Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

as I looked at seatmaps today (usual habit of those fanatics wanting to get the best experience) I found a question.

With any given aircraft, are all the crew seats occupied? IE does the number of crew seats reflect a necessary minimum (and obviously maximum) amount of cabin crew? I assume that on take off and landing all staff are seated in these. So is it ok to have a crew seat vacant (say on a shorter route) where there would be no cabin staff next to an exit?

On many aircraft there are seats over and above what is required. The minimum crew for an A380 is 18. I think there 22 or so seats (it's not something I've ever counted). So, a couple will be empty on most occasions, but there will still be one person at each door.

 

[juddles]

Just counted the seats (via seatguru) on a QF A380 and you are spot on - 22

Not that I am saying "seatguru" is accurate - they display only 5 on an Asiana A380!

 

[Simo]

Arrow Air looks like it was an icing event. A bit less weight might have helped, but I expect it just would have moved the accident a bit.

Unless we start weighing everyone, averages are about all we have. Perhaps tickets should be by the loaded kilo! But, like all averages, on average, they average out. Especially with bigger samples (passenger loads).

If everyone was 10kgs over the calculated weight, that would work out to 5,000 kgs. It wouldn't make a great deal of difference to the performance. I doubt that it would even be noticeable. But, on that flight from LA, it would cost you about 3,000 kgs in extra burn, and possibly cause you to divert.

You have kids now my daughter weighs about 20kg so that would bring down our seat average a long way down. Do you have a average weight for kids and adults.

 

[lastrow]

Perhaps airlines need to charge passengers by the kilo they weigh just like they do for airfreight.

 

[Boris spatsky]

You have kids now my daughter weighs about 20kg so that would bring down our seat average a long way down. Do you have a average weight for kids and adults.

Yes, there are standard weights for children and separate weights for adults.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Perhaps airlines need to charge passengers by the kilo they weigh just like they do for airfreight.

It's a good idea but i doubt many people would want to be weighed at checkin. It would also slow down the checkin process somewhat.

 

[straitman]

What did you end up flying throughout your career?

I stayed mostly in the helicopter steam which was partly an RAAF decision and partly a personal decision. By picking the helicopter stream and the job I did after leaving the RAAF I was able to go home every night unlike the airline guys.

From pilots course I was posted to Iroquois helicopters for 5.5 years at both No 5 & No 9 Squadrons and was on the first course of that time where no-one went to Vietnam. After that I did Flying Instructors Course and instructed on CT4A a/c at No 1FTS for 3 years the same as jb747. (A little earlier than him as he started course about the time I left there). From 1FTS I went back to No 5 Squadron as an instructor for another 3 years. That was an interesting posting as 5 Sqn was responsible for the standards and checkouts for the helicopter pilots at remote bases so there were trips to Pearce (Perth) and Butterworth Malaysia.

After 12.5 years I was offered a job at Esso Australia flying to the Bass Strait oil platforms which i did for the next 27 years including 5 years as Chief pilot there. That was flying mainly Sikorsky 76, Bell 212, Bell 412 and a little bit initially on Bell 205 which was essentially a civilian Iroquois.

In 2009 and just short of 60 years old and 17,000 hrs I got prostate cancer and walked away.

I'm now over the cancer and happily flying, cruising and house sitting around the world. (I've even managed to get one of the other mods to house sit my/our house whilst I'm in Malaysia at the moment.)

 

[lastrow]

It's a good idea but i doubt many people would want to be weighed at checkin. It would also slow down the checkin process somewhat.

I think the airlines were going to levy a fat tax at one stage. With seats down to 17 inches wide and pitch down to 29 inches some aircraft are only intended for Jennie Craig success examples.

 

[mjt57]

I'm now over the cancer and happily flying, cruising and house sitting around the world. (I've even managed to get one of the other mods to house sit my/our house whilst I'm in Malaysia at the moment.)

Impressive CV.

I may have observed your "driving" when we were doing the Red Alert emergency response training down at Longford.

What I couldn't work out is why you need a runway for a helicopter and to taxi it.

 

[UP4014]

Impressive CV.

I may have observed your "driving" when we were doing the Red Alert emergency response training down at Longford.

What I couldn't work out is why you need a runway for a helicopter and to taxi it.

For the Cessna Citations they had (at least back in the 80's) to connect directly with ESSO House in Sydney.

 

[Simo]

It's a good idea but i doubt many people would want to be weighed at checkin. It would also slow down the checkin process somewhat.

I got weighed in for a domestic flight in Fiji.

 

[UP4014]

I got weighed in for a domestic flight in Fiji.

Perhaps they read the boarding pass as Sumo. haha. I can understand why in that region of the world.

 

[straitman]

Impressive CV.

I may have observed your "driving" when we were doing the Red Alert emergency response training down at Longford.

What I couldn't work out is why you need a runway for a helicopter and to taxi it.

Possibly.

The runway is needed as most twin engine helicopters can fly on one engine but not hover on one engine. They have the same/similar V1 & V2 requirements as multi engine aeroplanes.

For the Cessna Citations they had (at least back in the 80's) to connect directly with ESSO House in Sydney.

I wish.

The Merlin, the Lear Jet and the Cessna Citation flew into West Sale. The 1500ft runway at Longford was not nearly long enough for any of them. We have had RAAF Winjeels and CT4s into there at times though.

The Citation was used for quite a few years after the move to Melbourne.

 

[eric2011]

I got weighed in for a domestic flight in Fiji.

As have I. Between Plantation and Nadi. A short 10 min flight

 

[CaviAck]

As have I. Between Plantation and Nadi. A short 10 min flight

As have I for a helicopter joyride at an airshow out in Richmond and for a flight between DRW and OPI.

 

[andmiz]

The use of standardised weights is dependent upon approval by the relevant country's CAA to the operator. On a smaller aircraft the use of standardised weights may inhibit the maximum payload which would otherwise be able to be carried (or performance penalties), compared to individually weighing passengers. My first two jobs in General Aviation and Low Capacity RPT (less than 38 pax) involved individual weights rather than standardised.

 

[Boris spatsky]

I got weighed in for a domestic flight in Fiji.

Yes, some smaller aircraft require it as they are very C of G sensitive. Never seen it on a jet.

 

[Awesom Andy]

His instructor said no matter what he does with his flying he will always remember his first solo. A question for you guys - do you remember your first solo?

Congrats to him, and I certainly remember my first solo - I went off the runway.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

Over the years I've done a whole bunch of YMML-YSSY, YSCB-YSSY, OMDB-YSSY and WSSS-YSSY sectors. Depending on the prevailing winds the approach and landing for aircraft arriving from the West would typically be onto RWY16R or RWY34L. On a few occasions over the last 4-6 weeks the Westerly arrivals have changed to have the aircraft (A330, 737, 717, Dash 8) over fly the airfield and join down wind for a landing onto either RWY16L or RWY34R. Unless I'm missing something I cannot think of a reason where somewhere would request RWY16L/34R where RWY16R/34L was available. I've always worked on the assumption the traffic flow from the Westerly direction would land onto RWY16R / RWY34L and traffic from the East would land onto RWY16L / RWY34R. I was on this mornings QF82 service from WSSS - YSSY. We arrived over head the field at 5:55pm (before curfew) and landed onto RWY16L at 06:05am and had a 15 minute taxi to the gate. Apart from operational requirements (like an A380 or 744) requiring a longer / wider runway what would be the reason for traffic from the West to be swapped across to RWY16L / RWY34R? Can you request a landing onto RWY16R / RWY34L even if their is no operational requirement (except it gets you to the gate earlier).


I have also noticed that when RWY34L / R is being used aircraft having landed on RWY34R and taxiing back to the terminal have to "give way" to aircraft landing onto RWY34L and using one of the high speed run off exits to taxi to the domestic side of the airfield. Who advises the taxiing aircraft they need to hold short of a taxiway for another aircraft landing off 34L? I would imagine this would be tough to manage as the landing aircraft would have to commit to exiting the runway at a particular taxiway... Thanks in advance.

 

[QFflyermelbourne]

JB - In relation to the 747 landing at OOL the other morning. I know you've spoken a bit about diversions before but I wonder if you can give insight into this one. I assume OOL would have been a last resort for a 747 crew given they have never previously gone there before. Would that be the case? I assume the fog developed after their last point of diversion on route. In this case would they have had the resources to make it to Sydney and what if the OOL runway hadn't been extended and they had gone past Noumea and arrived in BNE without enough juice to divert but without the ability to get in with fog?

I guess diversions due to fog are the really difficult ones to predict too because you can't know how long it will take to lift and thus how long you are going to have to sit on the ground. The crew must have been seriously close to running out of hours.