The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

scudzilla · 18-09-2011 8:07pm

Growler!!! wrote: »

In simple terms the wind is behind you on the way back from the US. If you have a look at the pic below, the green lines represent the centre of the Jetstream.

So does the wind stay like that forever? I mean is it ALWAYS faster coming back from U.S??

XWB · 18-09-2011 8:35pm

scudzilla wrote: »

So does the wind stay like that forever? I mean is it ALWAYS faster coming back from U.S??

Yes because you have cold air at the poles and warm air as you head south towards the equator. The air flows from south to north all the time and the earth's rotation deflects it to the east so that it is a westerly wind. At high altitude you will almost always have a westerly wind. At the equator there is an easterly one but that's just down to the heat equator and the sun's movement. I wont bore you with the technicalities.;)

JohnnyTodd · 18-09-2011 9:48pm

Have you or any of your work buddies Ever had a few drinks during/before flight?

Ever went on a long haul serious hungover? I would say that's a nightmare

scudzilla · 18-09-2011 9:54pm

JohnnyTodd wrote: »

Have you or any of your work buddies Ever had a few drinks during/before flight?

Ever went on a long haul serious hungover? I would say that's a nightmare

I'm no pilot but i'd treat that question with the contempt it deserves

kmart6 · 18-09-2011 9:58pm

scudzilla wrote: »

I'm no pilot but i'd treat that question with the contempt it deserves

It's a valid question, many pilots have been caught with drink in there system while they would have been flying!

That is not to say I'm suggesting that the pilots on here have so don't take offence to that guys!

And anyway if the guys do have an issue with it they can just ignore the question!

LOccitane · 18-09-2011 10:16pm

XWB wrote: »

Yes because you have cold air at the poles and warm air as you head south towards the equator. The air flows from south to north all the time and the earth's rotation deflects it to the east so that it is a westerly wind. At high altitude you will almost always have a westerly wind. At the equator there is an easterly one but that's just down to the heat equator and the sun's movement. I wont bore you with the technicalities.;)

Thanks for all the replies XWB!

I think the only time we see Easterly winds for a sustained period on the Atlantic at High levels is when there is a major warming at the stratospheric level, a displacement of the Polar vortex and subsequent propagation resulting in High latitude blocking - similar to what we saw during the past two winters.

LOccitane

JohnnyTodd · 18-09-2011 10:21pm

scudzilla wrote: »

I'm no pilot but i'd treat that question with the contempt it deserves

I couldn't care less what way you treat it. Its not even for you.

It's a valid question and as a frequent flyer (once every 2 weeks) I'm curious.

adamski8 · 18-09-2011 10:23pm

JohnnyTodd wrote: »

I couldn't care less what way you treat it. Its not even for you.

It's a valid question and as a frequent flyer (once every 2 weeks) I'm curious.

do you think tgey would admit if here if they did anyway?

JohnnyTodd · 18-09-2011 10:25pm

adamski8 wrote: »

do you think tgey would admit if here if they did anyway?

You have a point. Perhaps not. Lets wait and see

adamski8 · 18-09-2011 10:30pm

JohnnyTodd wrote: »

You have a point. Perhaps not. Lets wait and see

well i guess they might have heard about other pilots drinking heavily, i dont believe all pilot fly out to exotic and exciting destinations and rather than explore the night scene the get themselves tucked into bed early.

XWB · 18-09-2011 10:31pm

JohnnyTodd wrote: »

Have you or any of your work buddies Ever had a few drinks during/before flight?

Ever went on a long haul serious hungover? I would say that's a nightmare

Never

But it does happen from time to time with some guys.

pclancy · 18-09-2011 10:48pm

Folks at the start of this thread I asked that only qualified pilots respond to questions and that there was no chit-chat in order to keep things clean and relevant. Let’s get back to that ideology if possible as the thread is going great so far.

finbarrk · 19-09-2011 12:47am

I still don't understand the policy of keeping a couple of seat rows at the front of the plane. I was told before here somewhere that it was to do with balance. But it doesn't make sense to me as the number of occupied seats behind them always varies.

Growler!!! · 19-09-2011 5:14am

finbarrk wrote: »

I still don't understand the policy of keeping a couple of seat rows at the front of the plane. I was told before here somewhere that it was to do with balance. But it doesn't make sense to me as the number of occupied seats behind them always varies.

Hi Finbarr,

Firstly, think of the aircraft as a see-saw balanced at the pivot point called the centre of gravity (CoG). This CoG is positioned somewhere along the wing.

If you seat an equal number of people either side of the pivot point of the see-saw then it will be balanced. If you dont have a full load and an unequal number of people on one side then the see-saw will tilt in that direction. In an aircraft this tilt has to be corrected by the tailplane/ elevator - too much up or down elevator will cause extra drag and increase fuel burn. This CoG also has to be kept within safe limits. To do this certain airlines block rows.

When the airline has assigned seating the seating plan is worked out by the dispatcher and seats are assigned to balance the aircraft. Where there is free seating, as you can imagine the balance cant be controlled. The only way to do this is by blocking off rows.

boeingboy · 19-09-2011 5:31pm

Well Im in Paris now and we (crew) are all meeting for some food and drink.....in an hour.....after getting here this morning but wont be wrecked at wake up in the morning to head back on a 8 hr westbound in our little 757.

We do socialise but are also adult enough to respect our companys policy and the local rules.

Bon appetite et Salut!

Tenger · 19-09-2011 7:40pm

Thanks Boeing Boy.
I think it would be fair to say that any pilot would be an idiot to risk their license over having to finish their beers and go to bed at the appropriate time. However as we have seen in the media there have been a small number who have.

APM · 19-09-2011 8:55pm

Tenger wrote: »

Thanks Boeing Boy.
I think it would be fair to say that any pilot would be an idiot to risk their license over having to finish their beers and go to bed at the appropriate time. However as we have seen in the media there have been a small number who have.

Personally, I absolutely love my job which took me blood, sweat, tears and years of work and training to achieve. I'm not stupid enough to lose everything over a few drinks. All my colleagues I assume feel and act the same way as I do. Being a pilot is an extremely difficult job to get, very easy job to lose.

Even if there was no rules associated to drinking, I could not operate at 100% if I had a hang-over. If we had a non-normal situation I want to be at my sharpest and most focused. Its what our passengers expect and deserve. Again, I feel all of my colleauges would agree with this.

Sitec · 19-09-2011 9:15pm

Would a pilot feel the difference in a plane full of passengers compared to an empty one?

wittymoniker · 19-09-2011 9:15pm

JohnnyTodd wrote: »

Have you or any of your work buddies Ever had a few drinks during/before flight?

Ever went on a long haul serious hungover? I would say that's a nightmare

No.

XWB · 19-09-2011 9:19pm

Sitec wrote: »

Would a pilot feel the difference in a plane full of passengers compared to an empty one?

Yes...more thrust needed...longer TO and Landing runs a few things

APM · 20-09-2011 12:04am

Sitec wrote: »

Would a pilot feel the difference in a plane full of passengers compared to an empty one?

In the aircraft I fly, only during takeoff it'll feel a bit heavier to rotate. On landing, if heavy it will require a bit more power during the approach and would float a bit easier if it was light. During cruise, apart from the FMC telling us we can fly higher we wouldn't notice the difference

pclancy · 21-09-2011 12:18am

Has anyone ever practised ditching in the sim?

XWB · 21-09-2011 12:21am

pclancy wrote: »

Has anyone ever practised ditching in the sim?

Yes. It was always either prescribed by the company or requested by any captain worth his salt.

Especially for transatlantic pilots

pclancy · 21-09-2011 12:26am

Wow. Was it thought survivable in a 747? Is there a checklist for it?

XWB · 21-09-2011 12:29am

pclancy wrote: »

Wow. Was it thought survivable in a 747? Is there a checklist for it?

It wasnt on the list of scenarios originally and it was hard for older sims to factor in the variables.
It is always survivable if you do it right. But you would have to evacuate the aircraft and people floating in the atlantic isnt really...ideal..

See generally on your track will never be far enough from land that you could not glide from 38,000. Like that Transat one.

pclancy · 21-09-2011 1:34am

I've thought about that during the long boring hours over the pacific i endure every time I go home to Ireland on a 777 or A340. So in theory there should be somewhere they could glide to along the whole way in the event of a dual failure?

Gerard93 · 21-09-2011 2:45am

See generally on your track will never be far enough from land that you could not glide from 38,000. Like that Transat one.

So in theory there should be somewhere they could glide to along the whole way in the event of a dual failure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
Have a look at the above came accross this some time back where a 767 glided to an emergency landing from 41,000 ft after running out of fuel.

Some great posts here, thanks to all contributors, great reading.

pclancy · 21-09-2011 2:49am

Gerard93 wrote: »

Some great posts here, thanks to all contributors, great reading.

Yeah over 10,000 views in less then a month means it must be popular

Should have done this years ago.

I wonder will people run out of things to ask....?

eatmyshorts · 21-09-2011 7:18am

XWB wrote: »

See generally on your track will never be far enough from land that you could not glide from 38,000. Like that Transat one.

Just to clarify, are you saying that you were never too far away from land to glide there in the event of an all engines out situation?

boeingboy · 21-09-2011 10:23am

Yeah XWB what do ya mean?

An aircraft at altitude high 30s will only glide about 120 still air nautical miles at best. Thats at Vref 30 +100 knts above 20000ft and Vref 30 + 80 below. Thats best Glide speed.

Im never closer than approx 800 nm to land(suitable airport) depending on the Nat track Atlantic or 1180 transpacific, our company is allowed 1200 nm from nearest suitable airport by Faa except of course coasting out/in. Also this suitable airport must be above category 1 weather conditions for duration you may need it. ie 200ft cloudbase/550m visibility or greater.

Your etops on "ure" A330 must be 15 mins, but sure with the way they were wouldnt surprise me, musta been a long trip. Got back to dublin this morning in 5 hr 12, glad of the tail and glad to be home. Long trip.

To explain Vref is a reference target speed depending on weight for different conditions. For example Vref 30+5 is the reference speed with flap 30 +5 knots on approach. Typical for B752 would be 115knots IAS as it was this morning. Vref 30 +100 is minimum clean speed ie no flaps at altitude.
This speed changes depending mainly on weight.

With the ditching,
The only training we do JAA/FAA is All Engines out approach and landing once in a sim every 2 years. With regard to ditching training, its only ever done once in a lifetime in a pool with rafts, part of etops training but wet Drill only ever reqd once for both cabin and cockpit. Good day out see the various outlines of what you work with. in my case most of them are self bouyant!

The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

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