Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?

Like an AM walkie talkie, albeit a powerful one with a long antenna. Is it possible to transmit to VHF channels used for aviation? I don't mean the legal possibility of it(eg. ham radio), but technical one. If it is, is it ever done? Do follow-me cars and such talk with the pilots with handheld tran...

Price of Full Motion Simulators

We all know that they are one of the most expensive tools used in the industry, after the airplane itself.(In case of used old aircraft, like 737 classics, their sim can be more expensive than the plane too!) But how come? I am not a corporate manager myself so my knowledge comes from intuition, but...

Re: How do the carrier landing aircraft manage to descend during approach with such a big positive pitch angle

Importantly, and as shown in Florianopolis' reply above, AoA is not directly related to pitch angle. There have been accidents where the aircraft has been pointed almost straight down, while still being stalled. Yes, but only momentarily. If the aircraft suddenly pointed it's nose downwards while t...

Re: How do the carrier landing aircraft manage to descend during approach with such a big positive pitch angle

It is a controlled descent. Lift is still being generated and holding the plane weight- it’s just holding it in a descent profile. Just ends with no flare as you note. They basically crash it into the deck and go to full throttle as they do so in case the arrester cable breaks. Note the very strong...

How do the carrier landing aircraft manage to descend during approach with such a big positive pitch angle

Considering that they don't even flare at touchdown. How is it so that at that attitude and speed, the lift can't overcome the weight? And why doesn't that lead to a stall but to a controlled descent?

Can the IRS be aligned in an hangar?

If so, what can't be done in hangar other than starting up the engines? I heard WX radar is also harmful to people around when used in closed spaces.

Radar coverage over Atlantic and other oceanic zones

If there's no transponder radar coverage over Atlantic and other oceanic zones, how can we see the aircraft passing through via websites like flightradar24? Is it all satellite? And are ATC services provided over the ocean? What happens if there are two aircraft coming from two opposite directions o...

Re: Why did the state have a monopoly on media/press in Scandinavian countries until the 1990s?

Monopoly and "State Media" are not the same, and the monopoly only existed for radio and TV in any case. Just like in plenty of other European states. The US is rather the exception to this than the norm. Best regards Thomas It's still interesting for me as an American. Was the rationale ...

Why did the state have a monopoly on media/press in Scandinavian countries until the 1990s?

SOURCES: 1. 2. 3.(In Swedish) This is something quite unexpected from countries that were on the Western Bloc. Was this implemented to prevent "undesired" ways of political thinking from flourishing? What did the US and the rest of the NATO(granted, Sweden wasn't NATO but Norway and Denma...

Re: When did GPS become mainstream in commercial aviation?

When did commercial airliners start widespread use of GPS navigation? I remember about 20-25 years ago, reading flying magazines and seeing the early handheld units used for GA aviation. Of course, at the time, there were still a lot of classic airliners flying predating GPS. Were those planes, suc...

Do ground vehicles in airports run on jet fuel or regular diesel?

I heard that jet fuel is similar to diesel in structure(surely smells very close too) and can be used in diesel engines(but not the other way around, since diesel fuel would be a bit too thick for a jet engine's injection system), and that's what the US Military does in it's overseas bases. Is this ...

Upgrading to a new type in the same airline

It's something that I have been wondering lately, that how does a type rating process works inside an airline. Suppose you have a 737NG captain in one of the legacies, say American or United, and he's going to upgrade to the 777. How long does this take? Does he first take classroom lessons, then si...

How do airlines decide which manufacturer to buy from

Especially for the A vs B. The most obvious are the running costs of fuel and maintenance, but equivalent types of Airbus and Boeing seem to be pretty close to each other in that, with no side coming as obvious superior(in which case every airline would pick that) Why does the RyanAir have an all 73...

Re: Why did Airbus switch to winglets so late in the A320

Because Airbus had the wing fence on the A320 pretty much from the start (Delivered to Ansett in November 1988), which while not as good as the blended winglet, was still better than anything Boeing had until the blended winglet came along. Compared to the 737NG which was offered with winglets sinc...

Why did Airbus switch to winglets so late in the A320

Compared to the 737NG which was offered with winglets since it's rollout in 1998, I think the A320s only started having them in 2012. And imo it looks strange to see it on the A320 series(as well as 757/767) since in my mind I'm so accustomed to seeing them with old wingtip devices and narrow body w...

Re: Refueling wide bodies

Since some large aircraft can take up to 200 tons of fuel, how is that accomplished? Does a fuel truck(which I assume can't carry more than maybe 30 tons of fuel) make 5-6 visits to the fuel silo(is this the correct term?) and back to the aircraft? Or do they send 6 trucks at once? How long does it...

Re: Why do some airliners seemingly have two sets of EFBs?

Our 2009 Global came with CMC/Windows XP EFBs. Total boat anchors and pretty useless when compared to iPad. We upgraded the Global with IPad mounts with ship power and link to FMS data for moving map, etc. With onboard wifi we now each have a multi functional tablet with Jepp charts, ARINC, ForeFli...

How long does it take a 777 to dump fuel to reach maximum landing weight?

Currently, there's an ANA 77W squawking 7700 and flying circles over lake Michigan, presumibly dumping fuel before it can land. But seemingly it has been doing that for the past hour or so, and if it's a medical emergency on board, I'm afraid it might already be too late for that. Does it really tak...

Why do some airliners seemingly have two sets of EFBs?

I especially see this on 777 flight decks. It seemingly has one integrated EFB below the tiller, and also an actual iPad that's mounted slightly below the outer window, each for both the captain and the first officer. Why is this?

Re: Travel restrictions and fullness of airplanes

I still don't get how there could be more than half the passenger traffic of the pre covid era when such a small percentage of population would be eligible right now for international travel.

Travel restrictions and fullness of airplanes

Hello One thing that caught my attention greatly is, despite travel being completely restricted for tourism for most of the world, and most of the business meetings now being converted to online, how are there so many passenger airplanes moving around? For example I see a Turkish Airlines 77W depart...

Re: Why is the distance between 77W cockpit and the first row seat so long?

e38 wrote:

A crew laboratory?

you mean like a space for the crew to perform experiments and conduct research?

e38

Why is the distance between 77W cockpit and the first row seat so long?

For example here, you can see that there's quite a bit of space between where the cockpit door supposedly is, and the start of the passenger seats. Is there a crew rest in that area? A crew laboratory? Or just electronic equipment? I never saw a photo or a video of that space, where cockpit door op...

How often do airliners perform visual approaches in good weather?

Assuming conditions of near zero wind, visibility greater than 20 miles, and not very crowded airspace. In this scenario, would a visual approach(ILS diamonds and flight director off) ever be performed? For example, into SXM.

Why are preflight walk-arounds done by pilots and not ground personnel?

Is it because you need a type rating of that particular aircraft to see if there are any issues visible in the exterior? I thought that kind of stuff was practically universal for all aircraft types, and in case of differences it wouldn't be hard to memorize all of them, there aren't 100 types of ai...

Re: How many flight hours does an average airline pilot acquire towards the end of his career?

Freight and military, it might be hard to break 15,000. A squadron mate at UPS was paired with a captain upgrade—the upgrade pilot flew the 727 for a decade and had about 2,000 hours in type. Corporate guys commonly fly 300 hours per year. Fighter guys do 25 years and might reach 5,000 hours. Corpo...

How many flight hours does an average airline pilot acquire towards the end of his career?

And does it matter for short haul vs long haul? Or low cost vs legacy/flag carrier?

Do cargoliners have locked cockpit doors? Or cockpit doors for that matter?

I am not talking about converts but rather purpose built ones.

How much hydraulic pressure does the APU provide vs the engines?

For example in the 737NG, there are two hydraulic pump systems, engine pumps and electric pumps(can be either operated via the APU transfer buses or external power) but the FCOM says they've 6 times less output pressure than the engine driven pumps. So any command on a hydraulic actuated surface wil...

How was aircraft dispatching made before computers?

Especially creating the route with all it's fixes, weather etc. And how was it printed(how do you print a route on a map without a computer)? Also how was it filed to every ATC center on the route? Who decided which aircraft was to be used for a route and how?

Which aircraft does this cockpit belong to?

https://cdn.fishki.net/upload/post/2020/07/24/3376926/28009163262702-8ibbfr-17.jpg Here it is. Reverse searching didn't yield anything. Looks like a G650 but it really isn't. Is it a Russian or a Chinese design?

Re: Why does 787(and maybe A350) landing gear looks titled down instead of up during departure?

Trimeresurus, your observations of the different tilting angles of the 787 Main Gear Assembly (called a Truck) - is correct. To enable the Main Gear Assembly to retract into the Main Wheel Well Bay it must tilt forwards. When the aircraft becomes airborne nothing happens to the Truck Assembly until...

Re: Why does 787(and maybe A350) landing gear looks titled down instead of up during departure?

Trimeresurus, your observations of the different tilting angles of the 787 Main Gear Assembly (called a Truck) - is correct. To enable the Main Gear Assembly to retract into the Main Wheel Well Bay it must tilt forwards. When the aircraft becomes airborne nothing happens to the Truck Assembly until...

Why does 787(and maybe A350) landing gear looks titled down instead of up during departure?

The 787, while taking off, has gears tilted down like a 767, but prior to approach it seems like it's tilted up, just like a 757 or an A330. Does the angle of the gear change with the pitch of the airplane? If so, why is that? Edit:never mind, it just becomes tilted down right before entering the wh...

Those who fly airplanes with FBW flight envelope protections

How many times in your career did you actually encounter a situation that you were pushing out of flight envelope and those protections kicked in? What happened afterwards?

When do the flight crew board an aircraft before a flight?

How many hours and minutes before departure approximately? Do they use the same jetway as the passengers for boarding? In what state do they receive the aircraft?(ie completely powered off, "cold and dark", or electrified?) If another gate was assigned for an aircraft for the next departur...

Re: 777 and 787 common type rating

In Europe, 777 and the 787 has a common type rating. But, do pilots in the fleet actually fly both? Like you fly a 777 today, 787 on Monday, 777 again on Thursday and so on. Or does the common type rating just mean, a 777 pilot can be converted to a 787 pilot only with a short differences training ...

777 and 787 common type rating

In Europe, 777 and the 787 has a common type rating. But, do pilots in the fleet actually fly both? Like you fly a 777 today, 787 on Monday, 777 again on Thursday and so on. Or does the common type rating just mean, a 777 pilot can be converted to a 787 pilot only with a short differences training a...

The "windy" sound coming from 737NG after takeoff

You can hear in the 3:44 in this video: https://youtu.be/R1dS-ZqG_Ps

Is it the wind flowing around the retracting landing gears? It's a weird sound only heard in the 737, just like the barking HYD pump of A320

Re: Why did HUDs come to airliners so late?

With a HUD, the hand-flying pilot can easily fly as or more precisely as the autopilot. It’s an order of magnitude more precise than heads down. And, it simplifies visual flight, makes night visual “dark hole” approaches a piece of cake, and the transition from cloud to visual reference automatic. ...

Re: Workload of the PNF in the 732

Why did the 727 have a flight engineer then? With wide bodies I think it was a FAA requirement.(though I don't imagine 747 classic being that different to operate than 737 Jurassic other than the taxiing part and maybe the flare) But 727 was light enough to bypass that requirement?

What is the difference between speed trim system(STS) found in 737NG and the MCAS of 737MAX?

Aren't they both automatic trim-down systems for high AoA situations?

Workload of the PNF in the 732

As we all know, the Boeing 737 Jurassic was a two man cockpit in an era which three was standard for the pressurized, fast and high flying planes. This was before FADEC, EEC, automatic cabin pressure control, EICAS, electronic control of buses, and most importantly, FMS performance calculations. So ...

Re: Why can't flight data and CVR record be sent to the ground stations continuously by satellite and/or VHF?

It would be very possible and no reason it can't be done.The question has been answered extensively on this forum. Try to use the search function for further info. Short version: The amount of data has grown heavily and and bandwith is expensive. Further, CVR data are highly sensitive and personal ...

Why can't flight data and CVR record be sent to the ground stations continuously by satellite and/or VHF?

Is the tech still not there yet? Considering how far we've come with 5G and stuff, it's interesting that we still have to hunt for black boxes under ocean if the unthinkable happens. And considering that we have internet(albeit slow) on newer wide bodies now, and the fact that drones can be remotely...

What is the last airliner produced with cable hydraulics instead of FBW?

Is it the 737NG? I guess last one rolled out in 2019, and they still make BBJ versions.

Where is the engine run-up area on LAX located?

The Rules&Regulations on lawa.org says it's located North of taxiways A and C, yet despite looking at the FAA diagram, Jeppessen taxi charts and Google Maps satellite view, I can't see a place where an engine run-up test would be conducted, especially not where LAWA says. Do they use the long ta...

777x vs 787

Does the 777x employ the composite body, very flexible wingtips(not sure what they're called), bleedless system as well as other features such as electronic window dimming and whatnot? Or is it more like a legacy 777(I know MAX has a more similar build to the 737NG than the state of art 787)? I know...

Re: How much less thrust does a modern high bypass turbofan engine generates at cruise altitude as opposed to sea level?

I suggest you start thinking in terms of air density at altitude (& don't forget the temperature!), and then consider Newton's 3rd Law. Ball park figure from memory.... a CF6 rated at 50,000 lb (static) take-off thrust might only produce 11,000 lb thrust at 40,000 feet at temperature X, and at ...

Re: How much less thrust does a modern high bypass turbofan engine generates at cruise altitude as opposed to sea level?

It is very dependent on bypass ratio. A GE90-115B will have a bigger thrust lapse than a JT8D. The main reason for this is the fact that the closer you get to your exhaust speed in relation to your forward speed (in the atmosphere) the less thrust you create. Since turbojets and low bypass turbofan...