The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

smurfjed

Actually the screen shot is from JeppFD on an IPAD, but its the route that's the fun part, at least for me

Shamrock231

I see that now LOL. Nice pic Smurfjed...

Lustrum

One of my MEIR instructors used to love telling everyone about that particular waypoint, I've no doubt he'll be still laughing his head off about it when he's 80!

smurfjed

Which particular waypoint???

I'm more interested in the fuel stop destination and onwards

Shamrock231

I'm guessing Delta India Kilo Alpha Sierra... :pac:

smurfjed

Aha..... i used to have a colleague called B.I.G.U.S, so they previous waypoint was extremely appropriate....... He went on to be the flight test engineer of the 3rd B787 airframe

keith16

smurfjed wrote: »

Actually the screen shot is from JeppFD on an IPAD, but its the route that's the fun part, at least for me

I stilll don't get it

Tell us more smurf, for instance, what is JeppFD? I'm guessing Jeppesen F Display? What is fun about the route?

Also, what in the name of god is an IPAD??

Shamrock231

keith16 wrote: »

I stilll don't get it

Tell us more smurf, for instance, what is JeppFD? I'm guessing Jeppesen F Display? What is fun about the route?

Also, what in the name of god is an IPAD??

Just guessing here, but I think FD = Flight Deck. And I'm guessing it's a good route because he's returning home?

smurfjed

Keith to put in a nutshell, I'm going to the USA, get to spent a day shopping for crazy stuff, and i get to land in my home country on the way (RIP Capt Brian Carpenter who was part of path to this position) so I'm excited.... as for the boring stuff, Jeppesen produce an Application for the Apple IPAD (Google it:)) called JeppFD.

TheBoss11

Any chance an airline pilot can have a look at my threads and try give me a bit of advice?

keith16

smurfjed wrote: »

Keith to put in a nutshell, I'm going to the USA, get to spent a day shopping for crazy stuff, and i get to land in my home country on the way (RIP Capt Brian Carpenter who was part of path to this position) so I'm excited.... as for the boring stuff, Jeppesen produce an Application for the Apple IPAD (Google it:)) called JeppFD.

Nice. When I lived in the US of A, I stayed beside the Republic airport on Long Island. All manner of private jets would land there. It was great watching them avoid the frequent lightning storms.

Have you ever got up close and personal with St. Elmo and his so called fire?

Apple? Never heard of them.

smurfjed

The figures that you talk about are bloody scary, I wouldn't be sitting where i am now with the support of Captain Brian Carpenter and Captain Kieron O'Connor. I truthfully do not know how i would have achieved my present flying position without them, i certainly didn't have the money that is required now. These aviators were/are unique and unfortunately they are not available to your generation,

You (I believe) have a problem passing the standard aviation eye test, but can pass the abridged test, this unfortunately will derail your career.

One of our contributors, LEFT BASE used to jump on questions like this.... but i havent seen him in a while,,,,,

de biz

smurfjed wrote: »

Keith to put in a nutshell, I'm going to the USA, get to spent a day shopping for crazy stuff, and i get to land in my home country on the way (RIP Capt Brian Carpenter who was part of path to this position) so I'm excited.... as for the boring stuff, Jeppesen produce an Application for the Apple IPAD (Google it:)) called JeppFD.

Hi Smurfjed,
Great to see your acknowledgement of Bryan.
He was truly the pioneer of rotary and business aviation in this country.
Sadly his passing at the age of 55 in 2003 was way too premature for a man with such passion for flying.
Did you transit Shannon today?Did you get handled by Westair/Jetex nd preclear CBP?
Regards.

smurfjed

Did you transit Shannon today?Did you get handled by Westair/Jetex nd preclear CBP?

Nope

Cessna_Pilot

On the topic of waypoint names, there's DELBO and RODNI in close proximity to each other near the London area

smurfjed

Oh this is gonna to be fun..... at least we can climb straight to FL410, but we will spend the whole night listening to "can i have a ride report"......

Tenger

Indeed. JFK had a ramp halt last evening due to T-storm over the field. Heard from a mate who departed soon after.....they boarded their widebody in under 30 mins so were among the first 5 to depart......12 min taxi in JFK---Priceless!!!


For those wondering.....a "ride report" is the flight crew asking the aircraft ahead of them about the weather conditions, specifically turbulence. The US flight crews can spend all night discussing their turbulence enroute.

amen

the US flight crews can spend all night discussing their turbulence enroute.

Do US flight crews ask this more frequently ?

Darwin

Tenger wrote: »

For those wondering.....a "ride report" is the flight crew asking the aircraft ahead of them about the weather conditions, specifically turbulence. The US flight crews can spend all night discussing their turbulence enroute.

I genuinely thought it was smurfjed's VIP passengers constantly contacting the flight deck to enquire about the wx ahead as they don't particularly like turbulence

allybhoy

Just found this thread, after reading a good few pages and its brilliant, great resource for us aviation enthusiasts....I have a few questions from a strange flight i had last year and was wondering if anyone could shed any light....

Last April, me and the good lady were flying from Pearson to Newark by Air Canada Express. From Newark we had roughly a 3.5 hour stop over and then we were flying onward to Dublin with a different carrier (continental).

So... we get to Pearson and go through US Customs etc, flight was delayed 45 mins or so, no big deal, we still had well over 2.5 hours to spare. So we board this tiny plane which was less than half full (from pictures I believe it was a Bombardier CRJ200) start taxi-ng away under our own power, when all of a sudden the plane stops, as do the engines. I thought we were waiting for takeoff clearance etc and settled down for the long journey home. 15 mins later, we are still on the runway...I was aware we were a little tight for time but still not too concerned, another 10 minutes or so go by when the captain comes on saying that there was an issue with one of the engines and there were technicians inspecting it. I was sitting at the window but couldnt see the engine. I was hugely concerned at this, another 15-20 mins go by and the captain comes on again saying that we were going to have to be escorted back to the airport, disembark and get the next flight out, at this stage im in a huge panic as it meant we were missing our flight home and as it wasnt with the same carrier we were screwed, called the stewardess down, nothing she can do etc etc.

So..we get towed back to the terminal, everybody stands up to disembark but the captain comes on again and says as we were cleared by US Customs, we couldnt get back into Pearsons without clearance from a US Marshall or something like this and we would have to sit tight. At this stage im loosing my marbles, anyhoo, he says in the meantime the repair team are going to continue to try and fix the engine. So.. another 15-20 minutes later we hear the engine starting up, and the captain comes on saying that the maintenance crew had resolved the issue and we were fully cleared for takeoff, however he said that if there were any nervous passengers on board they were welcome to disembark and get the next flight...thankfully no one did. As we were taxi-ng down the runway he came on again and said that as we were behind schedule and some passengers had to get connecting flights they were going to try and make up time in the air and so the seatbelt sign would be on at all times. The flight time if i remember correctly was supposed to be 1hr 25 mins, but we done it about 45 mins and it certainly felt like he was flying at full throttle, the only time we slowed up was when we came into land. To cut a long story short, we eventually made our connecting flight with minutes to spare

Soo, my questions are as follows...

1. What kind of issue would have stopped a plane taking off, yet less than an hour later we are good to go, i presume it was safe for us to fly etc but i thought it was very strange.
2. Is it common for maintenance staff to repair issues such as the one we had with passengers still on the plane?
3. Is it the norm when issues like this occur for the pilot to be so frank about them and then tell us the maintenance crew were trying to fix them? He said something along the lines of "issue with thrust on one the engines" as opposed to a generic "Technical Difficulties"
4. Is it common for the pilot to give passengers the option to disembark if they are nervous travellers.
5. We made up serious time on the flight, it felt like he was flying absolute full throttle right up until literally a minute or so before we came into land, was this a figment of my imagination or was it a tailwind or something that meant we made up so much time?

Tenger

amen wrote: »

Do US flight crews ask this more frequently ?

Sometimes annoyingly so.

hidinginthebush

amen wrote: »

Do US flight crews ask this more frequently ?

In their defense the worst turbulence I've ever encountered was once flying from JFK to Jacksonville, and SFO to Vegas. Maybe the weather has the potential to go more pear shaped over there?

Suasdaguna1

Tenger wrote: »

For those wondering.....a "ride report" is the flight crew asking the aircraft ahead of them about the weather conditions, specifically turbulence. The US flight crews can spend all night discussing their turbulence enroute.

Yeap US crews have a horn for turbulence and never stop talking about it over the pond. I reckon it's nerves and the need to talk sh!te knowing they are not alone over the ocean......the slightest ripple they are on the blower. Their definition of moderate chop can be our definition of slight. I have even heard severe reports and this is when you can't see the instruments such are the jolts and it was just mod.....different folks different stokes etc.

Muting VHF 2 123.45mhz kills all the verbal diarrhea and makes for an easy passage

Lustrum

Suasdaguna1 wrote: »

......
Muting VHF 2 123.45mhz kills all the verbal diarrhea and makes for an easy passage

I was going to ask what frequency all this happens on.

Are there regulations for 123.45 about what can be broadcast to prevent if from being clogged up? Or do ride reports get classified as operational talk?

I presume muting the frequency isn't really standard either?

Shamrock231

I think 123.45 is the chat frequency no? So anything goes?

Lustrum

Shamrock231 wrote: »

I think 123.45 is the chat frequency no? So anything goes?

Apologies, I was getting mixed up with 121.5

Disregard the last question

Shamrock231

Lustrum wrote: »

Apologies, I was getting mixed up with 121.5

Disregard the last question

No bother, glad I could help...

smurfjed

up with 121.5

It happens with 121.5 as well, and the "on guard" police start complaining:)

Kencollins

I love the "On Guard" police. It is usually a posh British voice, male, and quick off the mark.

I was convinced that there MUST be someone sitting at a desk with his finger on the mic button waiting on edge for the next accidental guard transmission!

Shamrock231

For those of us that don't know, what exactly are the "On Guard Police"?