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The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

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13567…116

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    #62
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    I apologise for my absence these past few days. I had somthing thats needed sorting! ;)

    From a questions directed at me point of view:

    The go around at Logan : if he is flying that close to the runway in the TCA with a 747 is cleared to land he quite frankly deserves to die....:mad:....plus we had a clear visual of what was ahead of us and ATC were more concerned with the wake turb issues than us actually hitting him.

    Disengaging the auto-pilot generally you can do it when you are on the ILS GS if you want to but you may be called to a no tea and biscuits meeting with the heat heads. Usually when I was in command I would disengage at about 300-500 ft on a clear VMC type day. If it was IMC I'd wait until I had the lights confirmed with the FO. This was generally because autoland flare and touchdown could be classed as a type of crash frankly...it isnt the most subtle of manouvers on HAL's part.

    Maths? If you can add and subtract roughly in your head or use a calculator you will have no bother. Most good crews do all the numbers at the gate on the ground. And if any are required in the air the pilot not flying gets the pen and paper and calculator out and punches the numbers. It's really very basic stuff when you get used to it. Best formula to remember is Work = the size of the a/c is directly proportional to the the weight and volume of the paperwork divided by the mental agility of the FO and coffee drinking skills of the Captain! ;)


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    #63
    shaneoreillyo
    Registered Users Posts: 46 ✭shaneoreillyo


    hello.
    my dream is to be a commercial pilot.
    im in leaving cert at the moment.
    i saw adds for cources in waterford pilot training college and cork atlantic.
    im just wondering which is "better" in terms of having contacts to getting a job after your qualified. i also saw waterford help you aquire loans do atlantic do this if ye know.
    what age is it to start the atpl my neighbours nephew said 21 but my friends brother said 18 they are both pilots so dona how i got different answers.
    oh and im looking air traffic control aswell is it hard to get a job in that sector
    thanks very much in advance


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    #64
    eatmyshorts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 821 ✭✭✭eatmyshorts


    "air pocket"...aaaahhhh knew someone would mention that soon!!

    Been following the thread but haven't posted yet as had a busy week or so at work. Browsing on the iPad in another hotel room...again!

    ATPL, B777, 7500 hrs.


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    #65
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    shaneoreillyo wrote: »
    hello.
    my dream is to be a commercial pilot.
    im in leaving cert at the moment.
    i saw adds for cources in waterford pilot training college and cork atlantic.
    im just wondering which is "better" in terms of having contacts to getting a job after your qualified. i also saw waterford help you aquire loans do atlantic do this if ye know.
    what age is it to start the atpl my neighbours nephew said 21 but my friends brother said 18 they are both pilots so dona how i got different answers.
    oh and im looking air traffic control aswell is it hard to get a job in that sector
    thanks very much in advance

    I'm not allowed bash companies according to the mods. So I will be short and sweet. Go with Atlantic in my opinion....:D...or rather if you were to take atlantic out of that quetion and put another flight school in there I'd pick that one too.

    Catch my drift? ;)


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    #66
    eatmyshorts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 821 ✭✭✭eatmyshorts


    XWB wrote: »
    I'm not allowed bash companies according to the mods. So I will be short and sweet. Go with Atlantic in my opinion....:D...or rather if you were to take atlantic out of that quetion and put another flight school in there I'd pick that one too.

    Catch my drift? ;)

    With an answer like that you should've been a politician!!


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    #67
    Delta Kilo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,212 ✭✭✭Delta Kilo


    Ever carry any celebrities worth mentioning?

    Any memorable days flying or with tough weather?

    What was the best part of your training, and of course the worst?

    Do the simulator checks and medicals ever irritate you, for instance does it seem like a nuisance or are you glad to be able to practice and tune up on the simulator?




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    #68
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    Delta Kilo wrote: »
    Ever carry any celebrities worth mentioning?
    Irish Team in '94(and whole rake of fans), Danny Day Lewis, Gary Fitz:D, Bertie, U2
    Any memorable days flying or with tough weather?

    9/11(didnt get airbourne but were doing runs ups when we were oacancelled), weatherwise...45kt crosswind in Boston, 5 foot of snow in O'Hare, Locust in Tererife(that was...yucky...I felt for the the poor coneheads that day) that was IMC actually. And the day on of my Fokker base trainers tried to fly into a CB....a towering one...and it was black:confused:
    What was the best part of your training, and of course the worst?
    Spinning during the hour build...which of course didnt happen and nobody can prove nothin!;) Worst bit....I'd expect any pilot to answer this...ATPL Air Law ground school....I was soooo bored I think my heart may have stopped....


    Do the simulator checks and medicals ever irritate you, for instance does it seem like a nuisance or are you glad to be able to practice and tune up on the simulator?

    The sim checks got a bit boring, but as you rise up the ranks you just spend 90% of it chatting to your examiner. Or saying "gwan gimme another 20kts across the runway!!..I can take it!!":D

    Medicals...good way to chat to other pilots and get a wide perspective on the Irish aviation scene as you sit for hours. Never really was that bothered by the medicals bar the lung capacity test which for class 1 is a bit of an ordeal....i think that's designed to get you panicy and uptight to sim hyperventilating under pressure....after the 30th class one medical I was a seasoned campaigner however! ;)


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    #69
    Lustrum
    Registered Users Posts: 741 ✭✭✭Lustrum


    Do any of you have a particular plane that you'd love to get typed on and fly? (that just sprung to mind when I saw eatmyshorts is on a 777, I've a mate who wants to have baby 777s someday!)


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    #70
    eatmyshorts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 821 ✭✭✭eatmyshorts


    Delta Kilo wrote: »
    Ever carry any celebrities worth mentioning?

    Any memorable days flying or with tough weather?




    India and the Bay of Bengal anytime during the monsoon. A radar display of red with pockets of yellow. Strap in and punch through!


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    #71
    eatmyshorts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 821 ✭✭✭eatmyshorts


    Lustrum wrote: »
    Do any of you have a particular plane that you'd love to get typed on and fly? (that just sprung to mind when I saw eatmyshorts is on a 777, I've a mate who wants to have baby 777s someday!)

    The 777's great, but from a flying point of view, give me a 330/340 anyday.


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    #72
    eatmyshorts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 821 ✭✭✭eatmyshorts


    XWB wrote: »
    Worst bit....I'd expect any pilot to answer this...ATPL Air Law groundschool ;)

    Perf A based on the TriStar....... Jesus wept!!...


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    #73
    xflyer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,787 ✭✭✭xflyer


    eatmyshorts wrote: »
    Perf A based on the TriStar....... Jesus wept!!...
    Oh no, you brought back a suppressed memory. I'd blanked it. I really had.
    Ever carry any celebrities worth mentioning?
    None worth mentioning, a TV3 newsreader and a couple of radio DJs. Not worth mentioning. Several Dublin Rose contestants! They're worth mentioning.
    Any memorable days flying or with tough weather?
    Yes and yes. With Irish weather there's always an interesting moment or two for those of us who don't get up to FL33. I choose the right to remain silent until I publish my memoirs.
    Medicals...good way to chat to other pilots and get a wide perspective on the Irish aviation scene as you sit for hours.
    Agree on that. For only one day a year, it's amazing who you can meet or meet again. The downside of course is when they find something wrong. :( Also when you find you can no longer read the last line on the eyechart without glasses.:mad:


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    #74
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    Three questions please -

    1. Why can we never hear what the captain is saying over the tannoy ?

    2. Why does the captain always tell us the height we are flying at, like, in reality, we don't care/means nothing to us, as long as we are still airborne !??

    3. Actually, having thought about it, why does the captain speak to the passengers at all, we never even get to see him/her ! The day of the captain coming around saying hello to everyone is gone i imagine?

    Safe flying, cheers


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    #75
    Lustrum
    Registered Users Posts: 741 ✭✭✭Lustrum


    eatmyshorts wrote: »
    The 777's great, but from a flying point of view, give me a 330/340 anyday.

    Is this because the plane (apparently) flies itself???

    If you have a minute would you mind elaborating? Also which do you prefer, long or short haul?


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    #76
    boeingboy
    Registered Users Posts: 79 ✭✭boeingboy


    Interesting thread to say the least.

    I get a mix of short and long haul on my 4 week roster. Prefer LH
    Commute from Dublin usually but now we can operate as from end of October. So I can finally start out of Dub and finish in Dub. Perfect.

    10 days on 10 off. 4 long and 6 sh sectors/month.
    But really longhaul for me is over 10 hours, east coast usa only a shorty as we have no medium.

    B757/B767 Capt. Irish with Irish/FAA Atpl/Atp. 11250 hours. 38 years old

    First Command B727. Best fun ever.

    And the autopilot disconnect. Our SOPs say once out of RVSM. No requirement to be visual. Just extra workload monitorring but regular disconnect downwind if cleared for a visual. Dubs great around Howth at 1700 ft on a 6 mile final.


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    #77
    A Primal Nut
    Registered Users Posts: 5,949 ✭✭✭A Primal Nut


    Was on the beer with a couple of British Airways pilots in Yokohama when I was there. :D.

    Got me thinking..I also travel with work as an engineer and I'm just trying to compare the two in terms of lifestyle.

    Firstly with...short-haul...I'd assume you never actually stay in hotels, just fly there and fly back? How many flights/hours a day would be typical for a short-haul pilot? How much days would they get off?

    For long haul...those guys in Japan had five days off between flights. Is this typical (it was a 10-hour flight)? Are they on standby during this time or they have to get five days?

    Also, I am wondering have you ever been flying over and back to the same city over and over for a period of weeks and months, so that you could have two lives in separate cities? Or are you always flying to different cities?

    Thanks


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    #78
    Growler!!!
    Registered Users Posts: 1,980 ✭✭✭Growler!!!


    Turbo prop F/O 1450TT

    Great thread by the way...
    vicwatson wrote: »
    Three questions please -

    1. Why can we never hear what the captain is saying over the tannoy ?

    2. Why does the captain always tell us the height we are flying at, like, in reality, we don't care/means nothing to us, as long as we are still airborne !??

    3. Actually, having thought about it, why does the captain speak to the passengers at all, we never even get to see him/her ! The day of the captain coming around saying hello to everyone is gone i imagine?

    Safe flying, cheers

    Haha - you have to remember when the capt or f/o are talking on the PA system that they hear themselves through the headsets. We have no way of knowing what volume level is in the cabin so the announcements are made at a normal conversational tone.

    You dont need to know the altitude, temp, wind speed, routing, what town you can or cannot see out the window, weather on the ground, time of landing or even that all the crew thank you for flying with us - but its nice to know we think of you guys as more than just SLF:p.


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    #79
    swe_fi
    Registered Users Posts: 363 ✭✭swe_fi


    Sorry, I had to be the one to ask about air pockets :-)

    Thanks for interesting answers to my previous questions, have a few more if thats ok. Sorry if my questions are mainly about safety, i'm not actually a bad flyer but i love air crash investigation and i am a bit morbid i suppose...

    Has anyone of you had any experience with, flown or flying "non western world" or lesser known planes like Russian, Chinese, Indian etc?

    What is the most common misconception about pilots (that you hear most often)?

    My mate works as a sim technician for a bigger airline (tried a few times, really enjoyed it), he said he would never ever fly a certain airline in china after having trained their pilots, he was genuinely shocked with the standard. Did you ever come across something frightening or worrying like that?


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    #80
    xflyer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,787 ✭✭✭xflyer


    Was on the beer with a couple of British Airways pilots in Yokohama when I was there.
    You know that was one of the reasons I wanted to be a pilot, so I could have beers with pilots somewhere exotic like Yokohama. (Please don't disillusion me and say Yokahama is like Luton on a Sunday).
    Also, I am wondering have you ever been flying over and back to the same city over and over for a period of weeks and months, so that you could have two lives in separate cities?
    Yes, I worked in OPs for an airline. One day a woman rang, she was the wife of Captain X. She asked me for the phone number of his flat in Paris. I didn't know being new. She thought I was covering for him. I'm not saying it's prevalent but he had a mistress in Paris. She was hoping to get her to answer the phone. This I found out afterwards.
    What is the most common misconception about pilots (that you hear most often)?
    swe-fi, I think I can answer that despite not being an airline pilot: 'Sure, don't those 'planes fly themselves, nowdays'.

    Oh and swe-fi, please don't mention 'air pockets', no one likes to mention them. It's a sore point. Why only the other day I hit an air pocket, and went into a tailspin, only to plunge uncontrollably thousands of feet. Before the computer took over and flew the 'plane to a controlled landing.


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    #81
    wittymoniker
    Registered Users Posts: 205 ✭✭wittymoniker


    pclancy wrote: »
    So is that the legal requirement but then company SOPs might advise only below 10000ft when VFR or when stabilised on approach etc? I've always wondered was the pilot flying allowed to knock off the ap and enjoy flying it to the ground.

    Edit: Glad people are enjoying this thread, nearly 3,000 views in only three days! Cheers.

    You only need an autopilot with altitude hold in RVSM airspace (unless you're on an automatic approach obviously), otherwise the autopilot is an optional extra.


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    #82
    shaneoreillyo
    Registered Users Posts: 46 ✭shaneoreillyo


    alright lads.
    what is the best flight school in ireland.
    the companies are hardly gonna say another place so this is really the only place i can get an honest opinion


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    #83
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    shaneoreillyo wrote: »
    alright lads.
    what is the best flight school in ireland.
    the companies are hardly gonna say another place so this is really the only place i can get an honest opinion

    Only 3 to my knowledge that go to fATPL. NFC, Atlantic and PTC.

    If I were you I would not go to PTC. The other 2 are good places...depends if you are down south or up north but both of them are good honest organisations who will take care of you!

    PM for more indepth conversation on the matter


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    #84
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    Great thread by the way...

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vicwatson viewpost.gif
    Three questions please -

    1. Why can we never hear what the captain is saying over the tannoy ?

    2. Why does the captain always tell us the height we are flying at, like, in reality, we don't care/means nothing to us, as long as we are still airborne !??

    3. Actually, having thought about it, why does the captain speak to the passengers at all, we never even get to see him/her ! The day of the captain coming around saying hello to everyone is gone i imagine?

    Safe flying, cheers

    Haha - you have to remember when the capt or f/o are talking on the PA system that they hear themselves through the headsets. We have no way of knowing what volume level is in the cabin so the announcements are made at a normal conversational tone.

    You dont need to know the altitude, temp, wind speed, routing, what town you can or cannot see out the window, weather on the ground, time of landing or even that all the crew thank you for flying with us - but its nice to know we think of you guys as more than just SLFtongue.gif.

    Well you should be telling the flight crew to turn up the volume in the cabins ! No point in talking to yourselves cause we can't hear you back here !! Turn it UP !! Otherwise don't talk !!:)

    You should give us more info like the Football results and the likes, it be more interesting than the "run of the mill" information.

    Or maybe belt out a tune or too to keep us entertained? :D:D

    Happy flights !


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    #85
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    Another question.

    One can infact use mobile phones in flight right?, So why aren't we allowed?

    Do they really "interfere" with the aircraft communications or.....?

    How do Ryanair provide the service?

    Cheers


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    #86
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    vicwatson wrote: »
    Another question.

    One can infact use mobile phones in flight right?, So why aren't we allowed?

    Do they really "interfere" with the aircraft communications or.....?

    How do Ryanair provide the service?

    Cheers

    Because there is evidence that they COULD in some circumstances cause bother with nav instruments and so the risk is not taken.

    Airlines use phones that are on a special and have a different means of propagation that doesnt interfere with the a/c operations. The passengers can use these


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    #87
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    Thanks, so how do Ryanair manage it ?

    It is the future - though I personally would not like to see it, it would be very annoying infact !!:)


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    #88
    XWB
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭XWB


    vicwatson wrote: »
    Thanks, so how do Ryanair manage it ?

    It is the future - though I personally would not like to see it, it would be very annoying infact !!:)

    I think that question could be applied to many situations to be honest.

    I am not 100% familier with ryanair's inflight practices, so I could not answer. Do they allow you to use your mobile?


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    #89
    boeingboy
    Registered Users Posts: 79 ✭✭boeingboy


    In my company weve had the system since 2006, works well. We can also manage to connect to the Net only over Land.

    We use Verizon Airphone system.

    Ryanair used to use http://www.onair.com
    but its been withdrawn mainly coz of cost.

    Not been totally proven to interfere with nav equipment and no reported incidents but does affect ground stations coz of speed below 8000ft I believe. FCC still ban the use of personal mobiles in US.


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    #90
    Tenger
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 9,720 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tenger


    vicwatson wrote: »
    .....why does the captain speak to the passengers at all, we never even get to see him/her ! The day of the captain coming around saying hello to everyone is gone i imagine?......
    Ill answer all 3 with one. The SLF need to hear a human voice to reassure them that its all OK. Giving height, speed, course and weather updates ensure that the F/O doesn't say something stupid on the 'tannoy'

    In relation to the football/golf/tennis/GAA results you can't just announce it as some people may not want to know until they get home or to their recording of it.
    eatmyshorts wrote: »
    India and the Bay of Bengal anytime during the monsoon. A radar display of red with pockets of yellow. Strap in and punch through!
    I actually saw purple on the wx radar last month, 1st time ever, obviously didn't go near it or the red around it.......


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    #91
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vicwatson viewpost.gif
    Thanks, so how do Ryanair manage it ?

    It is the future - though I personally would not like to see it, it would be very annoying infact !!:)

    I think that question could be applied to many situations to be honest.

    I am not 100% familier with ryanair's inflight practices, so I could not answer. Do they allow you to use your mobile?

    Yes, they charge for using the facility but sure... par for the course with Ryanair, but how come one can use a "mobile" phone whilst airborne anyway...?
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vicwatson viewpost.gif
    .....why does the captain speak to the passengers at all, we never even get to see him/her ! The day of the captain coming around saying hello to everyone is gone i imagine?......

    Ill answer all 3 with one. The SLF need to hear a human voice to reassure them that its all OK. Giving height, speed, course and weather updates ensure that the F/O doesn't say something stupid on the 'tannoy'


    I don't think so, as earlier post we cannot hear the voive from the flight deck anyways so...

    Why would the first officer say anything stupid?
    In relation to the football/golf/tennis/GAA results you can't just announce it as some people may not want to know until they get home or to their recording of it.

    Fair point, but a song maybe:)........ it's better than hearing the usual rhetoric from the deck (if one can hear it that is!!). blah blah 37k feet blah blah, it's very minus cold outside, blah, hey cabin crew where's me cuppa cha'?


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