Duty Roster Procedures?

My club has finally decided to implement a duty roster system for each
Saturday and Sunday operations. This has been a long time in coming
and we will be running a trial in September and October. I have taken
on the task of making this happen. I am interested in your inputs
about how your club successfully handles duty rosters.

- Do you have a procedures manual? Can I get a copy?
- Do you exempt some people like CFIGs and Tow Pilots? Who else?
- How do you form up the crews? Totally random?
- How big is each crew?
- What tasks does the crew handle?
- How do you handle scheduling?
- How do you handle full time students (real students, not glider
pilot students)?
- How do you handle crew scheduling conflicts and/or swapping of
dates?
- What are the crew work hours?
- Do you use any on line scheduling tool?

Any other comments that you might have will be helpful. Thank you in
advance for your comments and responses.

- John DeRosa
johnatderosaweb.com

On Jul 19, 9:07*pm, ContestID67 wrote:
My club has finally decided to implement a duty roster system for each
Saturday and Sunday operations. *This has been a long time in coming
and we will be running a trial in September and October. *I have taken
on the task of making this happen. *I am interested in your inputs
about how your club successfully handles duty rosters.

- Do you have a procedures manual? *Can I get a copy?
- Do you exempt some people like CFIGs and Tow Pilots? *Who else?
- How do you form up the crews? *Totally random?
- How big is each crew?
- What tasks does the crew handle?
- How do you handle scheduling?
- How do you handle full time students (real students, not glider
pilot students)?
- How do you handle crew scheduling conflicts and/or swapping of
dates?
- What are the crew work hours?
- Do you use any on line scheduling tool?

Any other comments that you might have will be helpful. *Thank you in
advance for your comments and responses.

- John DeRosa
johnatderosaweb.com

My club's duty roster includes
Tow pilot
Instructor
Ground Ops Director

Tow pilot and Instructor, if so desired, get a free, non-voting,
membership if they serve the appropriate number of days per year (used
to be two per month). Some choose to pay dues to get the vote.
Instructors are independent contractors and may charge what and if
they wish. Commercially rated tow pilots are given a modest show up
credit and per tow credits, supposedly to off set the commute and cost
of Class II's. We carry tow for hire insurance for visiting pilots
(with gliders).

The Ground Ops Director role is required of non-instructor, tow pilot
members at least two days per year. $100 fine per day for not
fulfilling the role. Some rent a substitute. Credit of $50/day for
additional days served. Do you attract more flies with vinegar or
honey? The correct answer is vinegar.

We schedule glider use online. A member can only appear on the
schedule twice at a time and block one or two hours per period, unless
there is a chance at a distance or duration leg. As soon as they
complete a flight period, they can add themselves back onto the
schedule.

See http://www.soarcsa.org/schedule.htm

I personally don't think any of the above are 'best practices' and
wouldn't recommend them.

Last time I checked, Caesar Creek had a crew (team) model, rather than
trying to get each club member (200+ members) involved in the critical
roles. The same crews worked together on a rotating schedule. Active
crew members were waived the hookup charge when they fly gliders as an
incentive. See their website schedule, http://soarccsc.com/calendar/calendar.html.
I don't see any description of how they populate crews on the web site
or how many crews they have.

YMMV,

Frank Whiteley









Caeser Creek

Instructor
Tow Pilot
Ground Ops

If you can instruct and want to instruct, you do that. Instruction is
free to club members. Heck, since you have to be a member to fly,
it's free to "all."

If you can tow (have enough hours in a Single Engine Land to satisfy
the insurance people), then you tow.

If you can't do either of the above, you get assigned as Ground Ops.

Also, if you are club Treasurer (treasurer for life in our club), then
you don't have to do anything else.


- Do you have a procedures manual? Can I get a copy?
Nothing formal right now.

- Do you exempt some people like CFIGs and Tow Pilots? Who else?
CFIG's don't do Ground Ops. Tow pilots don't do ground ops.
Some CFIG's might tow, if they want to and vice-versa. As mentioned
previously, the Treasurer does only the Treasurer's job and nothing
else.

- How do you form up the crews? Totally random?
Somewhat random. Schedules are made for a three month period.
First, the guy in charge of schedules asks if there are conflicts for
the upcoming cycle and creates a schedule based on responses. The
chief CFIG makes up the instruction schedule. The chief tow pilot
makes up the towing schedule. And the Director of Ops makes up the
ground operations schedule. So, it's kind of totally random.
Probably more alphabetic as the schedule maker runs down the club
roster.

- How big is each crew?
Crew of one for each job.

- What tasks does the crew handle?
Tower tows. Instructor instructs. Ground Ops sees that people
get launched and recovered and collects money at end of the day.

- How do you handle scheduling?
As mentioned above. After the quarterly schedule has been sent
out, a weekly reminder is also sent out via yahoo groups e-mail. Duty
roster is not on web page.

- How do you handle full time students (real students, not glider
pilot students)?
They get a reduced rate on monthly dues and reduced rate for SSA
membership (I think). No reduction in tow fees or glider rental fees.

- How do you handle crew scheduling conflicts and/or swapping of
dates?
Usually, tow pilots and instructors work out something so the
slot is covered. For the ground ops, well, sometimes we go without
one. Oh well...

- What are the crew work hours?
Dawn to Dusk. Really, though, flying probably isn't going to start
till 11:00 hrs. Maybe 10:00 if someone is really gung ho. Last tow
might be at 18:00??

- Do you use any on line scheduling tool?
No. Just e-mail via the yahoo group thingie.


Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
North Carolina Soaring Association

Ray,

Thanks for the response.

We also cut "youth members" a break on dues. My question about full
time students is more about if we put them on the duty roster or
not.

At our last member's meeting, as we discussed our trial, one of our
students brought up that she (!) is pretty short of free time. During
spring and fall they might be away at college. During the summer they
might be working a "summer job" which probably means working
weekends.

So do we exempt them? Add them in and hope for the best? Maybe when
assigning students for a particular Sat or Sun, we always pair them
up? Maybe it is only College kids we should exempt as High School
kids generally have their weekends free. But then there are all those
sports. Still thinking this through.

Thanks for the input.

- John

John,

Regarding the scheduling of high school and college students to Ground
Ops:

Yes, we have tasked them to serve as Ground Ops. Currently, we have,
I think, only one student (middle school) and he's made only two or
three flights. I don't think we even consider scheduling a new member
or student pilot, no matter their age, until they've been around for a
while to see how things are done. And someone as young as this new
member probably wouldn't be scheduled as Ground Ops until he gains a
few more years of experience.

In the past, when the Director of Ops sends out an e-mail saying he
will soon be making the schedule for the next quarter, usually, the
students, or anyone, with conflicts, would reply and make the Director
know about the conflicts. If the person, student or not, couldn't
serve the duty during that quarter, then that was understood. No
questions asked. If the member didn't know his schedule that far in
advance and he was put on the club work schedule, then when his
"assigned" duty day came around, he either found a substitute in the
club or the slot went unfilled for that day. We typically know the
students in high school and even college have a lot to do and we try
to accommodate them.

Ray

On Jul 19, 10:18*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Jul 19, 9:07*pm, ContestID67 wrote:



My club has finally decided to implement a duty roster system for each
Saturday and Sunday operations. *This has been a long time in coming
and we will be running a trial in September and October. *I have taken
on the task of making this happen. *I am interested in your inputs
about how your club successfully handles duty rosters.

- Do you have a procedures manual? *Can I get a copy?
- Do you exempt some people like CFIGs and Tow Pilots? *Who else?
- How do you form up the crews? *Totally random?
- How big is each crew?
- What tasks does the crew handle?
- How do you handle scheduling?
- How do you handle full time students (real students, not glider
pilot students)?
- How do you handle crew scheduling conflicts and/or swapping of
dates?
- What are the crew work hours?
- Do you use any on line scheduling tool?

Any other comments that you might have will be helpful. *Thank you in
advance for your comments and responses.

- John DeRosa
johnatderosaweb.com

My club's duty roster includes
Tow pilot
Instructor
Ground Ops Director

Tow pilot and Instructor, if so desired, get a free, non-voting,
membership if they serve the appropriate number of days per year (used
to be two per month). *Some choose to pay dues to get the vote.
Instructors are independent contractors and may charge what and if
they wish. *Commercially rated tow pilots are given a modest show up
credit and per tow credits, supposedly to off set the commute and cost
of Class II's. *We carry tow for hire insurance for visiting pilots
(with gliders).

The Ground Ops Director role is required of non-instructor, tow pilot
members at least two days per year. *$100 fine per day for not
fulfilling the role. *Some rent a substitute. *Credit of $50/day for
additional days served. *Do you attract more flies with vinegar or
honey? *The correct answer is vinegar.

We schedule glider use online. *A member can only appear on the
schedule twice at a time and block one or two hours per period, unless
there is a chance at a distance or duration leg. *As soon as they
complete a flight period, they can add themselves back onto the
schedule.

Seehttp://www.soarcsa.org/schedule.htm

I personally don't think any of the above are 'best practices' and
wouldn't recommend them.

Last time I checked, Caesar Creek had a crew (team) model, rather than
trying to get each club member (200+ members) involved in the critical
roles. *The same crews worked together on a rotating schedule. *Active
crew members were waived the hookup charge when they fly gliders as an
incentive. *See their website schedule,http://soarccsc.com/calendar/calendar.html.
I don't see any description of how they populate crews on the web site
or how many crews they have.

YMMV,

Frank Whiteley

Caeser Creek

Full time students are 1/2 joining and 1/2 dues, full tow rates.

Ground ops is supposed to open up and close up, collect money, answer
phone, make radio calls like wind warnings. Some like that person in
the office, but there's also a frequent need on the airfield.

Dates changes are up to the scheduled person to find a sub.

- How do you handle scheduling?


I recommend the free on line tools available at pilotschedule.com

Aerodyne-

John,

In my club(s) we make a schedule that covers most of our soaring season.
Early May to the end of September. We have a towpilot every weekend day
and Holiday, two line managers, and we have recently added instructors on
Saturdays.

I think all of our instructors are also towpilots, but not all the
towpilots are instructors. Towpilots get either 3 or 4 days per summer,
and instructors, I beleive get 3 days each. Line managers are each asked
to sign up for three days.

Schedule is made similar to Ray L's club. I do the towpilot (as the
Towplane Manager), one of the instructors does them, and the current
President has been handling the line crew.

We generally will put anyone on the line crew schedule that had a tow last
year, we think they will be out this year, and if they are not an
instructor or tow pilot. We do make exceptions for our more senior
members, as they are usually there to help take care of us with water,
kind words, and a good smile if they aren't flying.

We often have no-shows, but have not tried to implement any fines. Since
our club dues are so low, a fine will likely just make them walk away and
say "Now who's gonna help you fly?"

We try to publish the entire schedule in the club newsletter every month.
We have also recently started using mycalendars.net. Set up yourself or
your club, and you can have things public or password view protected.

If you can't make your day, it is up to you to find a fill-in. As I
said, we don't always have perfect attendance, so some people get to fill
in on short notice. I try to encourage those that fill in to contact the
one they filled in for to see if they traded, forgot, or what, so they can
get their duty day back. Most people don't like to do that, though.
Again, we could consider fines for not showing up, but most of the days
are assigned to people, and not picked by them. Also, a fine would likely
be an excuse to just not show up anymore for some.

Full time students haven't been much of an issue for us, sad to say. I
would suggest that if they can't be on the schedule, ask them to come out
on some not flyable day and do some work for the club. Like, wash the
plane, mow grass, clean bathroom, etc. Just some of the little things
that need to be done that anyone can do.

We had a one page summary of line manager procedures, but I am not sure
where it went. Our instructors have a standard syllabus for training to
hopefully help with continuity from one instructor to the next with a
student. Towpilots have a wide variation, but we try hard to control the
engine handling procedure. It sort of works.

Hope this has helped.

Steve Leonard
Kansas Soaring Association
Wichita Soaring Association