Re: What’s the toughest/most challenging large commercial airport for pilots to land at?

Familiarity is a big thing. Kai Tak was a very challenging, captain-only airport for most carriers. For Cathay, it was home port and FOs flew the approaches routinely. The same would go for many airports. Many places are quite challenging if you operate once every couple of years, but fairly straigh...

Re: Anti-Ice Systems

We very seldom use wing anti ice. I never have, and most guys I talk to may have used it a couple of times in decades. As ArcticFlyer says, it has to be "really bad", like extended holding at -2 in clouds or something. Engine anti-ice is routinely used from +10 Total Air Temperature to -40...

Re: Water Landing vs Gear-Up landing

What would happen to the runway? Out of commission for months for repairs? Closed for a couple of days? Barely a scratch? Just a basic idea -- I realize that it would depend on the weight of the aircraft, the type of landing gear damage, maybe some other parameters. I suppose it depends on the airc...

Re: 747 classic flap speed

Looking at it another way, those speeds as more conservative, since you aren't as near flap overspeed.

Maybe they had pilots overspeeding the flaps a bit too often.

Re: Southwest to Halve Flying Time Needed for Prospective Pilots

The US has something similar. You can get a restricted ATP with a subset of the requirements met if you've studied aviation or a few other cases (see 61.159 and 61.160 if you're bored), but none of them allow you to fly an A330 in 121 ops with <500 hours. How hard are the EASA ATPL exams? In the US...

Re: Take-off phases

Fair enough. To my understanding lift-off is not a phase at all. It's just a moment that happens when wheels are up in the air. Thereafter we are in the climb out phase which has its specifications and takes a longer time. Lift-off is an event, I suppose, and not a phase. It then depends on how you...

Re: Cockpit lavs

Not at the airline I worked at. All the whales to include the 100s, 200s, 400s, used the same lav as the upper deck pax. Thanks. I figured it was an option, but didn't know how prevalent it was among long range operators. I though it was an option on the 777, too, to have a flight deck lavatory and...

Re: Number of sims in a major airline

I heard that in some major US carriers(though could be outdated information at this point), taxiing is the responsibility entirely of the captain. Granted, you don't have to parallel park or hill start an airplane and just keep in the centerline, things like braking distance and turning radius may ...

Re: Number of sims in a major airline

We're not talking supercomputers. It's pretty basic computing in modern terms, apart from the graphics. Those used to require a lot of computation a couple of decades ago to render ugly blocks or even just vector graphics, but nowadays Microsoft Flight Simulator on a gaming PC has better graphics t...

Re: Number of sims in a major airline

Very informative. I found it interesting that DL has 3 A350 sims. I wonder if that's hint about future orders Delta has 2 Level D A350 FFS and 1 Level 7 A350 FTD not 3 A350 sims. The FFS are what most people think of as simulators. Level D simulators can be used to certify landings. Level C simulat...

Re: What should the speed be when taking sharp turns

How are these taxi speeds measured. Is there a ground speed speedometer? Yes. Ground speed is shown on the Navigation Display. On the A350, and I presume other so-equipped aircraft, it is also shown in the HUD. On Airbus, it is top left on the ND. In this pic, the GS indicates zero as the aircraft ...

Re: Cockpit lavs

I wouldn't go to another lav just to poop. Take the lav that is available. The ventilation system does a stellar job of getting rid of smells. If someone hears fart noises from the lav when I go, so be it. It's a thin door and the lower air pressure means gases want to leave your body. ;) If you mak...

Re: Delta A330/ 350 pilots

Nope, those fleets are completely separate. Nobody is dual qualified other than the 7ER fleet. And, additionally, those pilots are not certified on the 767-400 either. Why not, it’s considered a common type rating (or whatever the correct term is)? As AirKevin says, AFAIK it is not a common rating ...

Re: Southwest to Halve Flying Time Needed for Prospective Pilots

There are no military pilots clamoring to fly for my ULCC These are all 23-24 year old pilots who have come straight from flight instructing and going from Senecas and 172s going right into 320s/321s Just like in the rest of the world, then. ;) Like many of my colleagues, I went straight from 172s ...

Re: Number of sims in a major airline

Even if a company has its own sims on type, extra capacity is sometimes needed. A few years ago, we would regularly send crew from one of the fleets to other countries for sim sessions, even though we had several of our own sims of that type. Simply not enough resources. all simulators used for trai...

Re: Southwest to Halve Flying Time Needed for Prospective Pilots

Well at least Southwest is still requiring ATP to apply. My airline dropped the requirement for an ATP certificate required. Now the requirement is to have the ATP written test results, but not require an ATP certificate. It will do what the regionals have had to do for years and offer the ATP-CTP ...

Re: How Many Crew on a 747-8

Yes but the crews are assigned for the ROUND-TRIP and so both directions of flight must be accounted for. Otherwise after some months all the "4th crew members" required for the longer westbound sector would be residing in SFO and the FRA crew base would empty out in a hurry. If you send ...

Re: How Many Crew on a 747-8

(over 12 hours westbound). I need to get myself a new map and compass. Personally I would go NE in about 10.5 hrs which is within 3 crew range. Yes but the crews are assigned for the ROUND-TRIP and so both directions of flight must be accounted for. Otherwise after some months all the "4th cre...

Re: Spirit Nonrev Check Loads and Procedures

The only OAL travellers on Spirit are those groups who have reciprocal flight attendant and pilot jumpseat agreements. your union will have the procedure to list for the jumpseat. but the website you access to list for flights will have the loads. Otherwise you can try to use the stafftraveller app...

Re: What should the speed be when taking sharp turns

On the A330/A350, ten knots max for a 90-degree turn is recommended. In practice, this typically means slowing to about eight knots at turn entry since you'll accelerate in the turn, unless it's uphill or something. For sure, once you get over 12 knots or so in a 90 degree turn, you feel it. If it i...

Re: How Many Crew on a 747-8

SFO to FRA is most likely four flight crew. However, apart from takeoff, initial climb, approach, and landing, only two would be on duty at any given time.

No idea about cabin crew. 15-16?

Re: L1011 minutiae - Pneumatics

Thanks for posting. On the basis of that presentation, the A350 has a "conventional" system to all the other airplanes today. No mixing of IP/HP air. Maybe I'm not understanding your statement, but the A350 bleed air system does mix IP and HP air. It's on page 44 of the linked PDF. Bleed ...

Re: L1011 minutiae - Pneumatics

On most airplanes today, you're in either LP/IP or HP, no mixing That's my understanding too. The IP or LP bleed ducting is often equipped with a check valve specifically to prevent HP discharge air from back flowing into the IP or LP compressor. but on the A350, the "low pressure" bleed ...

Re: Lockheed Tristar original FMS

I find myself wondering what delights Lockheed could bring to the commercial aviation table today. I flew on a few 1011s when I was in my late 20s (I'll be 74 in a few weeks :old: ), and found it to be a true wonder. I also wonder the same thing, the L1011 really was innovative. Lockheed is one who...

Re: A32x Side Stick- What is the Removable Plate on Top?

What is the red button? Bomb release? Sometimes an errant knee has been known to accidentally release the bombs. don't forget the cannon trigger in front of the side stick to clear the runway of birds during landing. There are those who have and those who will disconnect the autopilot when they put...

Re: Can someone help me calculate the cabin altitude?

I'll add that airliners carry oxygen bottles in case a passenger does develop breathing difficulties, or otherwise has a medical need. If your grandma feels short of breath, woozy, or the like, tell her she should inform the cabin crew. They can give her oxygen as needed.

Re: How do they keep airports and aircraft operational in places like Venezuela and Afghanistan?

Even in countries like Venezuela and Afghanistan the government is still capable of carrying out certain functions. In many countries (don't know about these two specifically) ATC services are provided by the military and the international airport may double as a military base of some sort (same is...

Re: A32x Side Stick- What is the Removable Plate on Top?

I think you're right. It does look like an A300. I guess they had to relocate the oxygen mask from the side console to make room for the stick infrastructure. I still seem to remember that they trialed it on a smaller aircraft as well. Perhaps you're thinking of the VFW614 that was used for flight ...

Re: Southwest to Halve Flying Time Needed for Prospective Pilots

Different requirements. One is directly related to the employment, one isn't. What’s the distinction between the type rating and licensure expenses for, say, doctors and lawyers? That would be the equivalent to a doctor needing to be type rated to be a brain surgeon or a heart surgeon, or a lawyer ...

Re: When an airliner needs to divert to a different airport, how is the new flight plan calculated?

So for issues like a fire or "gotta get down right now"...do you find a runway on the chart, then tell ATC such that airspace is cleared to your alternate? I would think that would be a PAN PAN? Gotta get down right now sounds more "Mayday" than "Pan". ;) And yes, if y...

Re: A32x Side Stick- What is the Removable Plate on Top?

Thanks... I thought i uploaded a picture file for reference but I guess I made an error... Haven't posted in years. Regarding that plate, your theory is solid, but I'd heard thst a trim hat existed there once upon a time during development. Can't find any validation of that though. Thanks for joggi...

Re: A32x Side Stick- What is the Removable Plate on Top?

Thanks... I thought i uploaded a picture file for reference but I guess I made an error... Haven't posted in years. Regarding that plate, your theory is solid, but I'd heard thst a trim hat existed there once upon a time during development. Can't find any validation of that though. Thanks for joggi...

Re: A32x Side Stick- What is the Removable Plate on Top?

Just speculating, but it could be access to the attachment mechanism. There doesn't seem to be any other place around it where you can get to screws and such, unless you remove the console panel somehow. BTW it's the same stick on all Airbus except A300 and A310. Adding a pic for illustration. https...

Re: AS: two tail strikes w/in 5 mins. prompts departure halt

All that being said, weight/balance and performance figure calculation and input tend to be the times when the pilots really focus during cockpit preparation. You don't want to get it wrong. Do you think this is a worthwhile avenue for more automation? I imagine cameras and AI (or floor sensors) wi...

Re: When an airliner needs to divert to a different airport, how is the new flight plan calculated?

It depends. :) If you're really close to the diversion airport, e.g. JFK to EWR, you'd probably get vectors. If it's further, you'd get a route. "Are you ready to copy your clearance?" If the alternate is the designated alternate, you'll more likely than not have the filed route for the al...

Re: a question for airline mechanics who are familiar with aircraft repair history

Resetting things in flight reminds me of this https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-airbus-a320-216-java-sea-162-killed The 380 and 350 partially have SSPCs you can't reset in flight. But the software reset breakers/switches are still on the overhead panel. Indeed, but, as evidenced by this crash, ...

Re: a question for airline mechanics who are familiar with aircraft repair history

About 99% of the problems I run into are solved by doing the CTRL-ALT-DEL to the component that is generating the ECAM caution. Pull circuit breaker X99. wait 10 seconds, push circuit breaker X99, wait for component to reinitialize, ECAM goes away. Continue flight. This. So much this. You get an EC...

Re: AS: two tail strikes w/in 5 mins. prompts departure halt

The probability of a human screwing up a calculation is higher than a computer. Well we're still in the age where computers just do what a human told them to do... I guess that's whath appened here. But of course, with a well designed process, software development and testing should lead to a nicel...

Re: Lockheed Tristar original FMS

Wow. Look at that view from the cockpit. How does it compare with contemporary examples? The A350 has similarly large side windows. The A330 does not. I suspect it's a function of required viewing angles. In the A350, the windows are further from you than in the A330, so they need to be larger for ...

Re: Weight and balance problems

I have experience with a few weight and balance systems at different companies over the years and each has its benefits and drawbacks. The best overall was at a company where we did it all through ACARS: We inputted the passenger and bag count and the machine told us if we were in balance or not an...

Re: Why crosswind only runways?

Whenever a new airport is planned, very extensive historical climatological data is analyzed and researched prior to designing the runway configuration, within the context of terrain and urban/rural developmental constraints. e38 Then they take all that historical data, discard it, and arbitrarily ...

Re: Why crosswind only runways?

In the early days, airfields were just that—fields. Planes looked t the wind sock and landed into the wind. Then triangles, crosswind runways were developed reducing crosswind components. Now, traffic demands more capacity, hence multiple parallels. When I was an USAF operations commander, the airf...

Re: Why crosswind only runways?

I am thinking of SEA and RNO and SLC but there are others. Airports where the runways are exclusively cross wind, so pilots have no choice but to land in a crosswind. There obviously is no way to rebuild runways in these cities but what was the rationale in the first place? As GalaxyFlyer says, the...

Re: 737 Rudder issues vs 737 MAX MCAS issues

T54A wrote:

I can’t think of any reason why the MAX should be any safer than a NG. There is nothing new in the MAX design to improve safety.

Am I wrong?

Re: JFK - Runway usage 20 years ago and now

Noise curfews have an impact. Some airports will "distribute the noise", meaning switching runways on a schedule, weather dependent, to ensure no one area gets all the arrivals. LHR comes to mind. Curfews also have other effects. For example, once the morning curfew lifts at FRA, they'll s...

Re: Pressurisation of different plane types

The A330-300 has a max normal cabin altitude of 8000ft (or 7460ft on longer flights with a different pressurization controller version). I presume the -200 is the same.

Re: What are the differences between a 1990s and a 2010s airbus a330-300?

At what MTOW would the A330 need to adopt the centre main bogey of the A340, in a hypothetical situation where they keep expanding it. Probably never - I believe the center gear on the A340-200/300 was more about lowering the total weight footprint per square meter rather than being structurally ne...

Re: What are the differences between a 1990s and a 2010s airbus a330-300?

Dear all, Among all the improvements listed by Starlionblue, the MTOW increase is the most relevant for the operations of this airliner and greatly contributed to the continued success of the program. Please allow me to expand a little on this aspect. Initially offered in 1992 with a MTOW of 212t, ...

Re: JFK - Runway usage 20 years ago and now

It's not so much "simplifying jobs" so much as "making the system work". If a runway configuration simply works better, ATC will accept a certain level of crosswind or tailwind before changing to a less favourable configuration. Even with only parallel runways, many airports favo...

Re: What are the differences between a 1990s and a 2010s airbus a330-300?

Various bits and bobs in the cockpit. - ISIS digital standby instrument instead of steam gauge standby instrument cluster. - Fly-by-wire rudder replacing mechanical connection to the actuators. - New FM computers with noticeably faster response. - LCDs instead of CRTs for the screens including MCDU....