Ask The Pilot

[Flying Fox]

And, in the ongoing dynamic movements of rosters...another change to the trip I'm on. Now, instead of operating the 2 out of London on the 26th, I'm now on the 2 ex LHR on the 25th...but as the SO. For some reason they've decided to bulk up the crew on that day.

I don't mean to sound rude but being a SO on this flight, do you get paid at a different rate?

 

[QF029]

And, in the ongoing dynamic movements of rosters...another change to the trip I'm on. Now, instead of operating the 2 out of London on the 26th, I'm now on the 2 ex LHR on the 25th...but as the SO. For some reason they've decided to bulk up the crew on that day.

After tour previous comment regarding flying in the right seat I was going to ask how and when this happens. Do you recall the previous time?

 

[jb747]

I don't mean to sound rude but being a SO on this flight, do you get paid at a different rate?

Well, I guess that I'm not really the SO, but rather the 'relief' pilot. As my qualification/status is A380 Captain, that's what I'm paid, no matter whether I'm playing Captains or SOs. It's always interesting to watch another crew at work...you might find some good ideas to pinch.

I'm not sure why they are using a heavier than normal crew. Perhaps the met guesser thinks there might be some fog around.

 

[jb747]

After tour previous comment regarding flying in the right seat I was going to ask how and when this happens. Do you recall the previous time?

I think I've flown as the 'extra' pilot two or three times previously on the A380. I can sit in the right hand seat in the cruise, but not for take off or landing (that requires some specific sims which are only done for training captains). I'll only sit on the right with the Captain. If the FO (or an SO) is on duty then I'll sit in the left as usual.

It only happens when scheduling have a late need for a replacement (someone is sick or upline change of crew structure) and nobody of the correct rank is available. It becomes quite messy, as someone has to replace me on my original sector, and then someone replaces him, etc. This goes on for about a week until it settles down (after someone arrives from home base).

Captains and FOs can replace SOs. Some Captains can replace FOs. Neither FOs nor SOs can replace upwards.

 

[joey1695]

It's always interesting to watch another crew at work...you might find some good ideas to pinch.

Hi JB. Tracked your flight last night with keen interest for the first few hours!
Can you give any examples of your above quote? Ideas that you have 'pinched' from other pilots or give an example as to what sort of things you mean? (Very broad question, sorry about that!)
Thanks again, Joe.

 

[flychrisfly]

JB, could you see yourself doing this...?

Emirates A380 plane flies under helicopter

Would the 380 feel any turbulence from the chopper's down draft?

 

[Cheatah]

I think I've flown as the 'extra' pilot two or three times previously on the A380. I can sit in the right hand seat in the cruise, but not for take off or landing (that requires some specific sims which are only done for training captains). I'll only sit on the right with the Captain. If the FO (or an SO) is on duty then I'll sit in the left as usual.

Out of interest, if your sitting on the left as Relief pilot/SO and the FO is on the right in their usual seat who is in charge? The FO even though your the most experienced ?

Similarly, if something happened to the designated Captain and he was unable to perform his duties, would the FO be in charge rather than you? What would happen if you were then flying into conditions where the Captain has to fly the aircraft rather than FO? Would you act as Captain?

 

[Hvr]

Travelling around the US at the moment and with the flooding in Texas causing huge disruption to flights I noticed flight deck personnel (i.e. pilots and co-pilots) from other airlines travelling on the flight deck on AA planes. I heard the Captain being asked if they gave permission for this to occur and it wasn't denied on any of my flights.

If permission had been refused they either wouldn't have travelled or another pax would have been denied a seat.

Would this be permitted in Australia? And if permitted it is only at the Captain's discretion?

 

[SeatBackForward]

Question for the pilots out there: I've come across the term "gripe sheet" from a joke, that conveys to mechanics the problems encountered with the aircraft during flight that needs repair or correction:, examples such as:

Pilot: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
Mechanic: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

Pilot: Something loose in coughpit.
Mechanic: Something tightened in coughpit.

So is there truly a thing called a "Gripe Sheet", and is that what it is in fact called?

 

[jb747]

Hi JB. Tracked your flight last night with keen interest for the first few hours!
Can you give any examples of your above quote? Ideas that you have 'pinched' from other pilots or give an example as to what sort of things you mean? (Very broad question, sorry about that!)

Sorry Joe, I can't think of anything offhand. Once stolen, all good ideas become mine.

 

[jb747]

Would the 380 feel any turbulence from the chopper's down draft?

I very much doubt it, but the helo wouldn't want to experience the 380's.

 

[jb747]

Out of interest, if your sitting on the left as Relief pilot/SO and the FO is on the right in their usual seat who is in charge? The FO even though your the most experienced ?

We alternate sector for sector anyway, so up to a certain point, FOs are given the lead in many normal operations. If I felt like taking control, then I could, but the actual Captain would be entitled to override me. It's all a quite logical and natural progression.

Similarly, if something happened to the designated Captain and he was unable to perform his duties, would the FO be in charge rather than you?

Command would devolve to the highest ranked.

What would happen if you were then flying into conditions where the Captain has to fly the aircraft rather than FO? Would you act as Captain?

See above.

 

[jb747]

Travelling around the US at the moment and with the flooding in Texas causing huge disruption to flights I noticed flight deck personnel (i.e. pilots and co-pilots) from other airlines travelling on the flight deck on AA planes. I heard the Captain being asked if they gave permission for this to occur and it wasn't denied on any of my flights.

If permission had been refused they either wouldn't have travelled or another pax would have been denied a seat.

Would this be permitted in Australia? And if permitted it is only at the Captain's discretion?

Rules for access to the coughpit, for uniformed personnel, differ around the world. coughpit access, where it is allowed at all, is only at the whim of the Captain. If permission had been refused, then they most likely would not have travelled at all.

Australian rules are very restrictive, but this is not an appropriate place to discuss them.

 

[jb747]

Question for the pilots out there: I've come across the term "gripe sheet" from a joke, that conveys to mechanics the problems encountered with the aircraft during flight that needs repair or correction:, examples such as:

Pilot: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
Mechanic: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

Pilot: Something loose in coughpit.
Mechanic: Something tightened in coughpit.

So is there truly a thing called a "Gripe Sheet", and is that what it is in fact called?

A very old joke indeed...and if any maintenance person wrote off a fault in the way it suggests, he'd be looking for work as a stand up comedian.

The name of the 'sheet' varies. We call it the 'tech log'. It contains information about mod status, some consumables info, and any faults that have come up, as well as remedial action. It has to be signed off before every flight. Nothing should be done to the aircraft without it being logged in some way (some items are always individual, whilst others can be part of a 'work package').

 

[Boris spatsky]

Hi JB. Tracked your flight last night with keen interest for the first few hours!
Can you give any examples of your above quote? Ideas that you have 'pinched' from other pilots or give an example as to what sort of things you mean? (Very broad question, sorry about that!)
Thanks again, Joe.

To elaborate slightly, there are frequently 20 ways to skin a cat but still stay within the rules, and some crews might have differing ideas of how to do it. Watching other crews might show you something you have not previously seen. It might be something as simple as a better way to set up the Flight Management System for a particular approach, or a more efficient sequence to do something.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

On a couple of recent trips into Middle East (DXB), Asia (SIN, HKG), the US (LAX, DFW) and UK (LHR) I've noticed some differences with the descent profiles used into each airport. Assuming the descent starts from a similar altitude between FL370-FL390 the approaches made into DXB and over the last couple of years into SIN and HKG appear to start considerably further out from the airport with the aircraft stepping down gradually to around 10,000 ft and manoeuvring for quite sometime at below 250kts. Whereas arrivals into LAX, DFW and LHR appear to start the descent phase closer to the airfield using a reasonably constant rate of descent with what appears to be less use of "steps". Assuming this is not simply my imagination a couple of questions for you:

- How often do you use the descent profile provided via the FMC and use VNAV / Managed mode to fly the descent? How often do you need to intervene to refine the descent to fit in with the approach controller? Does this vary dependant on the airport you are making the approach into?
- On a few approaches into LAX and DFW the aircraft appear to flatten their descent as they pass 11,000ft or thereabouts. Is this used to wash off any excess speed to achieve < 250kts below 10,000ft? Can the < 250kts speed restriction below 10,000ft get cancelled if there is no slower preceding traffic?
- Approaches into SIN and HKG appear to use speedbrakes more with the stepped descent. Would this be to increase the rate of descent without increasing airspeed or to simply get below a certain altitude by a given waypoint?
- At busy times arriving into DXB it appears the STAR or other arrival procedure takes the aircraft all on series of alternate NW / SE laps paralleling the 30/12 runway pair and gradually closing on the airfield. The direct track appears to be only a "few miles" while the actual track flown takes a huge amount of time at below 10,000ft with a number of noticeable changes in engine thrust as the aircraft descends in steps at the start of each new NW / SE lap. I would imagine this sort of approach and associated manoeuvring would be caused by the large volume of traffic when at the time the schedule QF1 / QF9 / QF 2 / QF10 flights arrive into DXB but it would add significant cost to the airlines with the increased fuel consumption. Also at the end of 14+hr flight from either MEL or SYD could be quite demanding.
- Are there airports / regions that are more adept than others at smoothly handling arrivals?

Thanks in advance....

 

[NZflygirl]

Apologies I haven't read the prior 800 odd pages of posts!

whats the most challenging airport to fly into in australia from a geographical point, and if you want to include - wind also?
i find the descents generally pleasant, it's just a slow gentle descent because it's flat for ages! Bit of a change from some other nose dives!

 

[mjt57]

A very old joke indeed..

Yes, I seem to recall it doing the rounds in the old Fidonet BBS network days. Back then it was a USAF thing. But when it surfaced as a Qantas report I had to wonder why Qantas had IFF and other military hardware fitted to its aircraft...

Maybe Snopes has the lowdown on its origin and whether in fact it's just a joke, albeit a longwinded one. Much like the ATC reports about Blackbird drivers getting permission for altitude changes and putting other, lesser mortals (ie. commercial aircraft) to shame.

 

[badseed]

Hi - adding my thanks for this thread.

Last week I was on CX278 from CDG to HKG, and just before we crossed into China apparently their ATC folks 'closed' one of the flight paths we'd planned for. Subsequently we had to do a bit of maneuvering around to get on the new track, and our originally estimated arrival of 2:20pm (35 min early) ended up being 3:17pm (22 min late).

My question is really whether such events (intervention by ATC) are considered 'routine' and hence factored into standard fuel planning? E.G. Would CX (and other airlines) normally carry up to an hour extra fuel, on-top of diversion and holding reserves on these types of legs? The Captain did not sound terribly pleased - the tone of his voice when he said 'Chinese Air Traffic Control in their wisdom...' got an audible laugh from the cabin. Is Chinese ATC known for closing airspace at short notice?

Cheers!

 

[andmiz]

My question is really whether such events (intervention by ATC) are considered 'routine' and hence factored into standard fuel planning? E.G. Would CX (and other airlines) normally carry up to an hour extra fuel, on-top of diversion and holding reserves on these types of legs? The Captain did not sound terribly pleased - the tone of his voice when he said 'Chinese Air Traffic Control in their wisdom...' got an audible laugh from the cabin. Is Chinese ATC known for closing airspace at short notice?

Chinese ATC is certainly known for closing airspace at short notice; likely at the request of the military, and often for hours on end. Extra fuel is carried on each flight to plan for in-flight contingencies, whether it is for diverting around weather, unexpected headwinds, or 'slight' ATC re-routes, however an hour of fuel as suggested could equate to upwards of 10 tonne in the aircraft I'm in, and commercially is unviable; if the diversion was so severe and it came to it, the aircraft would divert to an on-line port to refuel and carry on.

Your 22 minute delay was probably a culmination of several factors instead of purely Chinese ATC (which I don't doubt added a few minutes), such as landing sequencing into Hong Kong.