Ask The Pilot

[sutho58]

if I could figure out how to post a link to the thread? I would. so,, the long version is qantas frequent flyer program, qfi flight loads..

by the way, thanks for the answer..

 

[ColinP]

if I could figure out how to post a link to the thread? I would.

Here's the thread.

 

[sutho58]

Thanks for that ColinP, , but how do you do it?

Sent from my HTC One XL using AustFreqFly

 

[flyingfan]

A couple of questions which I don't think have been asked (apologies if they have):

1. From what I've read of AF447 (primarily the Popular Mechanics article recently), one of the first officers maintained pulling back on the stick to keep the nose up leading to the stall. I have read that on an Airbus, once the stick is manipulated it will maintain the resulting settings until manipulated again. However I've also read that to restore normal flight all the pilot had to do was let of the stick. Which one is right - could the pilot simply have let go of the stick, or would he have had to move his stick from the "back" position to the "neutral" (for want of a better term for my simplistic understanding) to restore level flight? (I understand the situation is no doubt more complex than what I've summarised it to.)

2. Referencing this:

Placing identical switches, with very different effects, near each other is a recipe for error. Basically Boeing does a great job of this. If I were a teacher, the other maker would get a 'fail'.

Is there anything in the design of 'Brand X' maker that they do well, anything that is generally liked by pilots and better than Boeing?

Thank you in advance

 

[Alanslegal]

Hey there JB, if I may, just a quick non-technical question, yes I always ask the non-technical ones Lets say you are at flying out of JFK, plane has pushed back, now you are in queue for departure ...... unfortunately for whatever reasons there is a huge backlog of departing flights and now you're queued up, behind 42 other planes to take off before you are. And all of a sudden, you have an urge to go to the bathroom (for whatever reasons as well) and you just can't hold it anymore ... I mean, the 43rd plane in line to take off, can take say at least an hour in line ..... so what do you as a pilot do? Have a quick run to the toilet whilst the FO takes over? And how about the passengers, when nature calls, it just calls. I mean it can get very uncomfortable

 

[mjt57]

you're queued up, behind 42 other planes to take off before you are. And all of a sudden, you have an urge to go to the bathroom

I can relate to that. UAL flight out of ORD - LAX. Half of America's 'planes in front of us and me making the mistake of having a few beers in the lounge. Couldn't get up to go because of the seatbelt lights. The nano-second it went off I was first into the loo...

I would imagine that JB would have to hold it in too and being the professionals that he and his colleagues are, I'd guess that they make sure that they're not put in such a situation.

Imagine it, "ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. Unfortunately we'll be delayed for a few while I have to go..."

 

[jb747]

A couple of questions which I don't think have been asked (apologies if they have):

1. From what I've read of AF447 (primarily the Popular Mechanics article recently), one of the first officers maintained pulling back on the stick to keep the nose up leading to the stall. I have read that on an Airbus, once the stick is manipulated it will maintain the resulting settings until manipulated again. However I've also read that to restore normal flight all the pilot had to do was let of the stick. Which one is right - could the pilot simply have let go of the stick, or would he have had to move his stick from the "back" position to the "neutral" (for want of a better term for my simplistic understanding) to restore level flight? (I understand the situation is no doubt more complex than what I've summarised it to.)

In normal law, the aircraft will stay where it is put, within limits. If you pitch up to 30 degrees and then let go, it will stay there for a while, before gently lowering itself, to stay outside angle of attack limits. The same sort of thing happens in roll, with various behaviour depending upon what is going on.

But, they weren't in normal law. They were in one of the alternate laws, most likely Alt II, in which case the aircraft can be stalled like any other, and virtually none of the protections exist.....really just like a 747 on any day.

Is there anything in the design of 'Brand X' maker that they do well, anything that is generally liked by pilots and better than Boeing?

Their implementation of a synthetic ILS as a way of flying non precision approaches is excellent. Beyond that...I'll have to get back to you.

 

[jb747]

Lets say you are at flying out of JFK, plane has pushed back, now you are in queue for departure ...... unfortunately for whatever reasons there is a huge backlog of departing flights and now you're queued up, behind 42 other planes to take off before you are. And all of a sudden, you have an urge to go to the bathroom (for whatever reasons as well) and you just can't hold it anymore ... I mean, the 43rd plane in line to take off, can take say at least an hour in line ..... so what do you as a pilot do? Have a quick run to the toilet whilst the FO takes over? And how about the passengers, when nature calls, it just calls. I mean it can get very uncomfortable

Well, at JFK I've been #87 in the departure queue, and it took quite a few hours. Obviously, once you get into that sort of extreme case you need to manage things, for both yourself and your passengers. You have to come up with some form of arrangement that will allow people to go to the toilet, and I've done that a few times. And if I need to go, I can always make sure the aircraft just stays put for a couple of minutes....though I've never had to. Same with descent/approach...I guess you just tense up and don't notice.

 

[Mattg]

Well, at JFK I've been #87 in the departure queue, and it took quite a few hours. Obviously, once you get into that sort of extreme case you need to manage things, for both yourself and your passengers. You have to come up with some form of arrangement that will allow people to go to the toilet, and I've done that a few times. And if I need to go, I can always make sure the aircraft just stays put for a couple of minutes....though I've never had to. Same with descent/approach...I guess you just tense up and don't notice.

I would hope that the pilot's would have an opportunity to go in a situation like that. I read somewhere that someone who really needs to go can find it so hard to concentrate that it's like having a BAC of 0.05!

 

[ozscot]

Well, at JFK I've been #87 in the departure queue, and it took quite a few hours.

How do you determine fuel load for that situation - policy, experience, preference? Can the wait become so bad you need to abort for more fuel before even leaving?

 

[jb747]

How do you determine fuel load for that situation - policy, experience, preference? Can the wait become so bad you need to abort for more fuel before even leaving?

The company tends to use the accumulated wisdom, and will often have a standard adjustment. In the case of JFK, I think the taxi allowance was about four times the usual. Lots of places have the same sort of adjustment for arrivals. Of course our experience plays a big part too....for instance, I rarely carry the minimum fuel to Singapore.

Extended delays certainly offer the possibility of having to return to the gate, but the bigger problem may well relate to available duty hours. I've seen international aircraft pull out of the queue at JFK and return to the gate, because the time they had spent in line, plus the flight time would exceed the legal limits. Returning to the gate, for any reason, would almost certainly result in cancellation of the flight....because just getting back to the terminal would also take hours. A more palatable option might be to depart with less than the planned fuel and to then make a fuel stop somewhere.

The abort word....the media like to apply it to almost anything. Within the flying world it is almost exclusively applied to takeoffs. An aborted takeoff is a very high energy event, that entails a fair bit of risk. A go around, even at very low levels, should be a pretty normal event...they happen all of the time.

 

[richie9x]

Is most navigation still done with VOR? That is you fly along a radial from one transmitter and then switch to another.

There was a report a few months ago about an experimental Air NZ flight that used GPS navigation to fly to LAX using GPS navigation so it could take a more direct route and use less fuel. Is there any plans to introduce that.

I remember reading that in the during the cold war some American air force crew were training to navigate by the stars. This was so that if there was a nuclear war and land based radio beacons were knocked out they could still navigate. JB747, were you ever taught to navigate by the stars? Even if you weren't you trained, you must have seen a lots of stars, do you have a sense about where you are based on the sky?

Have you ever flown planes that had OMEGA or LORAN navigation systems?

 

[jb747]

Is most navigation still done with VOR? That is you fly along a radial from one transmitter and then switch to another.

No. VORs and NDBs are pretty much totally redundant, and have been for many years.

There was a report a few months ago about an experimental Air NZ flight that used GPS navigation to fly to LAX using GPS navigation so it could take a more direct route and use less fuel. Is there any plans to introduce that.

GPS is the main navigation system used these days, and has been for quite a while. Probably what you read about was 'free tracking', in which the aircraft does not follow a laid down route, and for which the route can be changed by the company/ATC during the course of the flight to take advantage of better winds. We've been using that for a while.

I remember reading that in the during the cold war some American air force crew were training to navigate by the stars. This was so that if there was a nuclear war and land based radio beacons were knocked out they could still navigate. JB747, were you ever taught to navigate by the stars? Even if you weren't you trained, you must have seen a lots of stars, do you have a sense about where you are based on the sky?

Astro is a very old form of navigation. I think my Observers course was the first one NOT to do it (almost 40 years ago).

Have you ever flown planes that had OMEGA or LORAN navigation systems?

No. I think I saw an OMEGA installation in a Lear 35 that the RAN hired, but that's it. Once inertial became reliable (with the occasional update), you didn't need much recourse to fixed aids, and that has in turn been supplanted by GPS, although inertial does other functions that will keep it installed (it provides the attitude platform).

 

[serfty]

...
I remember reading that in the during the cold war some American air force crew were training to navigate by the stars. ...

...

Astro is a very old form of navigation. I think my Observers course was the first one NOT to do it (almost 40 years ago).
...

Interesting flash back.

My father flew in Lancasters for the RAF during WW2 as a navigator (did a tour of 30+2 missions). Celestial navigation was how they would ascertain course/position during the mission. For years in our household existed an old sextant he had souvineered.

 

[dodgeyhack]

On a 7474, are there any alarms that would be audible around the middle of the plane? Say in Y, row 50.
Recently during take off flying from Frankfurt to Singapore I could hear (only just) some sort of whoop whoop.
I figured it must be coming from the galley or the loos or something.

 

[meloz]

On a 7474, are there any alarms that would be audible around the middle of the plane? Say in Y, row 50.
Recently during take off flying from Frankfurt to Singapore I could hear (only just) some sort of whoop whoop.
I figured it must be coming from the galley or the loos or something.

That was me you heard, I was offered an in-flight upgrade to F.

Meloz

 

[straitman]

Have you ever flown planes that had OMEGA or LORAN navigation systems?

Esso Australia (now ExxonMobil) used a Loran C network for its Bass Strait operations until GPS became available. The coughpit readout was similar to some of the earlier GPS displays.

 

[JohnM]

That was me you heard, I was offered an in-flight upgrade to F.

Meloz

Or it was the moaning of those who missed out and saw you go .

 

[jb747]

On a 7474, are there any alarms that would be audible around the middle of the plane? Say in Y, row 50.
Recently during take off flying from Frankfurt to Singapore I could hear (only just) some sort of whoop whoop.
I figured it must be coming from the galley or the loos or something.

Galleys, toilets, phone system. Things in peoples' bags. I don't know what it was, but there are certainly many things that can go 'whoop' in the middle of the night/aircraft.

 

[jb747]

A couple of new videos for those interested in such things.

This one coughpit view A380 wake encounter.m4v - YouTube shows what happens when an A380 runs into a 747's wake.

The other, coughpit view A380 London approach and landing - YouTube is about the last 20 miles of a flight from Singapore to London.