, wake the guys up and creep into a nice, warm bunk.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z

Descent and Landing

Expect to be awoken from the bunk either by someone tapping your foot at 15,000 or by your own eardrums popping as the cabin equalizes during the final descent. Exiting the soothing comfort of the dark bunk, youll stumble through the door into bright daylight still wearing your pyjamas and earplugs. The guys are all wearing sunglasses and configuring for landing as you notice the toiletries have been removed from the bathroom and you cant find your toothbrush. So you put on your uniform, run water through your face and pop a piece of gum before taking your seat and strapping yourself in as we descend on the glideslope and drop the landing gear. Youve probably never been to the airport before at this stage, but what does it matter? After touchdown the airplane makes its way off the runway and taxi among all the other jumbos on its way to the gate. Youre still wondering where we are as the aircraft docks and the PF cuts the engines and turns off the seatbelts. Time to work. Pass the Charts, guys is your statement at this stage. Taking over the charts and the mini-jepp, you meticulously place them back in the binder in numerical order, making the extra effort not to put them back into the departure airport. You then unlock the cockpit door before removing all the garbage, magazines, newspapers and water bottles and placing them outside the cockpit by the J1 seat. Retrieving your jacket and hat, you exit the cockpit and comb the upper deck for earplugs, toothbrushes and socks to take home as a present to your misses. Once the real pilots have shut down and secured the aircraft, you all exit the aircraft in an orderly fashion, making sure to thank the girls you cant remember the names of. If the Captain puts his hat on, put yours on. If he wears his jacket, wear yours. Now, get on the bus, check into the hotel and get some sleep, watch some porn and drink some beer before doing it all over again on the way home. Do this for 4 years straight and you just might become suitable to move into a window seat.

By Second Officers X, Y and Z