Aviation

#26
#26
Spacecoast how much time are you actually on the stick so to speak vs the computer running the show once airborne. Do you program in all the routes on the ground before you leave and let the plane do everything?
 
#28
#28
The Ron Mexico said:
I'll take that as a yes.
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I couldn't care less how you take it. What I want to know is why you have such feelings about the program. And if you don't want to answer that, I'm good with that too and I'll chalk that up to your just being an ass. Those guys are the last line of defense to prevent another 9/11. And if you don't think Johnny Jihad is gonna try that again, you are truly an idiot.
 
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#29
#29
Mac Boles said:
Spacecoast how much time are you actually on the stick so to speak vs the computer running the show once airborne. Do you program in all the routes on the ground before you leave and let the plane do everything?
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That is an individual thing so this is a pretty generic answer. Bigger airplanes, and international pilots in general, tend to turn the autopilot on fairly quickly and many don't turn it off until they are about 1000' above the ground on approach. The narrowbody airplanes (MD88s, 737s etc.) tend to do a lot more hand flying. I personally hand fly up to 18,000 feet or so and turn everything off about 3-5,000 feet on approach. Hand flying is the fun part :) The altitudes we cruise at are called RVSM airspace (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) must be on autopilot.
 
#31
#31
Never take anything TRM says seriously, he's a complete cutup. He is an airforce guy however.

I will love this thread. I wanted to be a pilot more than anything, and there wasn't even a 2nd choice when I was a kid. Dad is airforce col., so he took me to Colorado Springs on 2 different summers so we could see the academy etc. Really wanted to go to school there. Had the grades and test scores, even lettered in varsity sport but never made any headway in getting sponsored by a state senator or congressman, much less a fed. When I was in school, the USAFA. was ranked as the 3rd or 4th hardest school to get into in the country. 1220 minimum sat, 4.0 or better weighted gpa, etc.

I found out in 10th grade that my vision was about 20/50 and that it disqualified me from being a fighter pilot. Lasix etc. Didn't exist then. At that point I quit looking at the Academy and honestly quit caring about college. Started a family early and went to work. I have been really blessed, wouldn't trade my family for anything. I still would give my lefty and a hand to be able to make a living up there in the clouds. Embry riddle is insanely expensive. I don't see how anyone but the rich get to be pilots unless they get into an academy.

My wife knows that at the very least, when I retire I am going to build an ultralight if that's the best flying machine I can afford. One day I will be able to fly, as long as I can live until retirement. I have seen some really cool kits for helicopters that you can buy which are 49 % assembled and you finish them. I may go that route. Can't wait to fly. I think as long as man has existed, he has looked up to the heavens and wanted to go there...to fly like the birds do, up in the wild blue yonder. You guys that are pilots are reallY blessed, to me that is the best job a man can get. Even better than playing in the NFL.
 
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#32
#32
McDad said:
Are pilots trained on giving the flight details to the passengers? Everyone does it the same way and it seems like you all have the same voice.
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GAVol said:
That really is true.... right down to the nonchalant attitude when they start giving you numbers like altitude, ETA, temp, wind etc. It has to just be a pilot thing.
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Have ya'll seen Apollo 13? The scene where they are all yelling at each other and then realized they were on hot mike talking to Houston and the Joe Cool voice came out. That is so true.

This is kind of like the autopilot question in that it is an individual thing. Some of us are more engaging than others. Some prefer to do just the bare minimum. I feel that since ya'll are paying my salary the least I can do is say good morning and tell you a little about the flight. And yes, I know that everyone wants to watch TV so I don't say much in flight.

But let me ask you guys a question: I was coming back across the Atlantic the other day and we were passing over the southern tip of Greenland. Most of the passengers are probably sleeping or watching TV and would miss it unless they happened to have the window open. It was really beautiful. Lots of mountains and the fjords were full of icebergs. Would you want me to say something about that so that you could see it?
 
#34
#34
SpaceCoastVol said:
Have ya'll seen Apollo 13? The scene where they are all yelling at each other and then realized they were on hot mike talking to Houston and the Joe Cool voice came out. That is so true.

This is kind of like the autopilot question in that it is an individual thing. Some of us are more engaging than others. Some prefer to do just the bare minimum. I feel that since ya'll are paying my salary the least I can do is say good morning and tell you a little about the flight. And yes, I know that everyone wants to watch TV so I don't say much in flight.

But let me ask you guys a question: I was coming back across the Atlantic the other day and we were passing over the southern tip of Greenland. Most of the passengers are probably sleeping or watching TV and would miss it unless they happened to have the window open. It was really beautiful. Lots of mountains and the fjords were full of icebergs. Would you want me to say something about that so that you could see it?
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I do. I always want the pilot to point out cool stuff on the ground. I only fly in the window seat, look out for hours...daydream. I love flying. See above post.
 
#35
#35
SpaceCoastVol said:
Have ya'll seen Apollo 13? The scene where they are all yelling at each other and then realized they were on hot mike talking to Houston and the Joe Cool voice came out. That is so true.

This is kind of like the autopilot question in that it is an individual thing. Some of us are more engaging than others. Some prefer to do just the bare minimum. I feel that since ya'll are paying my salary the least I can do is say good morning and tell you a little about the flight. And yes, I know that everyone wants to watch TV so I don't say much in flight.

But let me ask you guys a question: I was coming back across the Atlantic the other day and we were passing over the southern tip of Greenland. Most of the passengers are probably sleeping or watching TV and would miss it unless they happened to have the window open. It was really beautiful. Lots of mountains and the fjords were full of icebergs. Would you want me to say something about that so that you could see it?
Click to expand...

I would. But tbh, I'm on my device with ear buds or sleeping during 90% of the flight. Even if you announce, I'm likely to miss out.

Also...if your going to engage the passengers with a brief welcome aboard why don't you share useful
info...like...which attendants are the fun ones, CO pilots favorite movie, hot spots at destination, or quote some.lines from the movie, Airplane.
 
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#37
#37
McDad said:
I would. But tbh, I'm on my device with ear buds or sleeping during 90% of the flight. Even if you announce, I'm likely to miss out.
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+1 I have noise canceling headphones so I hope someone wakes me if there is an emergency.
 
#38
#38
Back in the late 90's I flew from Ft Smith to Dallas to catch a flight to see my dad in Laguna Niguel CA.

Back then all they had were twin turbo prop planes. They would beat you to death from the bouncing around from the turbulence.

I had the stewardess cracking up. I was a mess. I had a 6 pack of Budweiser in a 45 minute flight.
Roughest flight I've ever had.
 
#39
#39
marcusluvsvols said:
Never take anything TRM says seriously, he's a complete cutup. He is an airforce guy however.

I will love this thread. I wanted to be a pilot more than anything, and there wasn't even a 2nd choice when I was a kid. Dad is airforce col., so he took me to Colorado Springs on 2 different summers so we could see the academy etc. Really wanted to go to school there. Had the grades and test scores, even lettered in varsity sport but never made any headway in getting sponsored by a state senator or congressman, much less a fed. When I was in school, the USAFA. was ranked as the 3rd or 4th hardest school to get into in the country. 1220 minimum sat, 4.0 or better weighted gpa, etc.

I found out in 10th grade that my vision was about 20/50 and that it disqualified me from being a fighter pilot. Lasix etc. Didn't exist then. At that point I quit looking at the Academy and honestly quit caring about college. Started a family early and went to work. I have been really blessed, wouldn't trade my family for anything. I still would give my lefty and a hand to be able to make a living up there in the clouds. Embry riddle is insanely expensive. I don't see how anyone but the rich get to be pilots unless they get into an academy.

My wife knows that at the very least, when I retire I am going to build an ultralight if that's the best flying machine I can afford. One day I will be able to fly, as long as I can live until retirement. I have seen some really cool kits for helicopters that you can buy which are 49 % assembled and you finish them. I may go that route. Can't wait to fly. I think as long as man has existed, he has looked up to the heavens and wanted to go there...to fly like the birds do, up in the wild blue yonder. You guys that are pilots are reallY blessed, to me that is the best job a man can get. Even better than playing in the NFL.
Click to expand...

I DO feel blessed. I love what I do and I get paid to do it. You hit a ton of points in your post that I'll comment on, so sorry if this gets a little long. Embry Riddle is VERY expensive. Frankly I am amazed that anybody will go to school there. That is a different discussion though. The service academies are very tough to get into, and with drones there are fewer and fewer flying slots anymore.

If there are any youngsters reading this, and I am talking about anybody in the low 20s, flying airplanes is going to be a great profession for about the next 5-10 years. Our retirements alone will require something like 10,000 pilots in the next 10-12 years just to tread water and that doesn't include growth. There are numerous ways to get qualified as well. If I had it all to do over again, I would go the Air National Guard route. Go out to TYS and talk to those guys about joining them. Since the Guard units belong to the state, if you join them you know what you will be flying whereas with the USAF or USN it is "needs of the service". That being said, whatever airplane you get assigned you will fall in love with. I wanted A-6s but flew C-130s. Best thing that ever happened to me.

Don't give up on that dream marcus.
 
#40
#40
McDad said:
Also...if your going to engage the passengers with a brief welcome aboard why don't you share useful
info...like...which attendants are the fun ones, CO pilots favorite movie, hot spots at destination, or quote some.lines from the movie, Airplane.
Click to expand...

I had Jabbar on a flight once. My FO went back and introduced himself as Roger Murdock. He was cracking up. The man filled a first class seat. Other guys had Leslie Nielson (RIP) on board and said he was a wonderful man. He would always come up and say hi and let us know that "we are all counting on you".

As to the fun FAs: why would I share THAT?:clapping:
 
#42
#42
SpaceCoastVol said:
I had Jabbar on a flight once. My FO went back and introduced himself as Roger Murdock. He was cracking up. The man filled a first class seat. Other guys had Leslie Nielson (RIP) on board and said he was a wonderful man. He would always come up and say hi and let us know that "we are all counting on you".

As to the fun FAs: why would I share THAT?:clapping:
Click to expand...

When you are driving your vehicle, do you ever pull back on the steering wheel subconsciously or maybe try to throttle up and Throttle Down with the shift lever between the seats?
 
#43
#43
Thanks for the info, SCV. Super interesting. Look forward to 79 answering some of these inquiries, also.

What military aircraft have you flown?
 
#44
#44
SpaceCoastVol said:
That is an individual thing so this is a pretty generic answer. Bigger airplanes, and international pilots in general, tend to turn the autopilot on fairly quickly and many don't turn it off until they are about 1000' above the ground on approach. The narrowbody airplanes (MD88s, 737s etc.) tend to do a lot more hand flying. I personally hand fly up to 18,000 feet or so and turn everything off about 3-5,000 feet on approach. Hand flying is the fun part :) The altitudes we cruise at are called RVSM airspace (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) must be on autopilot.
Click to expand...

Is it against company policy to just ride the ILS all the way in? Is it frowned on or against the rules all together?
 
#45
#45
Septic said:
Is it against company policy to just ride the ILS all the way in? Is it frowned on or against the rules all together?
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Oh no, not at all. We do autolands when the visibility is low. The 75/76 will land itself and track the centerline of the runway until it comes to a stop. I have done them where I didn't see anything until the airplane was in the flare. When the weather is below what we call Cat 1 minimums it is company policy to autoland, and it is captain only.

But doing the landing myself is much more fun. :)
 
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#46
#46
SpaceCoastVol said:
Oh no, not at all. We do autolands when the visibility is low. The 75/76 will land itself and track the centerline of the runway until it comes to a stop. I have done them where I didn't see anything until the airplane was in the flare. When the weather is below what we call Cat 1 minimums it is company policy to autoland, and it is captain only.

But doing the landing myself is much more fun. :)
Click to expand...

Does the FD/AP have to adjust the VS at some point along the glideslope at or before minimums or do you adjust that manually (for autoland)? I've been in low vis landings before and walked away six inches shorter due to the hard landing. What's typical at touchdown -100?
 
#47
#47
Septic said:
Does the FD/AP have to adjust the VS at some point along the glideslope at or before minimums or do you adjust that manually (for autoland)? I've been in low vis landings before and walked away six inches shorter due to the hard landing. What's typical at touchdown -100?
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The 76 goes into FLARE mode at about 50'. When autolanding, the airplane does everything. It sets up a bunch of nose up trim so that if you have to go around, the airplane will get away from the ground quickly. It is almost uncomfortable when you do this because it adds a ton of power and rotates the nose up rather quickly. The rate of descent at touchdown depends on the airplane I guess. I usually see 300-500 feet or so. That is pretty normal. It is a little more firm than a hand flown landing (unless it's a new guy :dance2: :), but in low visibility, you aren't looking for style points. Our definition of a "good landing" is quite different from the passengers', but we all want to land like a butterfly with sore feet.
 
#48
#48
SpaceCoastVol said:
But let me ask you guys a question: I was coming back across the Atlantic the other day and we were passing over the southern tip of Greenland. Most of the passengers are probably sleeping or watching TV and would miss it unless they happened to have the window open. It was really beautiful. Lots of mountains and the fjords were full of icebergs. Would you want me to say something about that so that you could see it?
Click to expand...
No matter how much I fly, I constantly watch the telemetry, look at landmarks, look out the window, etc just because I think it's all cool. I'd definitely want to know.

Last week, I flew out of Phoenix and we had to swing way to the south to avoid some weather. I probably spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where the Mexican border was.
 
#49
#49
GAVol said:
No matter how much I fly, I constantly watch the telemetry, look at landmarks, look out the window, etc just because I think it's all cool. I'd definitely want to know.

Last week, I flew out of Phoenix and we had to swing way to the south to avoid some weather. I probably spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where the Mexican border was.
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You didn't see the big dashed line? :eek:lol:
 
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#50
#50
MT LeConte said:
Near hit? I've often wondered.

Three years ago my wife were in a Delta Airbus A330-300 from Atlanta to Honolulu. At 30,000 feet over eastern Arkansas heading west my wife and I were both looking out the window. We were on the right side of the plane in front of the wing. Just below us flying from southwest to northeast a Lear or Citation type private jet zipped by us. It obviously happened very quickly but had I been prepared I could have easily read the tail number. My guess, and it is only a guess it was about 500 feet below and 300 feet off the wing.

Does this sound too close?
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Yes.

Usually ATC tries to keep a 3 mile separation. But if its above or below I believe about 1000 feet is the norm. Airspace is basically sliced up into vectors. Weather and surveillance capability can dictate separation as well.
airspace-chart-large.gif
 
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