What kind of things does a pilot and co-pilot do in flight?

Question

I know they check to make sure everything's alright, but what kind of "stuff"? A co-pilot I know doesn't do communications and maps the whole entire time... does he?

Answer 1

No they decide who does what before the flight. Captain my fly the whole flight, Co Pilot Does other things, radio communications. Or it may be the other way around.

Or the captain my takeoff and fly one half of the flight, first officer may land.

Only thing different between the Co Pilot and Captain is Seniority. And pay

To the r****d below me. yes, In the airline industry Those are the only two things and yes there are some F/O's with more Hours Than the Captain. BUT in the airline industry seniority IS everything. That's why a Pilot with more seniority than another pilot has more "say" And picks his or her routes before the person with lower seniority.

And no, total hours has nothing to do with it. Someone may have worked with a previous airline ad has 20,000 hours and is a first officer because he/she hasn't been with that certain airline long enough.

People here think they know everything but haven't a clue

Answer 2

"only thing different between Captain and f/o is seniority and pay"

and experience.  

But that being said, doesn't mean the Captain is the more experienced. Because airlines furlough and go out of business, I had guys 30 years older with 20,000 more hours acting as my f/o which is very humbling... but they were usually great to fly with, and understandably disappointed in the way their career had gone.

typically in a 2 pilot cockpit you take turns, one flys the plane while the other handles the radio and anything that would be a distraction to the flying pilot. (passengers, cargo, and any abnormalities)

The crew works together and makes decisions together, but the Captain always has the final word, because he is responsible for the out come of the flight even if Elvis pops out of the bathroom and saws off a wing... it's the Captains fault regardless.  In congested traffic areas such as ORD or JFK, ATL, LAX  you are going to be busy beavers... you are hauling boxes over Omaha at 03:00 you are going to be keeping each other awake. It's a team, and a true shame that they got rid of the 3 man cockpit, because it was about 500% safer having that extra pair of hands and eyes.

Answer 3

They probably just make out.

Answer 4

No.  The pilots usually alternate flying.  So on about  half the flight legs the copilot you know flies while the captain handles communications and charts.

Answer 5

I bet the pilot has control of a wider area in the plane than the co-pilot. The co-pilot is there for back up ex. if the pilot gets sick the co-pilot proably takes over the flight. http://www.run4office.com/register.php?R...

Answer 6

Typically the captian does the majority of the flying.  He or she also makes all the final descsions.  While the first officer does do some of the flying they also do things like work the radios, monitor systems, help with navigation and of duties to help reduce the work load on one person.  Any aircraft with a gross weight over 12,500 is required to have a two person crew.  The other job of the first officer is to step in if the Captain can not perform his or her duties.