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The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

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    #1232
    Mr_Roger_Bongos
    Registered Users Posts: 1,469 ✭✭✭Mr_Roger_Bongos


    smurfjed wrote: »
    I think that your question would be more suitable in the following forum...

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=576

    Moderator gets annoyed with us if we go off topic :)

    smurfjed

    The thread's called 'Ask an airline pilot', surely its an interesting question to ask?

    If you check my history, i never post in Conspiracy Theories.

    I'm not going to de-rail the thread and won't post after any answers. It's just something that's genuinely interested me.


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    #1233
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    S1 will answer later, work beckons...... 19 hours flying, 32 hours duty in a 48 hour period, I'm starting to realise what the life of an "airline pilot" is all about :):):)


    smurfjed


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    #1234
    keith16
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,061 ✭✭✭keith16


    As a pilot, do you enjoy making the little announcements to the PAX or do you see it as a chore?

    I have great respect for the jobs pilots do and always enjoy listening to what they have to say even though it's usually the same old stuff - altitude, route, landing time and even a little weather report for the destination :)

    The best I heard tho was when flying Air Canada to Toronto a few years back. It was a brilliant landing smooth as you like, you wouldn't even have known you had landed were you not paying attention.

    Cue the captain coming on and announcing "Wasn't that a beautiful landing?" to uproarious laughter!

    Have you ever had to announce something funny or ad-lib something to the PAX out of the ordinary?


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    #1235
    basill
    Registered Users Posts: 1,348 ✭✭✭basill


    I think it boils down to professionalism at the end of the day. Even though we realise that the vast majority of the pax are not keith16s and have little interest in our pas. Personally my view is that we often have a number of nervous flyers onboard and it is always nice to reassure them when we are going through areas of turbulence. Also a pa of the flight progress (perhaps a couple on longer flights) is a common courtesy.

    We are often getting notes into the cockpit regarding congratulations for this that and the rest.....Also the trusty old world cup scores etc.


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    #1236
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    8619998412_9f3e033b42_z.jpg

    We don't have a severe damage separation checklist. I'm guessing that the lawyers prefer that checklists are read, that way, they can always include their little disclaimers and warnings :)

    smurfjed


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    #1237
    BrakePad
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭BrakePad


    Great thread,

    My question is : What can you expect to be asked at an airline interview?


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    #1238
    basill
    Registered Users Posts: 1,348 ✭✭✭basill


    Pprune is your best bet. This one is over 184 pages long. Make lots of cups of tea and take with a grain of salt most of the answers. If you are looking for interview tips yourself then you will need to hit the books to check the answers.

    http://www.pprune.org/interviews-jobs-sponsorship/222538-ryanair-interview-sim-assessment-merged-184.html


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    #1239
    lord lucan
    Registered Users Posts: 9,575 ✭✭✭lord lucan


    Have any of you ever missed your marks when making the turn onto the stand or got distracted and missed the marshallers signals and overran your mark on the hammerhead?


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    #1240
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    Thankfully not, but we have had a couple of incidents, the 1st aircraft followed marshaller instructions and hit the winglet off a fence, 250,000 US$ down the drain. The other occasion was when a 777 followed the lead in parking lights and hit the wing of another 777 parked beside it. The parking stands were not large enough for 2x 777's.

    In our case, there is nothing more butt tightening than having to do a 360 degree turn in Luton on a wet night, especially when its conducted within an outer circle of other corporate jets.

    smurfjed


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    #1241
    amen
    Registered Users Posts: 2,781 ✭✭✭amen


    The other occasion was when a 777 followed the lead in parking lights and hit the wing of another 777 parked beside it. The parking stands were not large enough for 2x 777's.

    who pays for that ? and does the captain get a reprimand?


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    #1242
    Suasdaguna1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 525 ✭✭✭Suasdaguna1


    lord lucan wrote: »
    Have any of you ever missed your marks when making the turn onto the stand or got distracted and missed the marshallers signals and overran your mark on the hammerhead?

    No......but it can be very difficult to find the line at night in the p!ssings of rain or worse a snow covered ramp. If in doubt especially on a heavy, stop and get the marshaller to come out the aircraft and lead you in. Thankfully I have never had to use this service. When on the line, you can lock onto lead in lights for the final"berthing"..... look up agnis. Gotta go and hope I don't fugh up tonite ! :)


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    #1243
    lazywhole
    Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭lazywhole


    smurf,
    whats the fuel burn per hour on your gulfstream ? and how many litrs is in a ton of fuel ?


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    #1244
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    It all depends on weight, temperature, altitude and speed, so it goes from 4000 lbs down to 2200 lbs, average over a 5 hour sector is about 3000 lbs.

    To convert fuel you really need the density, but using averages, 1.765 lbs per litre, 1 ton equals 1,247 litres. Gotta love fuel, we use it in pounds, we load it in litres and we buy it in US Gallons.

    smurfjed


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    #1245
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    Haven't posted one of these for a while :)

    The joy of this job is getting to go to new places and today was going to be fun. We were going to fly across Africa from the coast of Sudan westbound to Nigeria and then down into Gabon. This was the furthest south that I have flown in Africa, all of the other trips were to the Mediterranean coastal countries.

    So it was time to study, first of all with the notes from my recent annual international procedures course, and then from Jeppesen. Followed by checking the flight plan, notams and weather. And finally brushing up my knowledge of the weather patterns in the ITCZ.

    Africa is/was renowned for a lack of ATC facilities, so IATA introduced a concept of aircraft taking to each other and basically providing their own ATC information. Another concept is strategic lateral offset program "SLOP", where aircraft fly 1 or 2 miles right of their track to provide offset separation.

    Even at maximum takeoff weight, it was cool enough for us to climb straight to FL400, we were pleasantly surprised when Khartoum ATC cleared us straight to the exit point with Chad that was about 1000 miles away, ah well so much for SLOP, but we did get to try out the IATA broadcast system, two hours later we entered Chad followed by Cameroon and then Nigeria, we were going to a small airport to drop off a spare part for the original aircraft assigned to this series of flights, due to the holiday weekend, this aircraft was stranded for the last 5 days, oh boy the crew wasn't impressed, horrible hotel, no air conditioning, a lack of water, no beer, and that was considered 5 star :) On arrival at the airport we were cleared to use the VOR approach with a reported 5 knot headwind. The IRS system showed that we had about a 20 knot tailwind. This dropped off closer to the runway, but nothing like what was reported.

    Needless to say we picked the opposite direction for takeoff, the next sector was only 200 miles back up to Kano, so we climbed to FL350, cruised at that altitude for 11 miles (Less than 2 minutes :)) and started back down again, we wouldn't do this with passengers onboard as they wouldn't get fed, but it's fun to try this sort of thing when empty. Kano sounded quiet, so we asked to self position to a final fix for a straight in landing. This is a quiet airport with only 3 Kabo Air B747's and 4 Max Air B747's sitting there waiting to restart Hajj flights. This is where we found our passengers. Once ready we jumped 2;5 hours further south to Gabon, the landscape changed dramatically, this was a much more tropical place and the beaches looked great. But we could see the afternoon thunderstorms growing, so we really wanted to rush to get out of there.

    Dropped off the passengers, will be back Friday to bring them to their next destination, luckily for us, the aircraft is not expected to stay with them. So off we went again, up to FL410 which still wasn't high enough to avoid the thunderstorms, so there was a lot of diverting as we went Northeast, not that i noticed as I snored on the aircrafts only double bed.

    5 hours later, ILS to runway 34, followed by an easy drive home. I arrived just as my alarm clock went off to indicted that it was exactly 24 hours since I left my bed, we did just under 15 hours flying with 4 sectors. A long but fun day.


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    #1246
    Tenger
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 9,720 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tenger


    smurfjed wrote: »
    ....
    .........we were going to a small airport to drop off a spare part for the original aircraft assigned to this series of flights, due to the holiday weekend, this aircraft was stranded for the last 5 days, oh boy the crew wasn't impressed, horrible hotel, no air conditioning, a lack of water, no beer, and that was considered 5 star :) .......
    The horror......the only consolation on unexpected stopovers is being able to have a few beers......


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    #1247
    RangeR
    Registered Users Posts: 7,265 ✭✭✭RangeR


    dirdeen wrote: »
    SPAM

    SPAM reported.


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    #1248
    LeftBase
    Registered Users Posts: 743 ✭✭✭LeftBase


    Anyone know if Ryanair pilots are wearing black jumpers or jackets? I saw an FO at a Ryanair stand last week and he was wearing a black jumper and not a jacket....I seem to remember seeing Ryanair pilots not too long ago in jackets. Has the uniform changed?


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    #1249
    Tenger
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 9,720 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tenger


    LeftBase wrote: »
    Anyone know if Ryanair pilots are wearing black jumpers or jackets? I saw an FO at a Ryanair stand last week and he was wearing a black jumper and not a jacket....I seem to remember seeing Ryanair pilots not too long ago in jackets. Has the uniform changed?

    Lots of pilots wear black jackets over their shirts in colder weather. It also helps when heading to/from work....hides the stripes.


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    #1250
    LeftBase
    Registered Users Posts: 743 ✭✭✭LeftBase


    Tenger wrote: »
    Lots of pilots wear black jackets over their shirts in colder weather. It also helps when heading to/from work....hides the stripes.

    Well I know that myself. I always wear a casual jacket over my shirt and then when I get to the airport car park I throw the airline jacket on. But his guy was wearing a jumper with his 3 bars on the the shoulders. Was just wondering if Ryanair pilot uniforms are jumpers instead of the classic jacket with bars on the sleeve.


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    #1251
    Skuxx
    Registered Users Posts: 2,369 ✭✭✭Skuxx


    LeftBase wrote: »
    Well I know that myself. I always wear a casual jacket over my shirt and then when I get to the airport car park I throw the airline jacket on. But his guy was wearing a jumper with his 3 bars on the the shoulders. Was just wondering if Ryanair pilot uniforms are jumpers instead of the classic jacket with bars on the sleeve.

    I was on a Ryanair flight about 5 weeks ago and the captain was wearing a black Nike hoody!!


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    #1252
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    I was in the barber shop last weekend, chatting to the Irish guy in the seat beside me, when finished, he stood up in pilots uniform complete with 4 stripes, wings..... I almost burst out laughing, especially as he is a flight school instructor flying Cessna 172's.
    black jackets over their shirts in colder weather
    Do they supply uniform overcoats? Or just jackets?

    smurfjed


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    #1253
    amen
    Registered Users Posts: 2,781 ✭✭✭amen


    especially as he is a flight school instructor flying Cessna 172'

    but still legally the captain of the plane ?


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    #1254
    LeftBase
    Registered Users Posts: 743 ✭✭✭LeftBase


    smurfjed wrote: »
    I almost burst out laughing, especially as he is a flight school instructor flying Cessna 172's.


    smurfjed

    Should take a spin to some of the big flight schools. People there with 4 bars that have only ever been type rated on a desk...


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    #1255
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    People there with 4 bars
    But come on, wearing a full uniform in a barber shop? For me I will wear the uniform driving home, but if i have to stop for something, at least the wings, stripes and tie comes off. I hate posing :)

    smurfjed


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    #1256
    BrakePad
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭BrakePad


    smurfjed wrote: »
    But come on, wearing a full uniform in a barber shop? For me I will wear the uniform driving home, but if i have to stop for something, at least the wings, stripes and tie comes off. I hate posing :)

    smurfjed

    I saw a guy in a Piper Arrow in the states with 8 bars on each shoulder(2 sets of 4 per shoulder). Full pilot uniform and all. What does that denote?..Air Marshall? :rolleyes:


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    #1257
    Suasdaguna1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 525 ✭✭✭Suasdaguna1


    BrakePad wrote: »
    Full pilot uniform and all. What does that denote?..Air Marshall? :rolleyes:

    Tool.


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    #1258
    globemaster1986
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭globemaster1986


    BrakePad wrote: »
    I saw a guy in a Piper Arrow in the states with 8 bars on each shoulder(2 sets of 4 per shoulder). Full pilot uniform and all. What does that denote?..Air Marshall? :rolleyes:


    P*sstaker?


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    #1259
    donvito99
    Registered Users Posts: 5,818 ✭✭✭donvito99


    Some sort f KitKat champion?


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    #1260
    brandon_flowers
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭brandon_flowers


    It may not be a pilot orientated question but the knowledgeable folk that lurk around here may know the answer I'm looking for.

    I was on a flight from Sydney to Bangkok with BA in July 2000 using a 747. One of the engines had to be shutdown mid-flight and we were diverted to Singapore. We went through wicked turbulence for about an hour before the pilot announced "We are diverting to Singapore due to a miscalculation in fuel taken on in Sydney". Now I'm sure he meant well but it only added fuel to the fire (terrible pun intended) in the cabin with various nationalities wailing and praying and shouting and the most ignorant German man ever in the seat behind me giving out about missing his connection in Bangkok. The pilot announced in Singapore that he had to shutdown an engine and how marvelous the 747 was that it could keep going on 3 engines. It was scant consolation to the many who had to buy new underwear in Changi. Anyway the plane was fixed the following evening and off we went back to London which was the original route for the previous evening after the fueling stop in Bangkok.

    So what I am wondering is would I be able to find any avherald type reports on this or is it too far back? I've tried searching avherald and aircraftincidents.com but nothing doing.


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    #1261
    LeftBase
    Registered Users Posts: 743 ✭✭✭LeftBase


    brandon_flowers wrote: »
    It may not be a pilot orientated question but the knowledgeable folk that lurk around here may know the answer I'm looking for.

    I was on a flight from Sydney to Bangkok with BA in July 2000 using a 747. One of the engines had to be shutdown mid-flight and we were diverted to Singapore. We went through wicked turbulence for about an hour before the pilot announced "We are diverting to Singapore due to a miscalculation in fuel taken on in Sydney". Now I'm sure he meant well but it only added fuel to the fire (terrible pun intended) in the cabin with various nationalities wailing and praying and shouting and the most ignorant German man ever in the seat behind me giving out about missing his connection in Bangkok. The pilot announced in Singapore that he had to shutdown an engine and how marvelous the 747 was that it could keep going on 3 engines. It was scant consolation to the many who had to buy new underwear in Changi. Anyway the plane was fixed the following evening and off we went back to London which was the original route for the previous evening after the fueling stop in Bangkok.

    So what I am wondering is would I be able to find any avherald type reports on this or is it too far back? I've tried searching avherald and aircraftincidents.com but nothing doing.

    Sounds to me as if they may have encountered stronger headwinds than expected and perhaps were going to dip too close to company/legal minimums. I cant see them just not taking enough fuel for the flight.

    If this was the case then it would not make avherald or anything like that if the aircraft landed above final reserve and the engine was shut down by choice and for no other reason than to conserve fuel. It is simply a diversion and not really an incident.


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