The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

I never got to fly with captains that had god complexes. 99% of them are sound and you have a great laugh through the day and can go for beers on a day off with them. I know a guy who flew in Asia and the FO was told "gear up, flaps up, shut up". So in some places the captains do think they are gods but crew resource management stopped that in Europe at least. That's not to say the FO doesn't have respect for captains. They have more hours/experience usually (I know some FOs from RAF/Italian airforce etc who have thousands of hours) and at the end of the day it is their signature and decision unless it's completely daft then you respect it.

Most dangerous situation I was ever in. Nothing in a jet yet thank god. In a single piston I flew into a thunderstorm that nearly ripped the plane apart. Don't go near storms is imprinted in my soul now.

The Hudson incident was impressive. I'm not sure that the flying was anything special but the decision making to go for the Hudson was brilliant. No hesitation just decide and that alone is great in my book. Lots of luck in missing bridges etc. Great because it gets people to stop listening to Ryanair bull about only needing 1 pilot/ only bus drivers etc.

Another incident I think is impressive is the 777 that crash landed in Heathrow years ago. If the pilot hadn't raised the flaps to a lesser degree they wouldn't have made the airport boundary and might have hit some houses. That might not sound impressive but imagine working for 30/40 years with nothing ever really bad happening and then you have 5 seconds to make the correct decision. Brilliant bit of flying imo.

jessiesmom wrote: »

please can i ask you 2 questions, i have a 10 yr old who loves flying and knows the majority of aircraft and always wanted to know, do you have windscreen wipers in the cockpit and also do the plane start with a button or a key !!!!!! you will make me so happy if i have an answer for her !!!:) we went with onur air to turkey last year and she was speaking a little turkish with the air crew and the captain but was too shy to ask to see inside the cockpit but i dont think your allowed to do that anymore?? when we landed the captain gave her a model airplane and a pilot teddy, she was well chuffed

Great questions! Yes, most modern airliners have wipers, we use them at takeoff and landing in heavy rain but modern aircraft also have hydrophobic windows which repel the water and they work very well.

Small planes I've flown start with a key or button, just like a car. Big ones I've flown start with a switch to suck air through the engine in order to get it turning, then we have another switch to introduce the fuel and ignition source, the rest happens automatically as long as all else is normal. Happy landings!

ATPL 744 16,000 hrs.

Do some pilots fly the same route day in day out or do they hop around, say, Europe till they get home? And could they be on this schedule for week/months?

I've listened to air traffic control a few times and it can be bloody tough to understand in parts. Any funny stories from that? Do all controllers use English at major airports around the world or how does it work?

To be captain do you have to grow a moustache?

Lustrum wrote: »

What's the most spectacular or hardest place you've ever had to fly in to?

Madeira because the wind changes direction about 2 miles out at a a point called Rosario due to a valley....we reported a 15 knot loss to the tower and he just said "1st time into Madeira?"

I've listened to air traffic control a few times and it can be bloody tough to understand in parts. Any funny stories from that? Do all controllers use English at major airports around the world or how does it work?

We're all like that to start but you get your ear into it. To be honest you know 90% or so of what he will say!

When I was flying into Logan in the late 90s there was a lotta chop on the approach and we got a little to high and fast so I called "Shamrock 133 heavy going around" the controller responded "Negative Shamrock Heavey Piper arrow in airfield vicinity" to which I replied "Negative Shamrock 133 Heavy is going around". There was a bit of a kangaroo court case at Logan ATC after that. You cannot do anything without a clearance to do it, but you DO NOT have to accept one if you feel it unsafe! I made a command decision, I would not risk the 200+ people on board so some guy in his arrow could avoid a few bumps.

What's the most dangerous situation you've found yourself in and how did you react to it?

Oil pressure to the number 3 engine on Big Ed(747) was at 0(it read zero) we shud the engine down and kept going on 3 and it turned out to be a faulty gauge...however had the oil pressure actually been 0 and we didnt shut down the engine would have torn itself apart and the wing with it and we'd have been fish food.

We fly different sectors everyday. So today I flew to Toulouse. Tomorrow I might fly to Milan etc.

I used to enjoy flying into Moscow because you never know what to expect. Now I love flying into Dubrovnik and Nice because the visual approaches can be fun and amazing scenery.

If I was starting training again I would go to CTC or Oxford. Expensive but them guys seem to walk into jobs. If you go another way it can take time. I was unemployed for 2 years after training so that's why I think that but others have different opinions so it's what looks good to you at the end of the day.

XWB wrote: »

Oil pressure to the number 3 engine on Big Ed(747) was at 0(it read zero) we shud the engine down and kept going on 3 and it turned out to be a faulty gauge...however had the oil pressure actually been 0 and we didnt shut down the engine would have torn itself apart and the wing with it and we'd have been fish food.

Just on this, how often are instruments faulty or give different readings for pilot and co-pilot? And actually, what do you say to the passengers when something like the above happens?

I'm also interested in the comparisons between flight schools, I have a cousin who was in Jerez and he's doing well for himself anyway.

A big thank you to XWB and Priority Right and all other pilots answering.

Too any pilots who were flying then, what was it like in the days after 9/11 (topical, I know)? Was anyone in that airspace at the time?

I'm guessing it was sombre, eery as to what the future might bring to the industry etc.

XWB wrote: »

When I was flying into Logan in the late 90s there was a lotta chop on the approach and we got a little to high and fast so I called "Shamrock 133 heavy going around" the controller responded "Negative Shamrock Heavey Piper arrow in airfield vicinity" to which I replied "Negative Shamrock 133 Heavy is going around". There was a bit of a kangaroo court case at Logan ATC after that. You cannot do anything without a clearance to do it, but you DO NOT have to accept one if you feel it unsafe! I made a command decision, I would not risk the 200+ people on board so some guy in his arrow could avoid a few bumps.

I understand that you had to go around, but how did you know the piper was not going to be in the way? Just curious

By the way thanks for your contribution so far, it makes very interesting reading.

Mister Jingles wrote: »

One big question I think all people who would love to become a pilot want to know is how much Maths is involved in training and how much do you use when flying ?

Also do you's ever need to use stuff like trigonometry & geometry and all that malarkey which make people fail there leaving cert maths ?

I'm useless at maths. All through school everyone nagged me about having to do honors maths to be a pilot. I didn't. I'm still useless at maths but can do the calculations needed for flying easy enough. I wouldn't worry about it too much. As long as you can add and multiply rapidly in your head and keep a few very simple solutions in your head then you're sorted.

Maths? Rubbish at it. Never really affected me at all. Other than to make the Navigation General exam at tad harder than it should be.

But a good grounding at maths is always a good thing for pilots especially during training.

Really interesting to read this. I have a couple of questions if someone can answer:

On takeoff: how common is it with "tail strike" or close calls and can this occur without passengers noticing it?

In flight: How far can a plane safely "drop" when it hits an air pocket?

On landing: Especially when flying in to Ireland where you have a lot of wind / crosswinds (subjectively, in my experience) when the plane comes in for landing and corrections are made up left wing up right wing (for want of a better description), what is the closest the wings-tips are to the ground or what are the tolerances?

And finally If this makes sense, what is the most technically challenging part of the daily routine (i.e. in preparation or flight)?

JOHNEO wrote: »

concerning health

If it's anyways bad I never fly. Being in a flightdeck feeling poor is hell. If you need the toilet you have to ask the cabin crew to make sure it's safe. So it's not like you can just dash to it if you have a dodgy stomach/something else. It really isn't worth flying when sick. The company doesn't want you too either.

swe_fi wrote: »

Really interesting to read this. I have a couple of questions if someone can answer:

On takeoff: how common is it with "tail strike" or close calls and can this occur without passengers noticing it?

In flight: How far can a plane safely "drop" when it hits an air pocket?

On landing: Especially when flying in to Ireland where you have a lot of wind / crosswinds (subjectively, in my experience) when the plane comes in for landing and corrections are made up left wing up right wing (for want of a better description), what is the closest the wings-tips are to the ground or what are the tolerances?

And finally If this makes sense, what is the most technically challenging part of the daily routine (i.e. in preparation or flight)?

Tail strikes are infrequent. They do happen though. A lot of the time the passengers and the pilots might not know about it. But they will get a warning from systems if plane doesn't pressurize itself.

The tolerances vary wildly depends on the plane. On the airbus we can have around 11ft clearance wingtip to ground and that's alot to play with. On a 747 it's only 4ft. Hence why we can use a bit of wingdown method whereas if you see 747's land in crosswind they usually land sideways into wind and when the wheels are on the ground kick it straight.

I think getting a perfect profile in decent so it's continuous and you're on idle power for as long as possible then intercepting the glide without leveling off is a nice challenge. In Heathrow it's easy in France or Italy it can be challenging as controllers aren't as good.

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.

At or below FL290 we are allowed to disconnect in my company. Most leave it in until near the ILS though as it's mostly just flying in straight lines otherwise.