Ask The Pilot

[oz74]

FOs landing....they're always smooth.

Excuse my ignorance JB but is it normal practice for the FO to do both the take off and landing?

I know before we left you announced that the FO would be doing the flying I just assumed that you would do the landing if he did the take off.

 

[andmiz]

Excuse my ignorance JB but is it normal practice for the FO to do both the take off and landing?

I know before we left you announced that the FO would be doing the flying I just assumed that you would do the landing if he did the take off.

It's typically 'sector for sector' as the flying pilot, while the other pilot monitors. While it's up to the captain's discretion who flies based on where they're flying and the conditions, at most airlines they allow the FO to conduct both the takeoff and landing.

There are some exceptions; for instance some airlines in Australia may place takeoff/landing restrictions upon FO's based on their experience until they have enough time on that aircraft type.
There's also several weather related conditions where the captain may handle the landing, such as in low visibility, high crosswind etc.

 

[jb747]

Excuse my ignorance JB but is it normal practice for the FO to do both the take off and landing?

I know before we left you announced that the FO would be doing the flying I just assumed that you would do the landing if he did the take off.

Normally the pilot flying the sector does both the take off and landing. There are some company restrictions (weather related) placed on the FOs, but they don't come into play often.

The captain generally decides who will do each sector based on a mixture of whim, what he has recently flown, and weather conditions.

Other factors that come into play...sometimes the company will request a particular sector for an FO for a route check, or for recency. I need to do a Cat II/III soon, so that will need to be planned (probably for LA, as Melbourne is mostly on 34 at the moment).

 

[oz74]

Normally the pilot flying the sector does both the take off and landing. There are some company restrictions (weather related) placed on the FOs, but they don't come into play often.

The captain generally decides who will do each sector based on a mixture of whim, what he has recently flown, and weather conditions.

Other factors that come into play...sometimes the company will request a particular sector for an FO for a route check, or for recency. I need to do a Cat II/III soon, so that will need to be planned (probably for LA, as Melbourne is mostly on 34 at the moment).

Thanks for the reply JB and thanks for all the effort you put into this thread.

I love reading your answers.

 

[illallangi]

01/03 QF10 DXB-MEL

Drat, I'm on QF9 going the other way that day..

 

[Dmac6345]

Drat, I'm on QF9 going the other way that day..

I would love a dollar for every time I have missed JB by a day or two.
What is going to happen when JB retires?? I cant stand to think .

 

[Captain Halliday]

I would love a dollar for every time I have missed JB by a day or two.
What is going to happen when JB retires?? I cant stand to think .

Is it multiple choice?
A. He'll have more time to answer questions.
B. A consulting job with the producers of Air Crash Investigation
C. Retrain with JohnM to become an expert in the wine thread.
D. All of the above.

OT but I couldn't resist. Back to the questions folks...

 

[jb747]

I would love a dollar for every time I have missed JB by a day or two.
What is going to happen when JB retires?? I cant stand to think .

Mrs. JB will be very happy*

*(Posted by Mrs. JB)

 

[juddles]

JB, just a small easy question: I was in a Dornier 328 the other day (a 30seat turboprop German thingy) landing in Medellín, Colombia. It is a tight spot - airstrip in a city in the floor of a valley a kilometre deep. The approach was rougher than usual, and I noticed that from the coughpit (open to main cabin) an alert repeatedly said ¨stick free¨or something similar. What could that have been?

 

[harvyk]

New roster, with the standard proviso that nothing is ever locked in...

23/01 QF93 MEL-LAX
24/01 QF94 LAX-MEL

05/02 QF09 MEL-DXB
08/02 QF09 DXB-LHR
10/02 QF02 LHR-DXB
13/02 QF10 DXB-MEL

20/02 QF09 MEL-DXB
24/02 QF09 DXB-LHR
26/02 QF02 LHR-DXB
01/03 QF10 DXB-MEL

07/03 QF93 MEL-LAX
08/03 QF94 LAX-MEL

Hi JB,

quick question about the MEL-LAX-MEL flights. Whilst I can see that you'd have covered off minimum rest periods in LAX, with such a short turnaround what would the company do if for some reason you where unable to fly back the following night? I thought it was standard procedure to have a bit of a buffer with captains in a location so that they could bring trips forwards to cover people, or could a pilot in theory pilot QF93 into LAX that morning and then pilot QF94 out of LAX that night?

 

[legroom]

JB or other Captains

With FOs, I'd assume that they value the takeoff and landing not just for the experience but also for logbook certification etc ...

Once you have become captain / PIC, is there still a legislated need for a minimum number of takeoff & landings per year or if you so choose, could elect to give the FOs as many chances as you want to.

Take an extreme example, could a captain just 'sit back' and 'monitor' the FOs sectors after sectors and not doing the actual takeoff & landing themselves (assuming weather conditions etc ... are all favorable).

Thanks for sharing

Normally the pilot flying the sector does both the take off and landing. There are some company restrictions (weather related) placed on the FOs, but they don't come into play often.

The captain generally decides who will do each sector based on a mixture of whim, what he has recently flown, and weather conditions.

Other factors that come into play...sometimes the company will request a particular sector for an FO for a route check, or for recency. I need to do a Cat II/III soon, so that will need to be planned (probably for LA, as Melbourne is mostly on 34 at the moment).

 

[jb747]

JB, just a small easy question: I was in a Dornier 328 the other day (a 30seat turboprop German thingy) landing in Medellín, Colombia. It is a tight spot - airstrip in a city in the floor of a valley a kilometre deep. The approach was rougher than usual, and I noticed that from the coughpit (open to main cabin) an alert repeatedly said ¨stick free¨or something similar. What could that have been?

I don't know what that could have been, but alerts should be quiet, unless something is wrong.

 

[jb747]

quick question about the MEL-LAX-MEL flights. Whilst I can see that you'd have covered off minimum rest periods in LAX, with such a short turnaround what would the company do if for some reason you where unable to fly back the following night? I thought it was standard procedure to have a bit of a buffer with captains in a location so that they could bring trips forwards to cover people, or could a pilot in theory pilot QF93 into LAX that morning and then pilot QF94 out of LAX that night?

Don't forget the date line. The slips are roughly 36 hours. The buffer is generally provided by the Sydney patterns.

 

[jb747]

With FOs, I'd assume that they value the takeoff and landing not just for the experience but also for logbook certification etc ...

Once you have become captain / PIC, is there still a legislated need for a minimum number of takeoff & landings per year or if you so choose, could elect to give the FOs as many chances as you want to.

Take an extreme example, could a captain just 'sit back' and 'monitor' the FOs sectors after sectors and not doing the actual takeoff & landing themselves (assuming weather conditions etc ... are all favorable).

Day/night landings and takeoffs are all recorded, and all have recency requirements. Same with the instrument approaches. Nobody is going to sit back and watch...if anything, the issue is the other way around, with the occasional person being less than generous with FO flying.

 

[Boris spatsky]

JB, just a small easy question: I was in a Dornier 328 the other day (a 30seat turboprop German thingy) landing in Medellín, Colombia. It is a tight spot - airstrip in a city in the floor of a valley a kilometre deep. The approach was rougher than usual, and I noticed that from the coughpit (open to main cabin) an alert repeatedly said ¨stick free¨or something similar. What could that have been?

No idea either as not Dornier qualified; the 328 did have an Airworthiness directive issued after a few runway excursions due to unresponsive throttles - the aircraft were all modified to issue an alert during approach and landing if this occurred. I wonder if this had something to do with it?

 

[Alanslegal]

05/02 QF09 MEL-DXB
08/02 QF09 DXB-LHR
10/02 QF02 LHR-DXB
13/02 QF10 DXB-MEL

20/02 QF09 MEL-DXB
24/02 QF09 DXB-LHR
26/02 QF02 LHR-DXB
01/03 QF10 DXB-MEL

Out of 10, how boring is Dubai?

 

[jb747]

Out of 10, how boring is Dubai?

I don't mind Dubai, and I prefer it to LA. Decent places to eat, nice hotels, fast internet. Nice scenery by the pool. Too hot in summer, but then that's almost the same as home.

 

[clazman]

Nice scenery by the pool.

That would be the palm trees then

 

[QF WP]

jb747 or Straitman, would you know any of this cohort?

Picture is in the Ettamoogah Pub on Sunshine Coast.

 

[burnt]

In this age of computers, electronics, and the like, why do cabin crew still use a knock on the door as a signal that it is OK to open the cabin door. You would have thought by now that there was some "electronic" system available?