Ask The Pilot

[Quickstatus]

Apparently ATC among the "top 10" income earners according to ATO a few years ago. Likely not a lot in reality especially as the work is in expensive capital cities.

I've heard that while many apply the vast majority are not suitable. Why is the failure rate so high? Maybe relatively poor remuneration so most suitable ones are doing other better paid jobs?.

 

[justinbrett]

I've heard that while many apply the vast majority are not suitable. Why is the failure rate so high?

It’s a unique skill and you’ve either got it or you don’t. Being book smart doesn’t help, and even being qualified in other aviation roles (inc pilot) is no guarantee.

Aptitude testing helps weed out many but there will always be a high failure rate. When I saw steps to make more people pass the course it led to more people failing to qualify out in the field. I went through a brief period in RAAF where we were dual qualified in tower and radar on basic course but the failure rate was horrendous (about 50%). They’ve since gone back to tower only (and coming back later to do radar after a few years of operational experience). Airservices don’t generally dual qualify people.

The only real solutions are to recruit more people or to make the job itself easier through technology.

 

[mjt57]

It’s a unique skill and you’ve either got it or you don’t.

Someone whom I used to know was in ATC. One of the brighter chaps that I knew but not a rocket scientist by any means, but was a really quick thinker and cool as a cucumber under pressure.

I remember listening to ATC on a United flight out of JFK. One guy was talking non-stop. How on earth he didn't trip himself up or get traffic movements confused was beyond me.

I'd much much rather doing the flying (or rather, being a pax) than doing the directing. I hate directing cars at the local showground when there's an event on.

 

[justinbrett]

Someone whom I used to know was in ATC. One of the brighter chaps that I knew but not a rocket scientist by any means, but was a really quick thinker and cool as a cucumber under pressure.

Yeah, that’s bang on.

You could have a surgeon, an airline pilot and a plumber on course, and only the plumber passes.

 

[Quickstatus]

really quick thinker and cool as a cucumber under pressure

And with an aptitude to visualise the relationships of distance and time in 3D?

 

[jb747]

A new addition to the tags range. Sad fate for an aircraft that was retired far too early.

Qantas® A380 VH-OQE

Discover PlaneTags from Qantas Airbus A380 VH-OQE. Own a piece of aviation history. Limited release, best aviation gift

planetags.com

 

[Quickstatus]

A new addition to the tags range

I would have liked a turbine fan blade. I assume the engines are still in operation?

Do pilots have souvenirs of aircraft they have flown in?

 

[jb747]

I would have liked a turbine fan blade. I assume the engines are still in operation?

Do pilots have souvenirs of aircraft they have flown in?

The engines were power by the hour, so presumably owned by Rolls Royce.

As for souvenirs, I guess some do, but I don’t.

 

[Captain Halliday]

The engines were power by the hour, so presumably owned by Rolls Royce.

As for souvenirs, I guess some do, but I don’t.

An O2 bottle and plaque doesn’t count?

 

[jb747]

An O2 bottle and plaque doesn’t count?

Ah, I wasn’t going to mention the bottle. Not every pilot gets his very own.

 

[mjt57]

Mentour Pilot's latest video (on YouTube) is about navigation and the various technologies that are used. Even I can understand it.

The article is focusing on the development of quantum navigation which is in response to GPS spoofing which could also affect inertial systems which may reference GPS data to correct any errors.

JB may remember discussing nav basics over on Whirlpool and how the new kids on the block seem to think that GPS is all they need to figure out how to get from point A to B via C, D, E, F and G. The US military is once again teaching celestrial navigation given the GPS frailties.

It blows my mind when I read stories about how new tech is researched, developed and commercialised, especially when I get that self-satisfied feeling when I can figure out how to use my car's GPS to get through Melbourne without ending up in Mildura...

 

[Quickstatus]

The US military is once again teaching celestrial navigation given the GPS frailties.

I got marked down in school geography for saying GMT was not a time zone but rather a time reference

Anyone use this mnemonic? Or is there a better one?
Longitude West UTC best
Longitude East UTC least

How accurate are smartphone time if it didn't have cellphone tower or GPS signals?

 

[jb747]

Mentour Pilot's latest video (on YouTube) is about navigation and the various technologies that are used. Even I can understand it.

The article is focusing on the development of quantum navigation which is in response to GPS spoofing which could also affect inertial systems which may reference GPS data to correct any errors.

JB may remember discussing nav basics over on Whirlpool and how the new kids on the block seem to think that GPS is all they need to figure out how to get from point A to B via C, D, E, F and G. The US military is once again teaching celestrial navigation given the GPS frailties.

It blows my mind when I read stories about how new tech is researched, developed and commercialised, especially when I get that self-satisfied feeling when I can figure out how to use my car's GPS to get through Melbourne without ending up in Mildura...

As always, an interesting video. Basically saying that the accuracy of the laser ring ‘alignment’ would increase by orders of magnitude, but I think the accuracy of the accelerometers will have to be improved too. It is amazing to think of how inertial reference systems have changed, from actual platforms (giving us the gimbal lock quotes from Apollo 13) to what are solid state systems, that are both tiny and have no moving parts.

During Mentour’s video he doesn’t cover how GPS updates INS in flight. There is a quick snippet of video showing a Boeing nav screen with three stars near the aircraft marker. These are the raw INS positions, and are not normally selected to display. An update does NOT affect the INS positions, but rather it applies an offset to the final calculated position. Updating can be turned off, and you can retrieve the actual INS positions.

The obvious driving force behind any GPS spoofing (other than a desire to be a PITA) is that it presumably affects the accuracy of some weapon systems. But the GPS that we get to use, even at extreme accuracy, is unlikely to be the same signal(s) used by the military. You’d have to assume that any modern weapon system using GPS would also be expecting it to be jammed/spoofed.

I got marked down in school geography for saying GMT was not a time zone but rather a time reference

Anyone use this mnemonic? Or is there a better one?
Longitude West UTC best
Longitude East UTC least

Variation east, magnetic least…..

How accurate are smartphone time if it didn't have cellphone tower or GPS signals?

From my 5 minutes of research, apparently between 10 and 60 seconds per month.

 

[flyer89]

For those weighing up whether they can endure the project sunrise flight times have a look at this for perspective. 17 hours in a Cessna 172 most of it over the ocean.

N176TA Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware

Track N176TA flight from Merced Municipal to Daniel K Inouye Intl

www.flightaware.com

 

[jb747]

For those weighing up whether they can endure the project sunrise flight times have a look at this for perspective. 17 hours in a Cessna 172 most of it over the ocean.

Fear is a powerful motivator.

 

[Quickstatus]

Fear is a powerful motivator.

A colleague ferried his single engine back to AU from the US.
I asked him what happens if you fall asleep. "You die" was the answer.

Why go through all that trouble. Isn't it easier to disassemble, ship , reassemble?

 

[jb747]

JB may remember discussing nav basics over on Whirlpool and how the new kids on the block seem to think that GPS is all they need to figure out how to get from point A to B via C, D, E, F and G. The US military is once again teaching celestrial navigation given the GPS frailties.

I’d forgotten about that particular conversation. Basically, a couple of young trainee pilots, were of the opinion that as they’d managed to do the first navex in the training programme without getting lost, then that should be the end of visual navigation, and they should be able to use GPS from now on. If I remember correctly, they had ultimate ideas about airlines, but hadn’t finished private licence flying yet. A classic case of not knowing how little you know.

And you do need the basics… I was in a 747-400 when they were brand new, and it lost all of its screens over a period of about 5 minutes. Thankfully they came back (and no explanation was ever forthcoming), but even if they hadn’t I knew where Hawaii was. And QF30 lost an appreciable part of its navigation capability, and that failure was so far down the list that I don’t think we even discussed it. If you don’t understand the basics, you can’t even do a gross error check.

A colleague ferried his single engine back to AU from the US.
I asked him what happens if you fall asleep. "You die" was the answer.

Why go through all that trouble. Isn't it easier to disassemble, ship , reassemble?

I guess it isn’t cheaper, as ferrying aircraft is a pretty common occupation. It’s not something that I’d ever consider. The middle of the ocean is a pretty lonely place.

 

[flyer89]

Why go through all that trouble. Isn't it easier to disassemble, ship , reassemble?

I’ve heard some prefer a treacherous ferry over dismantling and shipping it as when it gets reconnected and replumbed at the other end they are never quite the same. I’ve no idea how accurate that is.

 

[Saab34]

On the coughpit videos which often pop up on social media feeds, I note many Airbus pilots who are PF, adjusting the seat just airborne or late in the final approach. I just figured that playing around with the seat right after retracting the gear or just before landing seemed. Is that just normal to be playing with the seat at such times?

 

[jb747]

On the coughpit videos which often pop up on social media feeds, I note many Airbus pilots who are PF, adjusting the seat just airborne or late in the final approach. I just figured that playing around with the seat right after retracting the gear or just before landing seemed. Is that just normal to be playing with the seat at such times?

I wouldn't have thought it was normal. You should have the seat adjusted well before that. See if you can send me a video reference, and I'll have a look.