I assume that both pilots and co-pilots went through and passed flight training for bombers or whatever other large airplane required that situation. How did they choose who was a pilot and who was a co-pilot? Did you start out as a co-pilot and move up by merit? Did anyone ever get demoted?
I think that captains and XOs of ships are different. They both rose up through rotations and merit (or whatever you want to call it). Was it normal, though, that when a captain went on to another assignment, he was replaced by his XO? Or did XOs move on to captain their own ships?
I know that when my brother-in-law was in the Air Force, command pilots got special training. They may not have been any better at flying than the co-pilots, but they had other duties as the command pilot.
I can’t speak to pilots and co-pilots other than to say my understanding is that it’s experience based. To be a CO of an aircraft carrier, though, first you must be a line officer, then a qualified aviator and have experience as a CO of something such as a Fleet Supply Ship. For that command billet, you had to have been an XO of a carrier. You don’t go from carrier XO to carrier CO without the supply ship experience first. It has to do with handling characteristics, I believe, among other things. I’m looking at this from an enlisted perspective 30 years ago however, so while many things could have changed, I believe it to be essentially correct.
An XO is a CO in training and when they are promoted to CO level they take command of a different vessel. It is generally considered bad practice for an XO to take command of the ship they were serving on.
For Pilot/Co-pilot it is much the same with the Pilot being senior/more experienced and the Co-Pilot working towards becoming a Pilot.
In the commercial airlines, the terminology is generally Captain and First Officer. They are both fully qualified to fly the plane. The distinction is made by the airline seniority structure and nothing else. A First Officer could be a Captain the next day if a promotion slot opens up.
Yeah, pilot/co-pilot is just based on time in the company, you start as a co-pilot and end up as a pilot, or in modern terms you start as a First Officer (or even a Second Officer) and move up when positions become available.
Airlines often have a rigid seniority structure. When you join the company you get a number. If there are 1000 pilots already employed then you become number 1001. As people resign or retire above you your seniority number decreases. As positions on aircraft become available pilots are able to apply for them. Those with a lower number (ie have higher seniority) get chosen above those with lower seniority.) It’s not always moving from co-pilot to pilot, you may be a Captain on a smaller aircraft such as a B737 and wish to become a First Officer on a larger aircraft like a B747.
You still must pass the course for the new position. There are “career First Officers” who just don’t have what it takes to become a Captain. Ideally they would never have been employed, but recruiting is not perfect (not even close.)
As far as I know, the military is kind of similar in that co-pilot and pilot are different positions on the same career path rather than positions recruited separately like navigator and pilot.
For what ever it’s worth, the company I work for does not have a seniority system. Promotion is based on merit only and pilots who have average performance in their six month simulator checks will be regularly overlooked for promotion. It can lead to vaguely uncomfortable situations where you fly as Captain with a First Officer who has been in the company a lot longer than you have.
One final point. The only difference between the Captain and First Officer in the civilian world is that the Captain gets paid more and is responsible for what happens on the aircraft. S/he makes the important decisions when they need to be made but other than all of the flying duties are shared equally between the pilots, they would normally take turns flying each sector with one flying and the other monitoring, reading checklists, and making the radio calls. There may also be certain things that only the Captain is allowed to do such as land in very strong crosswinds. A good Captain will also let the First Officer make the decisions under the Captain’s supervision.