Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

We are seeing several cases of Covid19 coming into Australia with aircrew on cargo flights.

I haven't heard anything about where these crew are coming from. The vast majority of flights into Oz are not being done by Australian crews. I'd not be surprised if most of the crew with CV are from the USA, where they've come into contact with it before their flight. Unless you're going to try a preflight quarantine, of foreign crews in their home country, this is something that you cannot avoid.

Double crewing does not help you at all. It will breach all sorts of CASA (and other regulatory authority) crew rest rules. You do not get decent sleep on an aircraft, so the trade off for a minor reduction in CV risk would be a dramatic increase in overall accident risk, due to crew fatigue.

 

[AviatorInsight]

We are seeing several cases of Covid19 coming into Australia with aircrew on cargo flights. Some of these are done with passenger aircraft acting as freighters, with none, some or all of their seats removed. Other flights are pure freighter aircraft. Would it help prevent aircrew having to stay here due to rest or Covid if the overseas based flights were double crewed? Flight lands in Australia, incoming crew rest, deadheading crew begin duty. Aircraft is unloaded, refulled and reloaded etc. Area around aircraft is cleared and walkaround is done. No one stays in Australia. I know I've read that deadheading counts as duty time, but does that apply in this case? Deadheading crews could be in flatbed seats getting good rest perhaps? Could the same be done with Australian aircrews going to overseas ports on repatriation and cargo flights? Happy to have this idea dismissed on any grounds.

Long haul deadheading works in theory but definitely not practical. The Australian crews that operate for Express Freighters Australia on the 767 are operating DRW-HKG-DRW to avoid the stay in HKG. They are running this with 3 crew and that’s a stretch for them.

I did a deadhead to LAX once in J and then had minimum time on the ground (12hrs), before operating the night flight back to Australia, that was not fun at all. I slept on both rests (which I never do - but was not quality) and was still absolutely exhausted at the other end.

 

[Flashback]

Plus there's the whole no shower in between thing.... no thanks!

 

[RooFlyer]

ABC's Conversations, with Deborah Lawrie, first Ansett female pilot, and her fight to the High Court to get into an aircraft, after Reg Ansett said 'no' (and success after Rupert said 'yes').

So, my question is, if you listen from 49:28, (where she's talking about her son Tom who became a pilot too) how would you feel, as a First Officer, having your mother, a very experienced international pilot, sitting in the jump seat on a flight, observing?

 

[OATEK]

ABC's Conversations, with Deborah Lawrie, first Ansett female pilot, and her fight to the High Court to get into an aircraft, after Reg Ansett said 'no' (and success after Rupert said 'yes').

So, my question is, if you listen from 49:28, (where she's talking about her son Tom who became a pilot too) how would you feel, as a First Officer, having your mother, a very experienced international pilot, sitting in the jump seat on a flight, observing?

My Mum taught me to drive, so would be just as comfortable if she had the quals to teach me to fly.

 

[jb747]

ABC's Conversations, with Deborah Lawrie, first Ansett female pilot, and her fight to the High Court to get into an aircraft, after Reg Ansett said 'no' (and success after Rupert said 'yes').

So, my question is, if you listen from 49:28, (where she's talking about her son Tom who became a pilot too) how would you feel, as a First Officer, having your mother, a very experienced international pilot, sitting in the jump seat on a flight, observing?

I've never met her, but I have a number of friends who flew with Ansett (Mk1), and she's a very nice lady by all accounts. It's rather sad that so many unnecessary hurdles were put in her way. I flew with many of QF's female pilots, and all I cared about was how they flew. In that regard they were just like the blokes. Some better than others, but no difference whatsoever because of their sex.

There were many father/son, and father/daughter pairings within QF. I know that the dads were invariably very proud of their kids. As for how the son felt...well if it was like a route check, he'd very quickly forget that anyone is watching, but I'm sure he was very happy to be in a position to take mum flying. Even if she could debrief him.....

My Mum taught me to drive, so would be just as comfortable if she had the quals to teach me to fly.

The sad part there is that most mums (and dads) should not be anywhere near teaching their children to drive. All they do is pass on their own bad habits.

 

[OATEK]

The sad part there is that most mums (and dads) should not be anywhere near teaching their children to drive. All they do is pass on their own bad habits.

My Mum was worried that this would be the case so paid for me to have professional driving lessons before going to do my test. The instructor said half way through the second lesson that I was wasting the money and booked me in for my test. Mum was an exceptional driver though, and drove for a living for a number of years.

P.S. Got my licence at first attempt.

 

[straitman]

The sad part there is that most mums (and dads) should not be anywhere near teaching their children to drive. All they do is pass on their own bad habits.

A great example of this is my BIL and Niece. BIL took his daughter for a few lessons before she got professional lessons. The driving instructor told my niece very specifically not to do any more lessons with her father as he was teaching her incorrect things.

BIL was a Caribou/Hercules pilot, a flying instructor and the Commanding Officer of one of the RAAF flying training schools.

 

[VPS]

I think I was about 6 when dad put the truck in first and told me to steer while he jumped on the back and threw out hay. He'd then jump back in and put it in neutral. As soon as I could reach the clutch then I was allowed to start off - got my licence the day I turned 16 without any problems.

 

[D747]

Another book that some of you might enjoy.

Marcus Carr was an RAN S2 pilot. He also flew at Pearce as a QFI, and later, after joining the RAAF, he flew the P3. His career after that involved Ansett and Cathay. Well worth a read.

Written in the Sky. Available on the usual electronic book stores.

Bought it, read it, loved it!!!

Brilliant insight into the thoughts and feelings of a pilot and his journey from school kid to airline captain.
Excellent insight into different aircraft types and how they relate, and don't relate to each other.
Thanks for the recommendation JB.

 

[Quickstatus]

Another book that some of you might enjoy.

Whats the e book title?

 

[D747]

Whats the e book title?

The title is: "Written in the sky."

 

[Saab34]

AV are you still stood down or back at work? Are any 737 Pilot still actually stood down?

 

[AviatorInsight]

AV are you still stood down or back at work? Are any 737 Pilot still actually stood down?

My letter says I’m still stood down until March 31st until JobKeeper ends. After that looks like it’ll only be 2 weeks maximum stand down per roster. Looks like flights are getting more and more full, most of my flights last week ex ADL were above 100 pax.

Our entire pilot group will still have some sort of stand down per roster.

Without jinxing it again, it’s far from ideal but it is slowly getting better and how great it is to be flying again.

 

[mt63]

In the QF72 book (the rogue A330) the capt talks about reducing cruise speed during turbulence. How common is this, and to what extent?

 

[Saab34]

My letter says I’m still stood down until March 31st until JobKeeper ends. After that looks like it’ll only be 2 weeks maximum stand down per roster. Looks like flights are getting more and more full, most of my flights last week ex ADL were above 100 pax.

Our entire pilot group will still have some sort of stand down per roster.

Without jinxing it again, it’s far from ideal but it is slowly getting better and how great it is to be flying again.

Great to hear. So essentially like being a causal. Stood down with shifts given here and there?

In the QF72 book (the rogue A330) the capt talks about reducing cruise speed during turbulence. How common is this, and to what extent?

I fly the baby stuff and we also abide by these rules. Essentially a maximum speed called ‘Vb’ to stay below to avoid overstress of the aircraft in turbulence. In light singles or twins that lack any significant autopilot capability, the loss of control and structural failure is very real and can happen very fast if you go wondering above these numbers. I have also been told it is very challenging to get the speeds under control once you have been caught out and I assume this is no different for a Heavy or Super (?). I have read reports in the past of pilots who are so far beyond limits and lost in the moment, that the focus has shifted to just saving their life, and resort to things like extending the landing gear etc to try and pull the speed back as much as possible, before the wings or tail depart.

There was a Cessna 210 near Darwin a few years ago that fell into the trap. Luckily they survived. Sadly there was another 210 who ran into issues with heavy turbulence in a severe storm, also near Darwin, and the wings ripped off mid turbulence. Not a pleasant way to go.

 

[jb747]

In the QF72 book (the rogue A330) the capt talks about reducing cruise speed during turbulence. How common is this, and to what extent?

A large airliner in the cruise can have a quite restricted margin of available speeds. If you are cruising (an A380) at .85, you are operating .04 mach below Mmo (the max mach number), and as little as .02 above the “green dot” speed. So that’s about 20 kias below the absolute max, and about 10-15 above the green dot. Narrowing that a bit more is the speed protection that may become active about .87. So, actual margins of 10 knots in either direction, are quite common, especially just after a climb.

As the aircraft burns fuel, and becomes lighter, the green dot is continually recalculated, and slowly reduces (speed). So, the margin slowly increases. If, on the other hand, you’ve climbed early (i.e. heavy), there may be very little margin between your cruise speed and the green dot.

The upshot of this is that there is very little potential to reduce speed, and it literally falls into the category of trivia. Airbus do mention it in discussion of turbulence, but what they actually say is that you could consider reducing speed in SEVERE turbulence. You don’t have to, and there is very limited benefit. The structure is in no danger either way, but it may make the ride marginally less bumpy. If you want a car analogy, it would be the same as driving down a very rough road at 100 kph versus 97 kph.

There is a very real negative to slowing down though. The green dot speed is treated by most pilots as the minimum speed that they should be flying at. It actually isn’t though, it’s the speed with the best lift/drag ratio. The actual minimum, when the angle of attack (i.e. stalling) becomes a consideration, is about 30-50 knots slower. So, if I slow towards green dot, the drag is decreasing, and I’ll need less power. But, go below the dot, and drag will start to rise again, and more power will be needed to get back to the dot. Slow down enough, and the drag will overwhelm the power, and not only will you be unable to maintain the speed, but the speed decay will continue. The only fix at that point is to descend, trading off height for speed. In the cruise, the point at which you won’t be able to accelerate is only about 10 knots slower than the dot.

The narrowing of the speed margins with increasing height is one of the reasons that you never attempt to outclimb weather. In fact, it may be sensible to do the opposite. A descent of 4,000’ may put you more deeply into any weather, but it will substantially increase the margins. I don’t recall that being mentioned in the AB manuals, but it was covered in Boeings.

The images show the displays at a couple of different altitudes. Speed is on the left of the attitude indication.

 

[Saab34]

That is a very informative post. Learn something new every day.

AV are your margins as tight in the NG? Do you slow down also?

 

[Quickstatus]

So, actual margins of 10 knots in either direction, are quite common, especially just after a climb.

The margins are actually physical limitations?

 

[jb747]

The margins are actually physical limitations?

I'm not quite sure that I understand, so correct me if this isn't what you are asking...

At the high end, the aircraft (Airbus) will defend itself against an overspeed. The autothrust will roll back and if necessary the aircraft will pitch up. This can be a real issue, if you're cruising at the fast end of the speed scale, and run into a rapidly increasing wind. If the autothrust can't control the speed, the pitch up certainly will, but you cannot afford to be randomly pitching up whilst on an airway - other aircraft may only be 1,000' above you. I'm actually not sure why they program this so aggressively, as nothing will actually happen from a slight overspeed.

At the low end of the scale, the aircraft won't do anything about the speed until you get back to the angle of attack limitations, at which point it will not allow any further increase in the AoA to avoid the stall. But, as discussed above, you can run out of performance way before an aircraft stalls.