Here's a quote from the NTSB on the NW Detroit DC-9 crash that killed 156 people: "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flightcrew’s failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure that the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff. Con...
Jump to postI've posted this before but sometime in the late 80s or early 90s I was a new FE (Second Officer) on the airline's 727s. We flew to PHX for a layover and scheduled to takeoff the next summer day afternoon. We went to the airport talked to dispatch and were told we'd have to wait for the temperature ...
Jump to postGear extension and retraction speed limits are based on Indicated Air Speed (IAS) since that is representative of the aerodynamic forces on the airframe. For the 747-400 the speeds were 270 IAS. If flying at 35,000 feet (.80 mach..slower than normal), your indicated airspeed will be about 270. So ex...
Jump to postIn 2009, Maj Sean Gustafson, an Air Force Reserve pilot at Homestead AFB , and also a Delta Airline pilot was selected to fly #4 in the Thunderbirds. As others have mentioned, he was required to accept an active duty commitment for 2 years+ and took a Military Leave of Absence from Delta Airlines. I...
Jump to postAs an FO on 747-200s for many years, when it was my leg, I'd set the power for T/O to the precomputed T/O EPR setting. Then the FE (SO) would fine tune them with the lever extension on the back of the thrust levers. Then I'd take my hand off the levers and the CPT would place his right hand just aft...
Jump to postCorrect. Most fighters are rated +9/-3 g I believe, and this is indeed human factor limited. Once pilot is removed from equation, most current jets would be able to reach double digits, differing between types and specific frames. For those being gen4+ (4.5 or 5, so anything beyong Mig29/Su27, or F...
Jump to postAs for fighters, if I remember correctly a just under 10g requirement (not sure at what weight) is limited by pilot, not by (actually stronger) airframe. Correct. Most fighters are rated +9/-3 g I believe, and this is indeed human factor limited. Once pilot is removed from equation, most current je...
Jump to postAs for fighters, if I remember correctly a just under 10g requirement (not sure at what weight) is limited by pilot, not by (actually stronger) airframe. Correct. Most fighters are rated +9/-3 g I believe, and this is indeed human factor limited. Once pilot is removed from equation, most current je...
Jump to postFlew with a CPT a few times back in the 90's who had an "Official FAA Approved Reading Material" ink stamp. Several copies of 'Sports Illustrated', paperbacks and other similar could be found floating around some of a crew lounges with this stamp.
Jump to postIn the 747-200 and 400, all four engine driven hydraulic systems were supplemented and backed up by four pneumatic air driven hydraulic pumps. They would frequently be intermittently activated under heavy hydraulic load (gear/flap ops) when the system dropped below a certain pressure. That’s aircra...
Jump to postIn the 747-200 and 400, all four engine driven hydraulic systems were supplemented and backed up by four pneumatic air driven hydraulic pumps. They would frequently be intermittently activated under heavy hydraulic load (gear/flap ops) when the system dropped below a certain pressure.
Jump to postNewark727 wrote:Glad the pilot got out okay. Isn't this the second contractor Mirage F1 to go down? Was another at Nellis IIRC.
Speaking of the 747 classic, it had four hydraulic systems pressurized by four engine driven Hydraulic pumps that were backed up by four more pneumatically driven pumps. Each engine had a large capacity generator plus the APU had two generators. The APU could be started in flight although sometimes...
Jump to postAir Kevin: I've read that in previous discussions regarding this subject..However we didn't have the auto start function and we definitely started 2 at a time. Not too hard to monitor 2 side my side engine tapes at the same time. Also made and edit to my previous post.
Jump to postIs it accurate to say you could start 1 and 4 at the same time but some operators prefer one at a time to lower the demands on the APU bleed? I am fairly certain I have seen a cockpit video where 1 and 4 were spun up at the same time. On the red tail airlines I worked at we started 2 engines simult...
Jump to postIs it accurate to say you could start 1 and 4 at the same time but some operators prefer one at a time to lower the demands on the APU bleed? I am fairly certain I have seen a cockpit video where 1 and 4 were spun up at the same time. On the red tail airlines I worked at we started 2 engines simult...
Jump to postYeah, but the 787 is all electric, the C-5 50 years old, was mostly hydraulic. I think we had something on the order of 1300 gallons of 5606 fluid to power hydraulics. Lockheed would have built a hydraulic radio, if they could. The in-flight draw was about 90KVA, IIRC. The winches were pretty high ...
Jump to postMaybe repeating what others said but: Body gear steering in the 747-100s or 200s was always deactivated for takeoff and landing and only turned on after landing usually on rollout. At least that was SOPA at our airline. It was a switch on the overhead. Reading thru a AOM I still have regarding the 7...
Jump to postThanks for the insight. Is there ever a reason the avionics compartment would need to be accessed by crew mid-flight? In the 747-200s there was definitely an emergency procedure for the FE to go down and unbolt a plate to release the nose gear. The wrench was even kept on a lanyard down there. This...
Jump to postCan a propeller plane be configured for idle thrust by adjusting pitch of the blades? for ground startup? For descent? The only turboprop I flew was the OV-10 Bronco, and as we shut the engines down after a sortie, we put the props into 'flat' pitch. This provided the least air resistance when star...
Jump to postRight here! Yes, only engine anti-ice installed. Never an issue, with the TF-39 engines, it probably couldn’t fly above 10,000’ if WAI was installed. It was a big, fat wing and not an abundance of bleed air. The A-10 had no anti-ice, engine or cowls. Ice would build up on the gun, the BDU practice ...
Jump to postBecause its a one-trick-pony operation over there, completely focused on the pilots. Well said. F-15C pilots also have a well-earned reputation of treating other airframe communities like their crew chiefs... I've heard that as well. Did that carry over into the Raptor community? Actually it was my...
Jump to postAnyone remember the old sets with 9 waypoints, so you were always adding waypoints, cross-checking entries. A great source of error Always fun! Especially after passing waypoint 9 and you realize "I'll update the INS just after this AR..." wasn't the smartest strategy, as the aircraft mak...
Jump to postSo this is something I have thought about and have been researching, but before I post here, is there anywhere I could find what’s in the Boneyard that could hypothetically still fly? Marc I would guess that information is classified. Many aircraft in the Boneyard could be made to fly again, but wo...
Jump to postEarly to mid 90's flew 727's out of Guam to various Asian destinations using Omega for navigation. Not quite as accurate as INS, but sufficient for the shorter legs outside of VOR/DME (maybe 3 hours?). Retired from NW in 2007 just before the merger flying 747's both classic and 400. None of these je...
Jump to postThe 'four year degree' is a simplification meaning a BA or BS diploma normally obtained in 4-5 years. Doesn't mean consecutive. I started college in in 1964 and finally got my degree in 1972. That included 3 years in the US Army enlisted time. After graduating, I became a pilot in the USAF for 17 ye...
Jump to postThere are numerous aircraft (everything from a Boeing 747 to a Cessna 650) that have wires/chords that run from the top of the fuselage to the tail. Just wondering what those are used for? It just seems like in this age of technology there would be a better way to run those wires - depending on wha...
Jump to postThose are the packs you can hear in that location as well as the pack cooling fans. The pack cooling fans turn off automatically after the flaps are retracted. I was thinking pack fans also. The hydraulic pumps tend to whine and change pitch a little bit, even under steady load. Though, didn’t the ...
Jump to postEvery military fighter pilot carries a hand held transceiver in his survival vest.. Used to be able to transmit/receive on guard freq's only (121.5 or 243 MHZ), but I hear the newer ones have GPS and can transmit/receive on several freqs and data transmit coordinates.
Jump to postDon't know if it was mentioned, but in the F-16 both leading edge and trailing edge flaps are automatic and controlled by the flight control system. There are override switches to use in abnormals or emergency procedures. Good discussion here https://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=28990 :
Jump to postSancho99504 wrote:....
...... Once upon, PHX was a 747 base......
Can't speak for other airlines, but at ours for 727s and 747-200s, the V speeds were obtained from tabulated charts in the quick reference manual (QRM) normally kept on the FE's desk. He would copy the numbers to a preprinted disposable form. FO would review it and place the form in plain view on th...
Jump to postJust after the stateside arrival bank at Narita during the mid to late 90's you could easily count 30 to 40 747s. Mixture of classics and the 400 were all over the ramp (buss gates), cargo ramp and in the gates. And that was when it was single runway. Can't find a photo though that represents that d...
Jump to postThe app version of FR24 showed civilian flight UA830 (30Aug) as having just flown over Afghan airspace. Apologies if clarified already but is that an error or are civilian flights still overflying? United's BOM-EWR, DEL-EWR, DEL-SFO flights all fly over the Afghan's Wakhan corridor both coming and ...
Jump to postI flew the A320 for four years and I’m currently in my 737 type rating class/sims. The 737 overhead is as if someone took a box of switches and just threw them at the overhead and where they landed is where the switch went. The A320 was much easier to look at, same for the E175 which was a simpler ...
Jump to postNot trying to offend anybody but hard to deny that many pilots on long haul, can find a switch on the overhead to focus on while his eyelids slowly come to the close position. ...at least in the old days.
Jump to postLatest statement from the Air Mobility Command twitter feed says there were actually 823 Afghan citizens on board flight Reach 871. https://twitter.com/AirMobilityCmd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1428700370025566213%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedri...
Jump to postNot mentioned is defueling. Time consuming procedure, but I remember having it done on a 747-200 once or twice. Can't remember how they did it, but think a mechanic came up to the cockpit and used the boost pumps and the dump manifold, but not sure. Think because it was done, a fuel stop was added i...
Jump to postAncient info here, but flying 727's into Phoenix back in the early 90's: in 90 or 91, the summer temp went over 120 degrees F. Our charts only went to 120. Couldn't takeoff. Company got on the horn to Boeing and they started faxing the needed data to dispatch then down to the crews. The first day we...
Jump to postCan't speak for other aircraft but for both the 747-200 and 400, 2 miles prior to the FAF or OM (or thereabouts for visuals), standard maneuver calls for 'gear down' flaps 20 (Assuming the flaps were already at 10 for maneuvering). It's done simultaneously. I don't recall any restrictions. After ge...
Jump to postCan't speak for other aircraft but for both the 747-200 and 400, 2 miles prior to the FAF or OM (or thereabouts for visuals), standard maneuver calls for 'gear down' flaps 20 (Assuming the flaps were already at 10 for maneuvering). It's done simultaneously. I don't recall any restrictions. After gea...
Jump to postDuring initial checkout as an FE on 747-200's we got to open the hatch and proceed down to the nose gear/EE compartment. Basically it was to show us how to drop the nose gear if the two primary emergency methods failed. It involved unscrewing a bunch of bolts to release a brace of some sort. Even th...
Jump to postWith Joe Biden's recent announcement to withdraw US forces in Afghanistan what will become of the remaining bases will they become commercial airports or will they be handed over to the Afghan military? Any thoughts? US Air Bases in foreign countries are not owned by the US. They are usually leased...
Jump to postJumpseating on a Continental Air Micronesia 727 flight before push back, I observed the CPT opening up the side window and reaching around and applying Rain-X to his front window. I asked him how it worked, and he stated during the rain showers when landing at the airfields in the islands, it did th...
Jump to postFunny, we used “reject” in the USAF, at least, in AMC, the command formerly known as MAC. So who actually uses "abort"? :biggrin: :?: :?: :?: Unless things have changed in the last 15 years, fighter aircraft use the term "abort" in their boldface T/O abort procedures. Abort bold...
Jump to postEspecially since the goal is to replace the F-15C, and not the F-15E. You have to look farther into the future. They buy the two seat configuration. In the short term, they can remove the back seat and fly it as a C replacement. (Save weight). If and when they develope a new interceptor to phase ou...
Jump to postHistory..F-4 variants maintained the folding wing, but in later USAF models, they took out the mechanism/hydraulics to do that from the cockpit. But when hangered for maintenance, the wings were frequently manually folded to reduce space. The landing gear for Navy and land versions was similar, alth...
Jump to postMy experience is very old (the 80's), but during a 2 week exercise, the middle weekend was usually a break. Gives time for the units who deployed a long way to explore the evils of Las Vegas. However I can distinctly remember a one period (morning go)on a Saturday but think that was unusual. If a da...
Jump to postytib wrote:
Guam - Koror, Palau - Manila