Starlionblue wrote:spacecadet wrote:Starlionblue wrote:Interesting. What aircraft is this?
Wrote a super-long reply and then deleted it. I've got a lot of strong feelings when someone even implies that pilots are overpaid. If anything, we're still underpaid. Gotta try not to say anything that could get me in trouble, though. But there are many good reasons why pilots are paid as much as w...
Jump to postMy thoughts, and I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that an APU has much more oomph than it actually needs under most circumstances. Certainly, it will cool the cabin quickly even in really hot weather. You may be right about "in most circumstances" but I do a lot of flying to the Ca...
Jump to postThe answer to questions like this is always weather.
Jump to postNow once engine 1 is off, engine 2 has a chance of independent shutdown being 1 in 50k hours or so. So for 1 hour single-engine flight, odds of second engine failure is some 0.002%. That sounds pretty questionable... where are you getting 1 in 50k hours, and what specific engine are you talking abo...
Jump to postThe most unreliable planes with the most broken stuff on them that I have flown have all been newer ones. It often takes a little while to work the kinks out of a new plane. These are hugely complex machines with literally millions of individual parts. They're not all going to be perfect. So while i...
Jump to postThe only real consideration with an engine failure is getting the airplane back on the ground as soon as practicable. Not necessarily as soon as possible; it's an emergency but it's not a life-threatening situation at that point, so we're not just going to land anywhere. But we're also not going to ...
Jump to postStraight from the FAA's "Terms of Reference" for ATC (order 7110.10DD):
"“Miles” means nautical miles (NM) unless otherwise specified and means statute miles in conjunction with visibility."
Simple and clearly defined, at least in the US.
This is actually done at several airlines in the US, probably depending on the type and even individual airframe. My airline has some planes that can do it and some that can't, even of the same model. The APU is just another engine. It's small but it does use fuel and it works basically just like th...
Jump to postHello, What becomes of flight simulators that are no longer needed or of a type of aircraft that is no longer being widely operated. These machines are quite expensive. Can a simulator for say a DC10 that is not used any more be refurbished to represent a different type of aircraft such as a B777? ...
Jump to postIt seems like one of those EASA things that's codifying something into a specific procedure that's just done kind of ad-hoc in the rest of the world. The US most definitely has "analogues" to this, but not a defined "merge point" procedure. For example, most STARs can already be ...
Jump to postThere's been a lot of weather across the United States over the past week. You wouldn't have wanted to fly on any route other than the one you did.
Jump to postThe NEO is already essentially an engine swap on the CEO. And look how long it took to get that done. You can't "just" swap one engine with another. Sure, you can always do anything with enough money and time. You can put a V-12 in a Volkswagen Beetle if you want to. But it's not just a qu...
Jump to postIt looks fairly normal to me. First, understand that not every takeoff is going to be exactly the same. Conditions are different, airplanes are different, etc. There can even be situations passengers know nothing about like TOGA takeoffs being requested by maintenance just because one hasn't been do...
Jump to postOne thing I will say on the muting pilots, it could be designed to alert the pilot that ATC is transmitting so their transmission isn't being heard by other aircraft but it will always be heard by ATC using separate TX/RX frequencies. Still not really a net improvement. We *want* our transmissions ...
Jump to postThis is one of those questions that I do think is important to ask, but the response really should be "what's the better alternative and what problems could that alternative unintentionally introduce?" A system where you're just muting pilots who think they're talking on frequency is clear...
Jump to postDon't airlines usually remove one new engine from a new plane and swap it out for another used one in their spares inventory so that the maintenance schedule is staggered? Or is that an a.net myth? Haven't seen it done at my airline. Wouldn't say that means nobody does it, but I just haven't seen i...
Jump to postI used a Stratux as both a student and CFI - it worked great, and cost me $160 or so total at the time. I bought everything separately, not the "kit" that they sell now, but I'll bet things do just cost a bit more now than when I did it. A Raspberry Pi was still $35 when I bought it; I'm s...
Jump to postSafedock is installed at all of the gates at DFW, but it seems as though none of the airlines in Terminal E use it… frontier, delta, United, JetBlue all have marshallers and wing walkers…. even the American Eagle regional aircraft have marshallers and wing walkers. “Verify safety envelope clear” Th...
Jump to post...Far more common though is an auto parking system, which is basically just automated marshaling. Put in the aircraft type and it’ll guide it in through directions on a board mounted at nose level. Looks like DFW has had that for 15+ years... Yep, that's SafeDock. Generally, you don't need marshal...
Jump to postTaxiway Q between 04L/22R and Taxiway B is closed by NOTAM for the next 2 days.
Jump to postA pilots failure to learn how to bid is not a failure of PBS. That is on the pilot. I’ll take PBS over line building and the ability to get a much more tailored schedule. Same. I feel that way even as a junior guy who doesn't often get what he wants. That'll change eventually and learning the syste...
Jump to postGalaxyFlyer wrote:OTOH, 30 minutes of pay for the crew!
It actually depends on the airport, the gate, and the equipment they're using. At some airports, or even some gates at certain airports, wing walkers are not required. So for #1, yes, at the right type of gate, you can just guide the plane in on your own and stop when it tells you to. I don't know a...
Jump to postThose are failure modes but shouldn't their chance of failing be less than the chance of human error? Automated car systems have similar risk, yet those system are still actively under development because it is generally believed that they will ultimately reduce the risk. And nowadays there are alr...
Jump to postIt's more useful to ask about monthly schedules, since that's typically what airlines actually do. Your weekly schedule could have nothing or it could be 100% full. But a monthly schedule is somewhat predictable. My airline's typical monthly schedule is based on around 70-80 credit hours, usually. T...
Jump to postSometimes it's very scientific and sometimes it's just about comfort or what we're observing with the weather. First, oceanic flights are a little different than flights over land, because you can be outside of direct contact with ATC. (Usually you still technically are if you have CPDLC, but it can...
Jump to postAt COS the westernmost runway (17R/35L) is 11,000 feet with a highspeed turnoff (when landing south) that goes almost directly to the terminal ramp with minimal taxiing. Very rarely used for commercial ops except for Southwest. United, Delta, and American all generally use the 13,500-foot-long runw...
Jump to postI'm actually kind of amazed that there are passengers out there who would prefer that their pilots flew in to work in an economy seat than a first class seat. So you'd like your pilots to be fatigued and irritable, like most passengers are when flying in those seats? Do you understand how many accid...
Jump to postNot a great landing, but it happens.
Commentary on the video was a lot worse, though. Sheesh, just mute it if you're going to watch the video.
Without getting too deeply into it, a lot of it has to do with crew scheduling and what the airline can actually do *without* considering it a redeye as per the CBA. It's all about efficiency and max utilization. One hint: many of those flights are flown with crews based in areas nowhere near either...
Jump to postVelocirapture wrote:That bears repeating, "Towers only provide sequencing, not separation." It seems that some have a false sense of security at towered airports.
I work at an airline that does this occasionally but it's very heavily de-emphasized. I believe we only do it now for special flights, I don't think we have regular scheduled service to untowered airports, although we may have at one time. There *have* been airline accidents directly attributable to...
Jump to postInteresting story. I guess they didn't have a ton of departures within that time for 18L. Did you ask if 18R was available? They didn't have anybody but us. It's always surprising to me how dead class B's can actually be, almost regardless of time of day. (This was late at night, but I've been ther...
Jump to postThere's no policy at my airline other than "land safely and be on time if you can". So sure, we'll request a runway closer to the terminal if we think we can get it and there's not some operational reason why it would be unsafe or unusable. But it depends on various things. The other day f...
Jump to postWhat is the right amount of extra fuel for SFO? That debate goes on endlessly, but every gallon gets watched by some schmuck in a cubicle who bears no safety responsibility. Legally, they bear equal responsibility with the PIC. FAR's 121.533 and 121.535 define this for both domestic and flag carrie...
Jump to postThere's nothing "unsafe" about it. There are certain things pilots complain about when flying there, but then there are other things pilots complain about when flying into JFK or BOS or really anywhere else. The only airports where pilots don't complain about anything at all are airports w...
Jump to postTechnically most airports do have landing fees that would apply to what amounts to a touch and go, however who really knows what deals airlines have worked out with various airports. There are whole teams dedicated to airport relations for each airport in an airline's system. It's like how the media...
Jump to postOr the first officer's knee hits the disconnect button as he's putting his feet up on the footrests... :oops: 8-) I would actually bet it was something like this. My *captain* (cough) did this just yesterday, luckily while nothing was going on. Just bumped the button with his knee. Gave me a startl...
Jump to postGiven the issue you describe, do you think employers might put in place financial incentives for upgrading? They have to find captains somehow. They will have to do something. My airline, which is an LCC and not a regional, is having a big problem right now. It's worse at the regionals. They have a...
Jump to postAn ILS approach is not much more than a VOR/DME approach it the Airline or Pilot proficiency they can't shoot a visual approach? I can't tell what you're asking here, but an ILS is certainly different from a VOR/DME approach. One is a precision approach with vertical guidance; the other is a non-pr...
Jump to postI must admit that going from #1 F/O (most senior) to second most junior CA on the 777 in the same base feels like a step backwards at first! There's nothing like having total control over your schedule and nothing to loose as the pay of both positions is actually comparable when you consider that w...
Jump to postThese days, I think most take-offs are conducted using reduced thrust, so they'd be using more runway compared to a full-thrust take-off. Yes, but in many cases even with a reduced thrust takeoff, there is so much runway remaining that a delayed rotation doesn't matter. Two-engine airliners have a ...
Jump to postIt very much depends on the airline and your seniority within it, as well as how you bid for your schedule each month. At my airline, junior pilots typically sit on reserve for a certain number of days (usually around 17-18 per month) while more senior pilots can "hold a line" (ie. have a ...
Jump to postAs an example, a serious loss of SA is a potential safety issue depending on the factors involved. I don't really buy the argument that an incorrect readback - even multiple times - is a "loss of SA". As I pointed out, they followed all of their instructions correctly. So clearly, they st...
Jump to postThe scary part is both voices who call from the QR aircraft lack awareness and miss transmission details. I only heard one voice and that was most likely the first officer, who is typically handling radios on the ground. First officers can have varying levels of experience, from almost none to more...
Jump to postMy understanding under AC 91-70B the FAA removed the definitions of the airspace classes anyway, that was more of a hangover from the days when aircraft systems relied upon ground based updating. These days aircraft will have navigational performance levels it can maintain more accurately without t...
Jump to postI’ve been on a couple flights where wing anti-ice was inop (something with the packs) and we had to stay pretty low. One of them was OKC-DEN and the flight turned out to be nearly three hours because we had to go around a huge line of thunderstorms… couldn’t get over them. We were nearly to ELP bef...
Jump to postThere are really too many possible variables to say with any real confidence what the reason for this was. Sometimes we just get dispatched with altitudes that look weird and it's usually just down to the winds aloft. The flight the previous day cruised at FL250 so still pretty low, and maybe the wi...
Jump to postI just read most of the report and it's a little more complex than some people are making it out to be IMO. A few things jumped out at me: 1) The pilots were initially told to expect a 5 minute delay, which turned into 20 minutes and would have been longer had they not acted. 2) There was a 9 minute...
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