Ask The Pilot

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While not technically an abort as the aircraft actually took off, the report on TWA843 makes for interesting reading on why rules and procedures are in place.

http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR93-04.pdf

I was on short final in a NW 747 behind the event and saw the aftermath.

I don't even know why I chose to start reading this thread but what a shock to open the link above and realise that I was sitting in a TWA plane, most likely a Tristar (I hated the noise they made on take off), maybe a 727 or DC9, at JFK just after this happened!

I was on the way to Orlando, the plane pulled back and then we went nowhere. We could see lots of flashing lights out on the tarmac. And we sat, and we sat, and then they opened the doors of the plane because we had no aircon. It was mid-summer and it had been and was really hot, but at least the air was fresh, with a hint of av gas. No-one told us anything. When we eventually took off about four or five hours late we could see the plane off the end of the runway.

To top my day off I went to the wrong Hyatt (not quite as bad as the pilots' day I'll admit). I was on staff freebies and hadn't noticed that I wasn't staying at the Hyatt Regency. After being told I had no res where I thought I was staying (it was beautiful) off I skulked to whatever the pov Hyatt was out by the freeway.

It was quite an adventure flying around the states using TWA air-passes.
 
JB, we're going to the US in July (NY). Missus is looking at flights and what's available for us. Looks like it'll be Qantas. However, she checked out United. UAL is retiring its 747s and will be running 777s for the AU-US route.

Now, I know that you don't work for UAL, but do you have any idea as to what will happen with the 744 crews? If it was say, Qantas which did something similar, say, got B777s instead of A380s, would you guys have downgraded to the 777 or retired, or whatever?
 
Now, I know that you don't work for UAL, but do you have any idea as to what will happen with the 744 crews? If it was say, Qantas which did something similar, say, got B777s instead of A380s, would you guys have downgraded to the 777 or retired, or whatever?

That would be the normal expectation. Crews from the retiring type would go to the new one.
 
Hi JB,
I'm going to LAX on QF93 this morning. Is a temperature of 44 celsius and wind of 15 knots affecting take off performance so much so that they would need to remove some freight or pax compared to a 25 celsius day? Or is the runway long enough in MEL that this is never a problem with the LAX flight?
 
If you dump 10 tonnes of fuel below 3,000 would it hit the ground and would it be flammable enough to ignite with the right ignition source?
 
Hi JB,
I'm going to LAX on QF93 this morning. Is a temperature of 44 celsius and wind of 15 knots affecting take off performance so much so that they would need to remove some freight or pax compared to a 25 celsius day? Or is the runway long enough in MEL that this is never a problem with the LAX flight?

As long as the wind is a headwind, then there are hardly ever any issues. The big problem comes up when the wind is a crosswind, but flicking around a bit in direction. Then we have to allow for the worse case, which may well be a tail wind. Combine tail wind, high temperatures and heavy weight, and you can conceivably reach a point at which you can't take off. In the current Melbourne heat wave, the issues are more likely to affect the Dubai flights than those to LA. Although the flight times are similar, the LA flight is going with the wind, and is generally about 20 tonnes lighter.

We hit the problem the other day. With the worst case wind, the performance limited take off weight was less than the weight we wanted. The first options you have are to change the take off parameters away from what we normally use. For the sake of standardisation, we normally use Flap 2 for take off, and the packs are fed their air from the engines. Flaps 1(+F) and Flap 3 are also available, and can often give quite a gain. Packs can be turned off entirely (not a top idea when it's over 40º) or run from the APU until after take off. The combination of the two might get you another 15 tonnes depending upon the actual conditions.

As a passenger is only about 100 kgs or so, it becomes a bit pointless if I need multiple tonnes. Much the same applies to cargo.

The next option that can be looked at if there is no other way of either improving the performance limit, or reaching it, is to dramatically reduce the fuel load, and to make a tech call. That option was looked at the other day, and would have been quite viable given the the route for the day was closer to Perth than normal. A preplanned splash and dash can be done in about 30 minutes.

The option we actually employed was to have a chat to our met people, who were adamant that a slight southerly change was overdue. That was expected to swing the wind enough that we'd get rid of the tail wind problem....and with a slight delay to our departure, that's exactly what happened.

Even my car didn't like the heat the other day. After enduring up to 45º on the drive, it gave me an engine management fault just approaching the car park. Fingers crossed that it's reset itself in the intervening week, otherwise I expect it will be off on a truck to a dealer when I get back...so no quick drive home I guess.
 
If you dump 10 tonnes of fuel below 3,000 would it hit the ground and would it be flammable enough to ignite with the right ignition source?

No. You'd actually be hard pressed to ignite it by any means...unless you used the F111 trick of an afterburner.

Remember too that the only reason we'd dump fuel at low levels is because something else is happening that puts us into a "ignore all rules" situation.
 
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In today's Age Careers supplement the front page article is about a Qantas captain.

He's described as a "technical pilot". The article doesn't really explain his role within the airline. Perhaps you can expand on this?
 
Hello JB.

In this video (forget the first 7 minutes, which are more than mundane) upon landing at the 7.01 mark in the video you see the thrust reversers open for a split second and then close again. I've never seen this happen before.

Is reverse thrust set to occur automatically or sometimes is it done manually? If so, in this case did the pilot landing "change his mind" about reverse thrust upon hitting the deck? Just wondering what would be the probable cause for what occurs in the video.

Also, I read recently that SYD now has CAT II on 16R and 34L. Will this reduce the need for lots of diversions during the SYD fog that happens so often in certain times of the year? What difference will this make to pilots such as yourself landing at SYD?

Thanks in advance and happy flights to you!

Singapore Airlines A330-343 (9V-STJ) flight SQ970 - Perfect smooth touchdown in Bangkok - YouTube
 
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Hello JB.

In this video (forget the first 7 minutes, which are more than mundane) upon landing at the 7.01 mark in the video you see the thrust reversers open for a split second and then close again. I've never seen this happen before.

Is reverse thrust set to occur automatically or sometimes is it done manually? If so, in this case did the pilot landing "change his mind" about reverse thrust upon hitting the deck? Just wondering what would be the probable cause for what occurs in the video.

Also, I read recently that SYD now has CAT II on 16R and 34L. Will this reduce the need for lots of diversions during the SYD fog that happens so often in certain times of the year? What difference will this make to pilots such as yourself landing at SYD?

Thanks in advance and happy flights to you!

Singapore Airlines A330-343 (9V-STJ) flight SQ970 - Perfect smooth touchdown in Bangkok - YouTube

Don't know for sure, but I suspect he's started to select reverse, and then changed his mind. Not normal though. Even if you aren't using full reverse, it's normal to at least go to idle reverse.
 
In today's Age Careers supplement the front page article is about a Qantas captain.

He's described as a "technical pilot". The article doesn't really explain his role within the airline. Perhaps you can expand on this?

He is one of a group of pilots (one for each fleet) who are involved in any equipment or procedural changes. Sit in office for two thirds of the time, so it's a job that isn't attractive to many. Most of them have engineering degrees, though one is a real test pilot (i.e. Empire). Things like the introduction of FANS (automatic data link comms), or iPads to replace charts fall into their area of interest.
 
He is one of a group of pilots (one for each fleet) who are involved in any equipment or procedural changes. Sit in office for two thirds of the time, so it's a job that isn't attractive to many.

I wonder why they do it, then, particularly the test pilot guy, unless the idea of 9-5 working hours is more attractive...

I'd imagine that they'd get the full monty when it comes to sims, check flights and so on more than the line pilots for when they do fly...
 
HI JB

Zipping through DXB the other week I noticed that a number of the EK planes on stand had their speed brakes and/or ailerons (upper wing control surfaces - not sure which ones) sticking up. Is this normal? I was of the impression that all airlines (?) returned these control surfaces to their home position during the taxi to the gate.
 
HI JB

Zipping through DXB the other week I noticed that a number of the EK planes on stand had their speed brakes and/or ailerons (upper wing control surfaces - not sure which ones) sticking up. Is this normal? I was of the impression that all airlines (?) returned these control surfaces to their home position during the taxi to the gate.

The spoilers are selected down after landing. Engineering may extend them for work, but 99% of the time, they're retracted. Same with flaps/slats.

The flight controls are simply left central, but nothing holds them there once the hydraulic pressure bleeds away. I'm not sure why you'd end up with some up...I'll have a look when leaving tomorrow.
 
JB,

How are the doors on the 380s, any issues being reported on them? especially in light of the recent SQ issue, plus speculation of EK having more than 300+ door faults over the past 12 months?

Cheers,
 
I'm not a pilot but have seen them on race cars etc.

If I'm correct, they are NACA Ducts/Scoops/Inlets.

Developed by the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics who transformed into NASA.
 

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