Ask The Pilot

[MartinMemo]

Ive always wanted to know if kids are still allowed into the coughpit with the pilot? I can remember being brought into the coughpit a few times as a child and they are some of my favorite memories... I hope because of the climate this hasn't stopped all together.

 

[Flashback]

Ive always wanted to know if kids are still allowed into the coughpit with the pilot? I can remember being brought into the coughpit a few times as a child and they are some of my favorite memories... I hope because of the climate this hasn't stopped all together.

It's never allowed in-flight anymore, generally only after the aircraft has landed and is at the gate/remote stand.

 

[MartinMemo]

It's never allowed in-flight anymore, generally only after the aircraft has landed and is at the gate/remote stand.

Thats sad...

 

[Flashback]

Thats sad...

Welcome to the post-911 era...

 

[Julesmac]

It's never allowed in-flight anymore, generally only after the aircraft has landed and is at the gate/remote stand.

You can understand why, but it's a still a shame. I was so thrilled to crack it in the early 90's for the jump seat flying into LHR, my first trip to the UK to meet all my English relos.It was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Am I imagining that I saw the Thames and Tower Bridge as we were descending, or is that the happy rosy glasses of my memory?

 

[jb747]

You can understand why, but it's a still a shame. I was so thrilled to crack it in the early 90's for the jump seat flying into LHR, my first trip to the UK to meet all my English relos.It was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Am I imagining that I saw the Thames and Tower Bridge as we were descending, or is that the happy rosy glasses of my memory?

Not at all. The approaches to 27 give a lovely view of the City of London. It's reminder of just how cool this whole aviation thing is.

I liked having visitors up front, especially the kids. I remember being welcomed to the flight deck of a 727 when I was a teenager, and it's sad that we can no longer carry on what was an excellent tradition. Visitors are almost always welcome after a flight, so just make sure you ask.

 

[Ewing]

It's never allowed in-flight anymore, generally only after the aircraft has landed and is at the gate/remote stand.

I've been in there on the 787 in-flight (although it wasn't a regular passenger flight). I felt like a big kid :mrgreen:

(Boeing 787 Dreamliner | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)

And yes, I also remember going in when I was a kid.

 

[petercr]

JB, would that apply to all QF flights? I'm sure Ms 9yo would be very interested in seeing the pointy end of the plane on her next trip...

 

[jb747]

JB, would that apply to all QF flights? I'm sure Ms 9yo would be very interested in seeing the pointy end of the plane on her next trip...

It's up to the crew. As long as they aren't time constrained, I'm sure most would welcome visitors.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

JB747 - A few weeks back I did a BA 777 flight from EZE to LHR and prior to QF moving the South American transit point to SCL I'd done a few QF 744 EZE to SYD flights. The flights out EZE appeared to be full of passengers (not sure about the amount of freight). What was unusual on all of these flights was the take off roll. The brakes were applied, the engines spooled up to a reasonable amount of power. After what felt like around 10-15 seconds the brakes were released giving the sensation of far greater acceleration at the start of the take off roll. I've been on flights where this procedure has been used before - typically during winter in very cold temperatures in Europe and North America. However the temperature in EZE at the time was in the low 20C. Are there any other factor like obstacle clearance or just the fact the aircraft may be near MTOW with a short runway?

 

[el_rooto]

How has the Syrian situation affected DXB-LHR flights? My lecturer for Aviation Security (Head of Security at QF Group) has said no QF flights are allowed over their airspace. Flightaware has shown the route going over the north eastern corner.

How far away from Syria do you have to stay?

 

[MartinMemo]

I've been in there on the 787 in-flight (although it wasn't a regular passenger flight). I felt like a big kid :mrgreen:

(Boeing 787 Dreamliner | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)

And yes, I also remember going in when I was a kid.

Epic photo!

 

[jb747]

How has the Syrian situation affected DXB-LHR flights? My lecturer for Aviation Security (Head of Security at QF Group) has said no QF flights are allowed over their airspace. Flightaware has shown the route going over the north eastern corner.

How far away from Syria do you have to stay?

It doesn't overfly their airspace at all. Basically it goes over Kuwait, to Iraq, and then into Turkey.

There's another route via Saudi and into the med that can be used if it gets a bit hot.

 

[harvyk]

It doesn't overfly their airspace at all. Basically it goes over Kuwait, to Iraq, and then into Turkey.

There's another route via Saudi and into the med that can be used if it gets a bit hot.

Do you ever get concerned when flying over less than friendly places that someone on the ground may mistake you for something more sinister?

 

[jb747]

Do you ever get concerned when flying over less than friendly places that someone on the ground may mistake you for something more sinister?

Not really. Anyway, some of the friendlies have a pretty bad record when it comes to shooting at things they shouldn't.....

 

[petercr]

The shoot-down of the Iran Air A300 springs to mind... esp as it was in that area..

 

[ozkid]

Hi jb747
do you have a military plane that you haven't been in, but would have liked to flown? What would be the reason(s) that you would have appreciated about that aircraft.

Personally I would love to be in an A-10 thunderbolt doing a low level run. With the cannon going. But that's just the 5yo kid in me!!

 

[jb747]

Hi jb747
do you have a military plane that you haven't been in, but would have liked to flown? What would be the reason(s) that you would have appreciated about that aircraft.

The F4. Quite a nasty beast by all accounts, but also proof that with enough power, anything can fly. Beyond that, the F8 was also very interesting.

Personally I would love to be in an A-10 thunderbolt doing a low level run. With the cannon going. But that's just the 5yo kid in me!!

You can't really go flying along at low level with the gun going. Ignoring basics things like the fact that you shouldn't just shoot at anything, you'd find yourself running into your own ricochets, which would quickly have a bad ending. Strafing is done from a dive for good reasons.

A10 isn't all that fast, nor is it particularly nimble. Any of the high performance aircraft are fun down low.

 

[Melburnian1]

orca, thank you for such an excellent explanation.

Your comment about an 'exponential' rise in workloads when numerous aircraft are in a holding pattern approaching BNE, SYD or MEL is something we should all bear in mind when we are on one of the affected planes.

QF seems to publicise its amended departure times, even if it is 1901 hours ex MEL being substituted for the originally timetabled 1900 hours. However as you imply, there's no guarantee that the flight will take off at 1901, so while the rescheduling is great in theory, in practice it may not always occur as planned. Other domestic airlines do not show these amended departure times on public Internet sites as far as I can establish.

I notice with ATC how some pilots' voices do not carry as well as others. Is this a particular problem with lighter female voices? I assume that ATC has as clear reception and transmission as is technically possible, but when listening to the feeds available through the Internet, some of the less strong voices are difficult to comprehend. Having to twice repeat instructions given by ATC ties up the spectrum for a couple of seconds.

 

[jb747]

I notice with ATC how some pilots' voices do not carry as well as others. Is this a particular problem with lighter female voices? I assume that ATC has as clear reception and transmission as is technically possible, but when listening to the feeds available through the Internet, some of the less strong voices are difficult to comprehend. Having to twice repeat instructions given by ATC ties up the spectrum for a couple of seconds.

There's no particular issue understanding female voices on the radio. Anybody who speaks clearly is equally easy to understand. And if you mumble or clip your calls, you'll be equally hard to get....

There are many issues with radio communications. Some can be solved with data links, and others are made manageable by radio discipline. Sticking reasonably closely to the 'standard phrases' makes life easier on both sides of the conversation, especially when the comms are weak.

Language and accents can make comms difficult. Some particular nationalities stand out as being hard to understand (and I accept they're not speaking in their native language, and I certainly don't speak theirs).

Reading back radio calls, and repeating if there is the slightest doubt, is the norm, and I can't see anything on the horizon that will change that any time soon. Frequency congestion is a problem, and it sometimes takes quite a while to even get a call into the system. It's not helped by some people who have a habit of talking on a frequency before ensuring that they aren't breaking into a conversation, or going over the top of one.

On the positive side, if you think VHF is bad, try using HF.