Re: Question about flap retractin speeds/times

What was the flight time? About six hours. It was to HNL, full pax load and I imagine they usually fly a fair amount of cargo. Certainly seemed to be loading a lot of containers. So while it was a relatively short flight as far as the 77W is concerned, it was probably decently heavy. But even when ...

Re: Question About Sterile Areas

For USA-based airlines and USA-based crew, do they go through immigration and customs upon arrival (return to States) or do they get special treatment or badge access? This thread has made me realize I’ve never seen crew go through Global Entry so I assume they’ve got something better for them. I d...

Re: Question about flap retractin speeds/times

Flap/slat retraction is done as early as possible, based on the conditions. Sometimes it is within a couple of minutes. Sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes before you can. As JustAnFO says, it depends on weight and speed constraints. If you have a 220 or 230-knot speed constraint on the departure, you m...

Re: Are very short flights a pain for the crew?

It depends a bit on how you are paid. If you are paid based on block time, then long flights are better because there's proportionally less unpaid time before and after. Assuming you have about the same block hours each month, you'll spend less time working. On the other hand, short flights can be ...

Re: Are very short flights a pain for the crew?

It depends a bit on how you are paid. If you are paid based on block time, then long flights are better because there's proportionally less unpaid time before and after. Assuming you have about the same block hours each month, you'll spend less time working. On the other hand, short flights can be f...

Re: Question About Sterile Areas

Agreed with AirKevin. Once the slides are disarmed and you're at the bay, evacuation is not going to happen rapidly. That's why you shut down the engines, THEN switch off the signs so the cabin crew can disarm the slides, THEN switch off the beacon to let the engineer and airbridge handler know it i...

Re: Ability to develop sophisticated aviation products in China/Russia

rt23456p wrote:

Well, the C919 will fly

Re: How often are issues in the pre-flight walkaround are discovered, affecting dispatch?

When I used to work on ramp at a regional port, there were a few times where damage was observed that resulted in an AOG. One example was the HF antenna from the tail to the fuselage on a Saab 340 had snapped and was dangling over the elevators. Thankfully the airline had its engineering base at th...

Re: Ability to develop sophisticated aviation products in China/Russia

This is a big question with many facets. Opinion follows. Many factors: - A societal and education focus on conformism and knowledge as opposed to critical thinking and questioning the perceived wisdom. - Deeply set societal respect for elders. Not that respect for elders is a bad thing per se, but ...

Re: Rating cold and dark time

I’m just a regular passenger so no tech or pilot insights from me. The airport I fly from is an outstation and KL has its E190 and LH has its A319/320/321 or its CRJ 900 sitting here over night. For the first flights of the day at around 6 am, the respective crews don't show up at 5 am. These outst...

Re: Question About Sterile Areas

In simple terms, and as FGITD explains, it's catering staff, engineers, gate agents, cleaners, fueler, and so on, simply have access to the sterile area with a badge They'll go in and out through a staff entrance. At some ports, crew are even picked up by minibus at the aircraft, and driven directly...

Re: A320 ADIRS power up

Lots of pilots have various opinions about how to do things, but if there is no manual reference, especially for something like a systems procedure, they're just that, opinions.

Re: Rating cold and dark time

I was recently on an AA 321Neo LAX PHX (Less than a month old) and after boarding and the doors closed the lights began blinking and then everything went dark. It was a day time flight so not dark on the plane. There was no air from the vents just like the Aircraft was in storage. After a few minut...

Re: Leasing edge slats and climb out questions.

As mentioned, one lever only. However, what you actually get depends on flight phase and speed. On the A330/350, if taking off at Flaps one, you're actually using "one plus F", meaning the slats plus the first notch of flaps. "1+F" will be indicated on the display. I believe the ...

Re: A350 landing at LaGuardia?

Definitely possible for takeoff and landing. The LGA runways are around 2134m. According to the ACAP, with 2000m runways and sea level(0 ft), the A350-900 could take off at 235 metric tons. Operational empty is around ~142 tons, and MTOW is 283 tons. So the A350-900 could definitely take off with a...

Re: Rating cold and dark time

We joked in the Global, walk in the cockpit, put switches (BATT, APU momentarily to START, then RUN, both engine switches to run and come back to a ready plane. Actually, probably start all over again with a reboot. Generally, dark to taxi would be 20 minutes. Cabin system was often the pacing item...

Re: How often are issues in the pre-flight walkaround are discovered, affecting dispatch?

A prior thread mentioning the exterior inspection had me wondering: Have any of you drivers discovered significant issues during the walkaround that required a call to maintenance? Delayed the flight? Or cancelled the aircraft for dispatch entirely? If so, how often has this happened to you? What s...

Re: Speedbrakes extended during level-off

As Galaxyflyer says, it's for deceleration. Either way, we are VERY far from the limits. The plane is built to take a lot more than that and the speedbrakes are a rounding error in context. The rule of thumb in the A330/A350 is you lose 10 knots per nautical mile clean, and twice that with full spee...

Re: Rating cold and dark time

In real life, though, you're carrying people and stuff that need to be loaded, the plane often has defects, you need a clearance, the plane needs fuel and you need coffee. And also, the exterior inspection (aka, the "walkaround") must be accomplished (except for those operators where main...

Re: Rating cold and dark time

As Woodreau said, in an idealised world ten minutes to departure is quite possible. The bottleneck is ADIRU alignment. In real life, though, you're carrying people and stuff that need to be loaded, the plane often has defects, you need a clearance, the plane needs fuel and you need coffee. All those...

Re: A350 landing at LaGuardia?

But the takeoff will suffer enough... Not as much as you might think. We used to take off from 10R at DUB, which is 8652ft and thus not that much longer to LGA 7000 foot runways, on 11-hour flights with a full load in the A350-900. Of course, environmental factors play a role but they're both basic...

Re: Wing loading and landing flap settings

Scrolling through y tube there’s a plethora of cockpit videos, in quite a few of them the pilot flying during approach and landing is shown making huge, rapid control movements I’ve never seen in three decades of airline flying, completely unnecessary and pointless I tend to think they’re ‘playing ...

Re: Pilot rest question

As ArcticFlyer says, it depends. On our A330s we have no crew rest. So it's a lie-flat business class seat. I sleep surprisingly well in that. On the A350 it's a bunk, which is really nice. It is very much route dependent. Are you even in your circadian low when you need to rest? You might have to w...

Re: Why not always fly the Great Circle route?

Also, near the edges of a map,due to the curving nature of earth, distances are closer apart under the same distance in the map. Hence, with SIN-JFK, there are many ways of flying. This depends on your map projection. The reason there are several ways of flying SIN-JFK is due to winds, diversion op...

Re: Why not always fly the Great Circle route?

Also, near the edges of a map,due to the curving nature of earth, distances are closer apart under the same distance in the map. Hence, with SIN-JFK, there are many ways of flying. This depends on your map projection. The reason there are several ways of flying SIN-JFK is due to winds, diversion op...

Re: ATR 72-600 beacon

Having spotted a bit I have noticed that some ATR72-600 have the usual red beacons whereas other have a clear white beacon both under the belly and on top of the tail. Anyone know why there is this difference? Thanks TR It could be that the bulb/LED is red inside the clear fairing. The light itself...

Re: Craziest things you’ve heard on Guard?

Flying over the South and East China Seas. Guard is an intermittent barrage of People's Liberation Army Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, US Navy, and a variety of others yelling at each other with no actual effect except filling the air. Lots of posturing. "We are US Navy Aircraft. ...

Re: Wing loading and landing flap settings

At slower airspeeds, the control have a reduction in authority—a function of less airflow over the surfaces. Plus, near the ground, there’s potentially more turbulence requiring inputs to remain laterally level, tracking the runway and affecting the vertical path. It’s not forces, it’s pressures. M...

Re: Aerodynamics for Dummies and swimming in the air

About his drag remark, he is right. Drag increases with the square of airspeed, so it is indeed harder to go faster then faster you go. ;) Not to drag too much maths into this but the drag equation is pretty simple. If memory serves, the aforementioned Reynolds Number is part of what determines Cd. ...

Re: Wing loading and landing flap settings

At slower airspeeds, the control have a reduction in authority—a function of less airflow over the surfaces. Plus, near the ground, there’s potentially more turbulence requiring inputs to remain laterally level, tracking the runway and affecting the vertical path. It’s not forces, it’s pressures. M...

Re: RNAV (v. ILS) approach procedures?

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

Pretty good explanation for why we fly one type at a time.

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

The 747/757/767 can also autoland with one engine inoperative while the 737 cannot. I'm very curious as to what airlines' SOP say on this. You have an engine failure on approach/final approach, do you systematically take over manually from the autopilot? What's the risk of not doing so? Wouldn't yo...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

Thanks for your response, just curious, what passport do Airline Crew use? Personal Travel passport or service passport? I heard many airlines in China would get all their Chinese Crew Chinese Service Passport for the sake of Visa Free Travel to most nations that might require tedious and expensive...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

I am very curious whether or not there action is justifiable and not in violation of any international laws? Sure, I will be happy to let them take my service passport, but I will never allow anyone i don't trust to hold my personal passport. Crew members are subject to all sorts of random restrict...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

Which countries confiscate passports of Crew members? Never heard of that. The Florida example is telling as it can be operationally unpleasant to fly there due to delays and messed up schedules. Is KL the only airline that has destinations staffed as voluntary only? I wonder about which are the le...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

Saudi Arabia holds passports on arrival. You get them back just before departure. No receipt either. Just a ziploc with all the crewmember passports taken away by an official. Good times. Did I enjoy flying there? Not particularly. Did I feel like I could refuse the trip on the grounds of any perso...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

As you may know, some destinations prosecute, with the potential death penalty for certain believes(such as homosexual), is this a legitimate reason? It is not a legitimate reason. This a work trip, not a vacation. It's your job. Keep any political views and sexual orientations that are potentially...

Re: US ATC Specialist - "Good Rate"

In any case, I never rely on ambiguous phrases like (...) "expedite" because it leaves room for interpretation. Does it really? I believe it means "max climb, green dot", at least for bus drivers. Not much space for interpretation, really. Cheers, Adam I'll be devil's advocate h...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

First the easy part: You don't get to refuse a destination because you have some ethical opposition to the government of the country in question. You were hired to do a job after all, not inducted into a flying club. If you don't want to go to a certain place (for example, a lot of pilots didn't wa...

Re: Can pilots/flight attendants refuse flying to certain destinations?

I'm thinking of cases where they don't feel safe there (e.g South America, Africa) or disapprove the political regime e.g Africa, Middle east, China). First the easy part: You don't get to refuse a destination because you have some ethical opposition to the government of the country in question. Yo...

Re: US ATC Specialist - "Good Rate"

Clear instructions with clear objectives are easier to follow than, "good rate". :D :thumbsup: One would think, but some of my previous co-workers liked shortcuts and poor phraseology (not that mine was perfect 100% of the time) to be cool. Using "cool" radio comms is far too co...

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

The sliding table and footrests on an A330 can be MELd for 120 days. It's horrific. :cry: :shock: :? I jest. Maybe. As an interesting sidenote when I was flying the Dash 8 the coffee maker was not deferable. Not sure if that was merely an oversight on De Havilland's part or if there was actually a ...

Re: Craziest things you’ve heard on Guard?

I'm not saying I once warned the engineer about the oxygen mask check on the ground frequency at a major airport, instead of on the intercom. Then again, I'm not saying I didn't...

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

The sliding table and footrests on an A330 can be MELd for 120 days. It's horrific. :cry: :shock: :? I jest. Maybe. As an interesting sidenote when I was flying the Dash 8 the coffee maker was not deferable. Not sure if that was merely an oversight on De Havilland's part or if there was actually a ...

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

Regulations require that, in order to dispatch with any installed piece of equipment inoperative, the inoperative equipment must be listed in the MEL which is simply a manual that details which pieces of equipment can be inop, how long they can be inop before they need to be fixed and any operating...

Re: US ATC Specialist - "Good Rate"

As a retired TRACON kid who got to know quite a bit about FMC's, knew quite a few jet drivers both corporate and airline I used a few different tactics. If the plane was on a direct to a fix on the departure that was within my airspace I'd ask the crew what their projected altitude was at XZXZX and...

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

Just curious, does a toilet been inop considered MEL? Regulations require that, in order to dispatch with any installed piece of equipment inoperative, the inoperative equipment must be listed in the MEL which is simply a manual that details which pieces of equipment can be inop, how long they can ...

Re: Brake lights on aircraft

I am curious as to why aircraft are not equipped with exterior rear brake lights? It seems like brake lights would a useful safety item especially when an aircraft is operating out of a busy airport. Not really sure what the benefit would be, really. Given how far the plane ahead might be, how big ...

Re: Why do 737 NG airframes only have 2 A/P engage CMDs in the MCP while the 747 has 3?

I believe many airlines have policies that allow a crew to refuse an airplane with all A/P's inop, though most allow for dispatch without a working autopilot if it works out operationally. At my company we are explicitly allowed to refuse an aircraft with any MEL item, and our CBA specifically rest...

Re: RNAV (v. ILS) approach procedures?

Hi. Re. 'nitpick': :-) Yes, I should say that I press APPR once the aircraft is turning to the runway heading (assuming I am on track, altitude-wise). I find that in X-Plane at least, that works fine, even if it might seem a bit late. I rarely have any issues with an ILS approach. I will bear in mi...