Ask The Pilot

[Ewing]

I think you are confusing 34R with 16R, it would be unusual to have a south bound flight taking off from the north bound racetrack that is 34R 16L, and given that the winds are predominately from the south in the afternoon its likely to be 16R.

I've done many, many SYD-CBR flights over the past few years - including 2010 where I did close to 1,000 SCs on that route. Most of my CBR-SYD flights were in the morning, and SYD-CBR in the evening.

An arrival on 16L or a departure on 34R is surprisingly common at least in my sample. More so than 16R/34L.

Or maybe it's just that I'm more likely to notice that damn long taxi that feels as long as the flight

 

[markis10]

I've done many, many SYD-CBR flights over the past few years - including 2010 where I did close to 1,000 SCs on that route. Most of my CBR-SYD flights were in the morning, and SYD-CBR in the evening.

An arrival on 16L or a departure on 34R is surprisingly common at least in my sample. More so than 16R/34L.

Or maybe it's just that I'm more likely to notice that damn long taxi that feels as long as the flight

Its obviously more common than I thought these days, goes to show I am not a frequent CBR visitor! Also it would be vary on the pattern:

 

[mjt57]

Does a pilot need to know every message which EICAS could throw up, even if obscure \ seldom seen?

I would hope that all alarms (or advisory messages) would get equal priority in terms of how they're actioned.

These messages indicate a fault or abnormal condition of some kind. To have to refer to a manual for their meanings, particularly in a high workload situation would be problematic in itself, I would imagine.

Certainly, you'd hope that the fellows would experience them in their simulator refreshers.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

what type of plane? Most of the arvo cbr flights I've been on have taken off from rwy 34R and I've never noticed the plane backing off after take off... This is typically in a b738

Always been SYD/BNE on a B767 when you bank sharply to the right after take-off then it feels like you're levelling off to maintain the current altitude & engines power back then engines power up again as the a/c increases altitude. From memory it was early morning post DRW/SYD red eye flight so don't know whether it's ATC sequencing due to volume of traffic at that time.

Nope, def RWY 34R, every so often the pilot comes on the PA and makes some sort of quip about "whilst it might seem like we're driving to CBR, we really are planning to fly there", we then typically take 3 right hand turns which as a guess puts us back towards the coast at WOL...

I've been on relatively few flights which have departed from 16R (love it because it's a short taxi, hate it because typically it's involved a long wait in a queue), with 34L the most common one I've been on...

Might just be a northbound thing, as you've mentioned B737's track south to WOL enroute to CBR.

 

[harvyk]

I would hope that all alarms (or advisory messages) would get equal priority in terms of how they're actioned.

These messages indicate a fault or abnormal condition of some kind. To have to refer to a manual for their meanings, particularly in a high workload situation would be problematic in itself, I would imagine.

Certainly, you'd hope that the fellows would experience them in their simulator refreshers.

Whilst I'll let JB clarify this, no they don't get equal priority. I believe they get priority in order of which one will kill you first and deal with that.

In my question I don't mean would a pilot look to a procedures manual for every message which appears, one would hope that the pilot already has the knowledge to deal with the standard messages which are likely to appear (there are two priorities of messages that I am aware of) or would cause a threat to the aircraft if they do appear.

What I am asking is if the pilot needs to know the meaning for every message which a EICAS could possibly throw at them, even ones which may only be seen by a pilot once every 10 years for example (so pretty rare), that don't not pose an instant threat to the aircraft (so not fire or decompression, whilst rare would require instant action on behalf of the pilots), and that the message itself may not even require action from the pilots, just an awareness that it's happened.

 

[jb747]

What is the sequence of events at the top of the descent? I ask as it seems that the engines are wound back sometime (a minute or 2?) before the nose is tilted down but it might just be my perception of things..

I'm currently sitting at Ross River, east of Alice...and its pissing down......


Approaching TOD you're often given an instruction to reduce speed, hence the early powerr reduction. Conversely, descents entered early may result in very little change to the engine note, so you'd hardly notice.

 

[jb747]

Have recently done a few flights where the flaps were never EXTENDED prior to takeoff. It alarmed me at the time, but after very short and succesful takeoffs, I allowed the pessimistic side of me to get overpowered, and I realised that, as expected, the actual pilot knew a sh_tload more than me and everything was under control.

The later stages of flap extension are more about increased drag than about increased lift. The minimum you'd expect to see for take-off would be all of the leading edge devices extended, but no, or minimal, tailing edge may be quite acceptable.

 

[jb747]

Everytime I've taken off on RW 34R in SYD you can feel the aircraft noticeably power back as it banks right & heads out to sea before the flight gets clearance to the next altitude.

Some pax may find it a tad unnerving if they didn't know what was going on. Often the Captain or F/o will do a P/A to advise pax what's happening.

After departure from 34R the aircraft is held low until it has passed under the arriving traffic. In the 767 in particular, this results in a very large power change once the aircraft has been cleaned up and accelerated to 250 knots. Many passengers feel the resultant change in acceleration as a descent (good example of inner ear illusions).

 

[jb747]

I've noticed it on the 333's out of HKG. Did warn the partner when she joined me, which was probably a good thing.

What you're most likely noticing there is the reduction in power from take-off to climb.

 

[jb747]

I found a website calling itself smart coughpit - SmartCockpit - Airline training guides, Aviation, Operations, Safety
Just going through a couple of their questionnaires was interesting (I went for the 747 ones obviously), but it did make me wonder, is this website and it's questionnaires accurate?

(If so I won't be putting my hand up the next time a CSM comes onto the PA asking if anyone knows how to fly a plane... )

The questions look pretty much the same as the ones we get on the type courses.

 

[jb747]

I would hope that all alarms (or advisory messages) would get equal priority in terms of how they're actioned.

These messages indicate a fault or abnormal condition of some kind. To have to refer to a manual for their meanings, particularly in a high workload situation would be problematic in itself, I would imagine.

Certainly, you'd hope that the fellows would experience them in their simulator refreshers.

There are potentially thousands of messages. Only a very few require instant action from memory (there's about 20 for the 380 and less for the 744). And I'll bet that most of them are ones that the collective FF group wouldn't expect.

In almost all cases they will be actioned from either a paper checklist or the EICAS. Much safer and more reliable than memory.

 

[jb747]

What I am asking is if the pilot needs to know the meaning for every message which a EICAS could possibly throw at them, even ones which may only be seen by a pilot once every 10 years for example (so pretty rare), that don't not pose an instant threat to the aircraft (so not fire or decompression, whilst rare would require instant action on behalf of the pilots), and that the message itself may not even require action from the pilots, just an awareness that it's happened.

Many of the messages are very cryptic, and will be looked up, and, for want of a better term, researched before taking any action. If there is an EICAS procedure, that will normally be carried out fairly quickly, but looking at the ramifications, especially if there are interactions, can take a while. Hasten slowly is a good adage when dealing with problems.

 

[jb747]

Backing up a little...messages and warnings are not equal. Some are immediately dangerous, whilst others are little more than 'for info'.

 

[Tortuga]

Hey JB, hope you had a great holiday.

If you could pass on some advice to the younger generation that you think would benefit them what would it be? This could relate to family, career etc.

 

[harvyk]

This is probably more an ATC question than a pilot question.
If the aviation gods are unhappy and thus one plane declares a medical emergency, whilst the other declares a mechanical emergency, which plane has preference for getting onto the ground if it's a race to the runway?

 

[markis10]

This is probably more an ATC question than a pilot question.
If the aviation gods are unhappy and thus one plane declares a medical emergency, whilst the other declares a mechanical emergency, which plane has preference for getting onto the ground if it's a race to the runway?

The one that has the greatest potential loss of life generally gets priority.

 

[docjames]

The one that has the greatest potential loss of life generally gets priority.

Is that judgement made on size of aircraft? Or declared emergency? So presumably engine fire in 737 beats pax with heart attack on A380 (although if the 737 strands onthe runway, there's nowhere for the A380 to land - bit of a hitch).

What happens if there are two emergencies (non-medical). eg. Engine Fire vs disabled aircraft?

 

[Dismounted]

What happens if there are two emergencies (non-medical). eg. Engine Fire vs disabled aircraft?

Hopefully there are two airports to divert to!

 

[jb747]

If an aircraft is likely to close the runway, then a bit of juggling might put a couple of others in front, without any delay for anyone. I once slowed to allow two other aircraft to land in Cairns ahead of me, even though I had a hydraulics issue. A few minutes made no difference to me, but as I was going to close the runway for a few minutes (very few as it turned out, as a tug had been positioned adjacent to the likely stopping point), holding them up unexpectedly might have started to cause problems.

If an aircraft stops on a runway and blocks it, as does happen every now and then, as long as he's most of the way along it, there will probably still be room for anyone who cannot wait to land. You'd be amazed at how well, even very large aircraft, can stop when you use max braking.

 

[markis10]

Is that judgement made on size of aircraft? Or declared emergency? So presumably engine fire in 737 beats pax with heart attack on A380 (although if the 737 strands onthe runway, there's nowhere for the A380 to land - bit of a hitch).

What happens if there are two emergencies (non-medical). eg. Engine Fire vs disabled aircraft?

No set rule, you do the best you can although most airports have multiple runway options.