Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

JB - does the early penalty at Sydney apply to all commercial flights? Or just international / those before the curfew?

If you breach the curfew it's a fine in the order of $500k. This is different, and is for flights that arrive more than 20 minutes early. The penalty is extra holding.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

JB747 - I was on Wednesday afternoons QF147 737-800 services from SYD-AKL. We pushed back around 15:50 from Gate 37 at the International Terminal. Normally we would taxi for a departure off 16L. On this occasion we taxied a relatively short distance and made an intersection departure of 16R from Taxiway G. The question/s for you are: is it up to the PIC to request an intersection departure off a closer / more convenient runway or will ATC offer one up for you? what considerations do you need to take it account (distance remaining, first flight of the day, etc, etc) before accepting an intersection departure? Does the FMC recalculate performance figures if you are doing a de-rated takeoff? At what point do aircraft get prioritised for take off - is it in the order they received their airways clearance at the gate or is it in the order they get to the runway threshold? In the QF147 example we appeared to depart in front of a bunch of A330-xx_'s who were queued at A1 on the international side for a 16R departure.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Boris spatsky]

The question/s for you are: is it up to the PIC to request an intersection departure off a closer / more convenient runway or will ATC offer one up for you? what considerations do you need to take it account (distance remaining, first flight of the day, etc, etc) before accepting an intersection departure? Does the FMC recalculate performance figures if you are doing a de-rated takeoff? At what point do aircraft get prioritised for take off - is it in the order they received their airways clearance at the gate or is it in the order they get to the runway threshold?.

For short haul narrow body ops (where the aircraft can use all runways at Sydney), the runway used is issued to you at clearance delivery stage. You can normally guess which runway you will get based on which quadrant you are departing in, but due to traffic flow or noise abatement (or other ATC reasons) they can change it. If you require a different runway for operational reasons you have to ask on first contact with delivery, but this can actually delay you as they have to rework the flow. Sometimes they will offer you a choice, but it is rare.

Once you get the runway and departure, we look up the derate tables to determine our derate - at Sydney 16R the runway is so long that we can use maximum derate from intersection Golf, so we plan for that which means we can get given any of the intersections between the start of the runway and Golf without having to go into the book again.

The derate tables are book or ipad depending on the operator. These are compared against the figures that the FMS gives us.

The derate amount is determined by useable runway length, head/tailwind component, temperature, barometric pressure, wet or dry, specific systems on or off, and obstacles in the departure path. We use the planned takeoff weight initially, then check it again once the final weight is known (as the door shuts). Extra passengers or change in wind or temperature can mean that we have to redo the derate figures before pushback (or even on taxi if we are max weight at a shorter port). An intersection departure is suitable for us if it is in the derate tables - even in the wet, it may be suitable to use. If there are any performance issues with the aircraft (manual spoilers for example) or if there is potential for windshear, then the company policy will normally dictate a full length departure.

Once you taxi, the departure sequence is determined mainly by the order in which the aircraft call 'ready' to tower at the holding point. Exceptions can be for wake turbulence and flow reasons (e.g. ATC might get a full length departure away before an intersection departure after a heavy because the wake turbulence separation is less).

 

[jb747]

JB747 - I was on Wednesday afternoons QF147 737-800 services from SYD-AKL. We pushed back around 15:50 from Gate 37 at the International Terminal. Normally we would taxi for a departure off 16L. On this occasion we taxied a relatively short distance and made an intersection departure of 16R from Taxiway G. The question/s for you are: is it up to the PIC to request an intersection departure off a closer / more convenient runway or will ATC offer one up for you? what considerations do you need to take it account (distance remaining, first flight of the day, etc, etc) before accepting an intersection departure? Does the FMC recalculate performance figures if you are doing a de-rated takeoff? At what point do aircraft get prioritised for take off - is it in the order they received their airways clearance at the gate or is it in the order they get to the runway threshold? In the QF147 example we appeared to depart in front of a bunch of A330-xx_'s who were queued at A1 on the international side for a 16R departure.

Departure isn't really a case of first in, first to go. ATC control the sequences to fit in with requirements that may be many miles down the road. In London, for instance, your position in the sequence may be modified to fit in with the requirements of ATC in Germany. Same thing happens all the time in Dubai, where you often watch aircraft that were behind you in getting to holding point, departing first. The reasons aren't always obvious.

The departure you mention is going a relatively long way for a 737, and it's quite possible that 16L wouldn't be suitable for that weight, even though it mostly is for domestic departures. If you require something out of the usual, the sooner you tell ATC the better. If you give them 15-20 minutes notice (which is when we normally look for an airways clearance), you'll almost certainly be processed without any delay. The 380 is quite simple, in that we almost always use the longest runway available, but sometimes we can accept an intersection, and instead of outright requesting it, if you just tell ATC that you can accept it, then you leave it up to them to handle the sequence.

When small and large aircraft departures are mixed, ATC will often bunch up a group of little aircraft, and get them away before a larger aircraft, and its longer wake turbulence separation, forces a bigger gap into the mix.

In the A380 when we do the performance calculations (on the laptop or iPad), we aren't limited to doing them for just one runway. We can get the system to simultaneously calculate the data for multiple departure points (or different runways), so the data is often readily available. Sometimes when there are multiple choices, we simply work it out for the shortest that we'd accept, as any longer point would give a performance bonus. In Dubai, the company has specified some standard intersections to work out the data for, simply for the sake of simplicity (but, if you need to use something else, you certainly can).

The FMCs don't work out performance data (in a way they can, but it's for a mythical standard runway, so their data isn't normally of any use). Data is worked out on laptops, iPads, charts, or tables, and transferred to the FMC.

 

[legroom]

JB

It may be slightly off topic but you may decide to comment.

Photos of Super Hornet pilots in the UAE showed them walking towards the planes with 2-3 laptop sized bags.

Why do they need to carry so much ?

Survival gears ?

One would not expect iPad or some change of clothing ?

***

How much of a carry on would a commercial pilot needs to take into the cabin / office (I'm not referring to the personal stuff) ?

Only the iPad ?

Thanks again

 

[YSSY]

IFE - Moving Map Data

Apologies if this has already been asked. Where is the data for the moving map fed from? Is it automatic and does it take into account the approach? It often seems fairly accurate so I assume it's not just based on the distance to the airport waypoint and the current ground speed.

 

[JohnM]

Apologies if this has already been covered, but I have noticed that the latest generation of the Airbus A32x aircraft now have the very swept-up wingtips like the B738, rather than the 'sharklets'.

Has it been found that the big winglets are a lot more efficient than the previous tips?

 

[markis10]

Apologies if this has already been covered, but I have noticed that the latest generation of the Airbus A32x aircraft now have the very swept-up wingtips like the B738, rather than the 'sharklets'.

Has it been found that the big winglets are a lot more efficient than the previous tips?

Airbus call the bigger winglets "sharklets", the smaller ones were called "fences"

Winglets | Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer

 

[Major]

How many fuel tanks does the A380 have and do the tanks automatically cross feed to balance the aircraft ?

Incident: Qantas A388 near Fiji on Oct 3rd 2014, dual fuel pump failure

 

[Boris spatsky]

Re: IFE - Moving Map Data

Apologies if this has already been asked. Where is the data for the moving map fed from? Is it automatic and does it take into account the approach? It often seems fairly accurate so I assume it's not just based on the distance to the airport waypoint and the current ground speed.

The position of the aircraft for navigation purposes is fed by a combination of GPS (now called GNSS) and INS (Inertial Navigation Systems). The combination of two or more INS with GPS provides a blended solution that feeds the Flight Management System and the nav displays. It is normally automatic as far as the pilot is concerned.

 

[mjt57]

Re: IFE - Moving Map Data

To JB or Boris (if Boris came from the military), a quick question regarding licensing. When a military pilot qualifies, do they get civilian licences along with whatever authorisations and quals that come with the training? Or, if when, say, an F18 pilot retires from the RAAF, what does he need to do to go flying with an airline?

 

[straitman]

Re: IFE - Moving Map Data

To JB or Boris (if Boris came from the military), a quick question regarding licensing. When a military pilot qualifies, do they get civilian licences along with whatever authorisations and quals that come with the training? Or, if when, say, an F18 pilot retires from the RAAF, what does he need to do to go flying with an airline?

A military pilot needs to do an examination of Air law (or Air Legislation) to get a Commercial pilots Licence (CPL). He then needs to do a checkout on the relevant type for endorsement purposes. Depending upon type and company requirements as to flight time required for right then left seat qualifications.

To get and Airline Transport pilots Licence (ATPL), for airline flying, requires several totally irrelevant and often very theoretical examinations (incl more Air Legislation) that really do not have any basis in the real world. Some examinations are pure memory and some have a real life basis and are open books to different degrees.

On top of this is then the requirements for instrument ratings. A military IR has very little basis in the civil world though many of the procedures are similar or the same. One again an examination and a flight test with a renewal every 12 months and a whole bunch of recency requirements in between. e.g. an ILS has a 35 day recency requirement where as many other approaches it is 90 days.

Just to complicate it a little more is that if you wish to fly helicopters it is a whole other parallel licence stream. During my RAAF time I had a CPL fixed (Aeroplanes) which was sufficient to then simply get a CPL (Helicopter) which I used for several years until I upgraded to ATPL standard a few years later. My military IR counted for very little and the training period for a commend multi engine IR took quite a few weeks. My flight test then was with a CASA FOI who was also checking out our training captain.

 

[mjt57]

Re: IFE - Moving Map Data

A military pilot needs to do an examination of Air law (or Air Legislation) to get a Commercial pilots Licence (CPL). He then needs to do a checkout on the relevant type for endorsement purposes. Depending upon type and company requirements as to flight time required for right then left seat qualifications.

To get and Airline Transport pilots Licence (ATPL), for airline flying, requires several totally irrelevant and often very theoretical examinations

[Chomp...]

Crikey!

During my RAAF time I had a CPL fixed (Aeroplanes) which was sufficient to then simply get a CPL (Helicopter) which I used for several years until I upgraded to ATPL standard a few years later. My military IR counted for very little and the training period for a commend multi engine IR took quite a few weeks. My flight test then was with a CASA FOI who was also checking out our training captain.

What about the guys who fly the VIP jets (B737, for example)? I don't know how old or senior these guys are to get to sit in the left seat, but would they have to go through all of that?

Finally, what do you do with your time these days?

 

[Boris spatsky]

To JB or Boris (if Boris came from the military), a quick question regarding licensing. When a military pilot qualifies, do they get civilian licences along with whatever authorisations and quals that come with the training? Or, if when, say, an F18 pilot retires from the RAAF, what does he need to do to go flying with an airline?

Yes, i am ex RAAF too. Even though i flew worldwide in glass coughpit, multi-crew transport aircraft in the military as a captain, i still had to sit the 7 ATPL theory exams (which are really exams in English comprehension, time management and exam technique more than aviation). I also had to go and fly a 4 seat twin engine piston aircraft at own cost to get a multi-engine instrument rating (not simple, as i had never flown a small piston twin before with antiquated avionics), and sit an English proficiency test for another $100. So ultimately, you don't really get any credit for being a military pilot (other than a basic CPL without instrument rating that is essentially useless).

Even guys who have flown RAAF VIP 737s still have to do as mentioned above.

Interestingly, if i had been an RAF pilot in the UK on transport aircraft, i would only have to sit 1 air law exam to get my ATPL and fly for an airline.

It's even worse now here in Oz, as to get an ATPL you have to do a flight test (came in only recently) on a multicrew, multi engine turbine aircraft (think King Air or bigger). Expensive to learn and do a test on just to get ATPL.

 

[jb747]

Photos of Super Hornet pilots in the UAE showed them walking towards the planes with 2-3 laptop sized bags. Why do they need to carry so much ?

We used to carry a bag that contained our helmets, and another that had any charts and checklists that we needed. Survival gear should all be either attached to the harness, inside pockets, or in the survival pack (which is part of the ejection seat). You will lose anything that isn't firmly attached in an ejection.

I expect that they might also have night vision goggles, and a pistol (though really I'd think they'd already be wearing that). Perhaps some form of system to load mission software too.

One would not expect iPad or some change of clothing ?

No, I've never known bomber pilots to be that dapper.

How much of a carry on would a commercial pilot needs to take into the cabin / office (I'm not referring to the personal stuff) ? Only the iPad ?

That will vary with airlines and aircraft. It wasn't that long ago that Australian domestic pilots were carrying personal copies of the Jeppesen charts, at about a million kgs each. Now, all I need, is an ID card, passport, licence, and iPad.

 

[jb747]

Re: IFE - Moving Map Data

Apologies if this has already been asked. Where is the data for the moving map fed from? Is it automatic and does it take into account the approach? It often seems fairly accurate so I assume it's not just based on the distance to the airport waypoint and the current ground speed.

I think it comes from the #3 FMC. There was a time when the cabin systems weren't live but that's long ago Classic days. It's also why any change to the active route, even if we are just playing with it, can cause great consternation in the cabin.

 

[Archphoto]

Just flew CX BKK-SIN and noted that when either the pilot or 1st officer needed to use the restroom, one of the cabin crew replaced them in the coughpit. I'm thinking this is for security reasons or SOP for CX - 2 persons in the coughpit at all times?

 

[jb747]

Just flew CX BKK-SIN and noted that when either the pilot or 1st officer needed to use the restroom, one of the cabin crew replaced them in the coughpit. I'm thinking this is for security reasons or SOP for CX - 2 persons in the coughpit at all times?

As a rule, we try not to discuss security arrangements...but I suspect your thoughts are pretty accurate.

 

[Archphoto]

Thanks jb747. Does make sense - on both fronts.

 

[jb747]

How many fuel tanks does the A380 have and do the tanks automatically cross feed to balance the aircraft ?

Incident: Qantas A388 near Fiji on Oct 3rd 2014, dual fuel pump failure

The A380 fuel system is quite complex, but is normally totally automatic. There are four main feed tanks, and then inner, mid and outer tanks (on each side). Also the trim tank back in the tail. Some of the tanks will gravity feed, but not all (inners and mids can't).

The system is constantly turning the transfers on and off, both moving and balancing. Some fuel is pumped out towards the wing tips after take off, to reduce the bending moment in the wings. Trim fuel is moved (about 2 tonnes at a time) to keep the CofG in the 40-42% area as long as possible. If the fuel gets too cold, the system will pull it all in towards the feed tanks in an attempt to reduce to rate of cooling.

There are basically two different plumbing systems, one of which is used for normal transfers, and the other for trim transfers...but in certain circumstances, it will start an alternate transfer, and use the other plumbing. There are two pumps per tank, but only one is on at any given time...the other is a backup, and transfer to using the backup also happens automatically. All you need to do is turn off the failed pump.

The sequence of use has the tanks that can't gravity feed being used first, but they do hold a lot of fuel...about half of the total load (spread amongst 4 tanks and 8 pumps). So, if one of these tanks suffers a double pump failure, you won't be able to do anything with the fuel it contains. You can't burn it, move it, or jettison it. Fuel from the other side can still be used...even though the imbalance could ultimately be many tonnes, it's within the control authority.

A double pump failure from a feed tank is treated a bit differently. Fuel will gravity feed from these tanks, but obviously the engines prefer their fuel to be delivered under pressure. So, initially we'll open all the cross feeds and then use the pumps from the other feed tanks to provide fuel to the affected engine. The feeds will automatically be kept full during this period by the inner/mid pumps. Once the inner and mid tanks are empty, the aircraft will need to descend to FL300 or below, to ensure proper gravity feed. In this instance, all of the fuel is still available, but the requirement to descend will impose a large range penalty.

In general when you get an indication of a fuel pump problem it's actually false. The software is quite sensitive to any issues with the pumps and is quick to issue a failure flag. It's quite conceivable that cycling the pump on/off/on could fix it....but, fuel pumps are something that we all have a healthy fear of...you don't cycle anything that is immersed in fuel. The software seems to have been written with those issues in mind.