Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

On a recent AA flight, I looked out the window and saw another AA plane flying at right angle / towards us (NS vs EW, if you like) but at a lower horizontal plane to us.

It was scary as I could see all its markings ... It disappeared after some 6-8 seconds afterwards.

Captain explained that the allowed separation is 1000 feet and that was normal.

Your Captain was quite correct. It differs very slightly around the world...in some metric areas it's a little less than 1,000ft, but close enough.

The standard used to be 2,000ft, but that led to a great deal of congestion. As the aircrafts' navigation and height keeping accuracy have improved, from what was pretty poor when the standards were introduced, to extraordinary levels of accuracy, the decision was made a few years ago to introduce what is called RVSM. The upshot was that any given route could handle a much greater amount of traffic, simply because it made more flight levels available.

Same for wide-bodied jets like your (A)bus or more ?

It's the same for everyone. Certain aircraft maintenance standards (to do with altimeters) have to be met. The aircraft must be flown on autopilot. Failure of some systems will mean you either have to leave the RVSM airspace, or ATC will need to reapply the old standards in a bubble around your aircraft.

One downside that does exist is that the reduced separation can lead to the lower aircraft encountering wake from those above. This can be alleviated by flying a small offset from the track centreline.

 

[RooFlyer]

JB

I found this video clip of a landing into Queenstown NZ. Apart from the beautiful views the thing that got me was the absolute faith you must have in your instruments to land like this. At 2:50 when the plane descends into the cloud the camera perspective makes like you are still flying at a mountain, and that mountain is disappearing down into the clouds where you are turning. The training to fly into that must be pretty intense.


this is why we fly.... - YouTube

Way back in this thread you mentioned that you loaded some videos up to YouTube, but you had taken them down by the time I got to this thread. A shame that you apparently had to put up with what seems to be bad comments. Have you had a thought about somewhere else you could load them, maybe Vimeo, where hopefully it will not be as hostile?

Re the Queenstown clip : No. No, no, no. There are some things passengers just shouldn't see. Flying into clouds when flying towards a mountain is near the top of the list.

I wasn't aware that JB had taken his videos down. Great pity. Hope to see them re-emerge somewhere soon. You never saw JB flying towards mountains in cloud

 

[Boris spatsky]

Re the Queenstown clip : No. No, no, no. There are some things passengers just shouldn't see. Flying into clouds when flying towards a mountain is near the top of the list.

Never fly into Queenstown then!

 

[Cat207]

Never fly into Queenstown then!

I flew into Queenstown a couple of weeks ago and I have to say it was one of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen. At first all you could see was a perfectly flat layer of cloud below the plane, then as we descended and broke through the cloud the brown velvet, snow-capped mountains were just below us. Closer to Queenstown we flew over beautiful green hills and the crystal clear river. It truly was magnificent scenery. But, it was a glorious day. I don't know that I'd be too keen to repeat the experience in nasty weather.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

JB they are great videos....I even watched a few in HD on my 60" TV! SYD-SIN a fave

I think the comment disabling is a good idea...we can discuss/comment here if needed.

 

[flychrisfly]

Hi, what happens to the attitude (is that the correct term for the combination of pitch, yaw and roll?) of an aircraft or the A380 when the gear is retracted or extended?

 

[jb747]

Hi, what happens to the attitude (is that the correct term for the combination of pitch, yaw and roll?) of an aircraft or the A380 when the gear is retracted or extended?

When the gear is extended on any aircraft, it gives an increase in drag. Obviously the drag is very low down, so it immediately gives a pitch down couple. The drag will also have to be countered with power (which will give a slight pitch up couple). The FBW aircraft mask those effects, but in a 767/747 you'd have to counter, and then trim out the changes. It becomes quite second nature.

Gear retraction normally happens when the aircraft is climbing at a fixed power setting (just after lift off). The immediate effect is an increase in drag as the gear doors reopen, which then reduces as the gear retraction completes. If you watch an A380 after take off, as the gear retraction starts, the pitch attitude is lowered by 2º (from 12º to 10º) to stop any speed decay.

 

[mjt57]

I'd expect it's a GPS based, RNAV approach of some sort. Lots of rocks in those clouds. I haven't seen an approach chart for Q'town, but I know that the QF pilots flying into there required special qualifications, and I think they only used the HUD equipped 737s.

And an unerring faith in the nav equipment...

That last turn right as it descended into cloud was a tad unnerving, even watching it on YouTube...

 

[serfty]

It was not the normal ZQN landing as it was to the East.

Prevailing weather is for Sou'westerly winds and generally landings (& takeoffs) are to the West.

Those can be much more interesting (for Aircrew & PAX).

 

[Moody]

When the gear is extended on any aircraft, it gives an increase in drag. Obviously the drag is very low down, so it immediately gives a pitch down couple. The drag will also have to be countered with power (which will give a slight pitch up couple). The FBW aircraft mask those effects, but in a 767/747 you'd have to counter, and then trim out the changes. It becomes quite second nature.

Gear retraction normally happens when the aircraft is climbing at a fixed power setting (just after lift off). The immediate effect is an increase in drag as the gear doors reopen, which then reduces as the gear retraction completes. If you watch an A380 after take off, as the gear retraction starts, the pitch attitude is lowered by 2º (from 12º to 10º) to stop any speed decay.

Interesting then that gear retraction happens so quickly after take-off while extension is often done a long way out. Are there fixed points at which they both must be done or is it just an item on the checklist?

 

[anat0l]

Rather O/T and don't want to steal jb747's thunder, but on the note of ZQN here are a couple of videos, including a small blast from the past (Jetconnect New Zealand domestic):

Watching ZK-JNB land at ZQN: ZK-JNB landing at ZQN (New Zealand) - YouTube

Taking off on ZK-JNB from ZQN: ZK-JNB operating QF2772 takes off from ZQN (New Zealand) - YouTube

 

[Awesom Andy]

On QF8, I would imagine that a new set of crew would take the plane from BNE to SYD, given the time/distance of the previous leg? If so, where does the crew go after that? I don't think there are any "short" flights for the 744ER apart from this 1-hour hop?

 

[petercr]

They weren't doing to much today from what I heard on ABC radio today... (apparently QFA8 was delayed 24hrs in DFW due to a parts failure)

 

[jb747]

On QF8, I would imagine that a new set of crew would take the plane from BNE to SYD, given the time/distance of the previous leg? If so, where does the crew go after that? I don't think there are any "short" flights for the 744ER apart from this 1-hour hop?

Most likely the Dallas crew spend the night in Brisbane, and then fly the short sector to Sydney the next day.

 

[petercr]

Even though QF8 gets into BNE about 6am?

 

[arbo]

Most likely the Dallas crew spend the night in Brisbane, and then fly the short sector to Sydney the next day.

That would explain the QF international FAs I often see at the hotel I stay at when I'm in Brisbane. I've often wondered why they are staying in a Brisbane hotel rather than heading home.

 

[Skyhigh777]

Having a look around the A380 coughpit in the link, what is the black device with the red button on the side just behind the side stick console, next to the cup holders? It looks to me like a microphone.Airbus A380 - coughpit | p a n o r e p o r t a g e | © g i l l e s v i d a l

Thanks again JB

 

[jb747]

Having a look around the A380 coughpit in the link, what is the black device with the red button on the side just behind the side stick console, next to the cup holders? It looks to me like a microphone.Airbus A380 - coughpit | p a n o r e p o r t a g e | © g i l l e s v i d a l

That's exactly what it is. Must admit I've never found a use for it....

 

[jb747]

Even though QF8 gets into BNE about 6am?

I don't really understand the comment. What else would you do?

 

[Melburnian1]

petercr may be implying that given the unsociable hour of arrival in BNE in terms of normal (local time) sleep patterns, it would be more sensible for the crew to continue on the 90 minute sector to SYD and then be able to travel home and sleep in their own beds (assuming they live in SYD).

Fatigue regulations rule such a possibility out, but it is an example of the unavoidably high costs that airlines face. The cost of accommodating crew, transportation to and from hotels, meal allowances and so on may be small compared to fuel, the capital or leasing costs of planes and overall staffing costs, but over the course of a year it must add up. Costs such as this make it unsurprising that few airlines make an acceptable shareholder return.