DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP
Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"Col. Panic"
Marietta, GA
2,347 legs, 9,466.0 hours
240 legs,
553.9 hours online
2,005 legs,
8,259.1 hours ACARS
75 legs,
196.3 hours event
2,383 legs, 9,600.9 hours total
91 legs dispatched, 66.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
November 08 2003 19:34 ET by Luke Kolin
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I received the following e-mail from one of our pilots today. To assist everyone (since it seems to have been discussed a lot lately) I decided to post my response here in the Water Cooler so that everyone may benefit. Here's what I received:
After browsing the Water Cooler and Promotion Manual I still have a few questions concerning Aircraft Stages and thought I would turn to you for the answers. I understand you have a lot on your plate, so I?ll keep this as brief as possible. I am very new to DVA, having only made 4 flights so far. Currently I am a First Officer in the B757-200 program, Stage 3. I enjoy flying this aircraft, and after my required 10 flights I plan on taking the Captain?s exam. So far, so good.
I understand that DVA encourages pilots to be involved in a maximum of 4 aircraft programs. To that end, I have an interest in the B737-300 and MD-88?I very much enjoy flying those airplanes. What I am unsure about is that the 737 and 88 are part of the Stage 2 program. So, as a Stage 3 B757-200 Captain (after I pass the exam), will I also be allowed to fly the Stage 2 aircraft (after passing the appropriate exams, of course)? Or, in order to fly Stage 2 aircraft, will I have to transfer into Stage 2? If I do have to transfer into Stage 2, will I still be allowed to fly the B757?
I believe I understand correctly that I initially need to take First Officer exams to fly additional planes above or below my current stage. I guess I?m mostly unclear concerning if any transfers will be necessary or if I will remain in Stage 3 and be allowed to fly the Stage 2 aircraft as well.
So, to clarify:
Current Status: First Officer B757-200
Goals: Captain B757-200
Captain B737-300
Captain MD-88
I thank you for taking the time to field my questions! I appreciate that and all the other hard work you all do to make DVA easy and fun to fly for.
And here is my response:
You have two main goals - to obtain Captain's rank in a Stage 3 program, as well as ratings and meeting the requirements for Captain's rank in two different Stage 2 programs. At Delta Virtual Airlines, you have only one rank (within your primary equipment program) although you can certainly fulfill the pre-requisites for multiple equipment programs. I'm going to amend your goals slightly to read "Captain in the 757/767 program, and rated to fly the 737 and MD-88".
In order to do so, you'll need to perform the following steps. First, complete 10 flight legs in either the 757 or a 767 variant. Then, complete the 757 Captain's examination with a passing score. Once this has been completed, you'll be promoted to a Captain in our 757/767 program. To fly the 737 and MD-88, you need only pass the 737 and MD-88 First Officer's written examinations. Since your primary equipment type is a Stage 3 aircraft and the 737/MD88 are Stage 2 aircraft, no flight video or check flight is required.
In order to become a Captain in either Stage 2 program, you'd then need to transfer to that program and complete 10 legs as an FO. I don't think there's much practical purpose to this, as you'd already be a Captain in the 757.
Cheers!
Luke
Luke KolinSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA1361
Captain, B757-200
Joined on October 27 2003
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Naples, FL USA
24 legs, 42.1 hours
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Posted onPost created on
November 08 2003 19:58 ET by Jim Miller
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DVA018
Senior Captain, MD-11
E-MAIL
Joined on June 15 2001
Six Century Club
"Keep yer wheels off the ground"
Spokane, WA USA
984 legs, 1,958.5 hours
20 legs,
35.1 hours online
227 legs,
397.6 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
November 09 2003 00:25 ET by Larry Hart
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Yes, I agree a good response, it should be right that a pilot should take at least the FO test to be rated in any a/c, however if they achieve the rank of captain and a high number of flights, I have often wondered if it's necessary to take a test of any kind for a lower class of a/c, unless that test is a/c specific....ie., why go over general aviation questions for a 737 or md-88 for someone who has already logged alot of flights in a 757 and knows their general aviation stuff? But if the pilot is going for a 737 or md-88 rating and needs to learn about those a/c in specific details, then yes, I can understand. This is why we were talking about one of the tests in each category of a/c should be a/c specific, we need to implement such tests.
Luke, what do you think about a question pool for each a/c stage? Some Q's would be the same across the board, same as other stages, some would be a/c specific.
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DVA544
Senior Captain, B727-200
Joined on October 24 2001
Online Century Club
Triple Century Club
Southeastern United States
329 legs, 661.4 hours
186 legs,
368.2 hours online
47 legs,
90.0 hours ACARS
7 legs,
22.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
November 09 2003 05:19 ET by Joe DeGregorio
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