Now Ye're Talking - to a Commercial Pilot

CruelCoin wrote: »

Why do all pilots speak like this:

"eeeeeeeeeh, this is your pilot eeeeeeeeeh speaking. we're eeeeeeeeeeeh"

You guys up front huffing the O2?


Side question: Why are the pilot announcements so short/infrequent? I love hearing about the plane, the speeds, the tech, etc. Why just the same canned "this height, this time arriving, enjoy" message. Is it just that you get sick of repeating the same stuff?

Eeeeeeeeh, I dunno, eeeeh, could be eeeeeh many things! Like not being taught properly how to do it....

If you are on 6 sectors a day you tend to revert to a standard kind of format; for every person who wants a full breakdown of eveything there is another who doesn't want any more interruptions. On other aircraft the pax have a better map display of where they are, what height etc and estimated time of arrival than we do so there's not a lot of point in telling poeple what they already know.

CruelCoin wrote: »

Do you reckon there will be an open skies agreement in place for the UK prior to their departure from the EU?

If not, any insights you might have on how this might be handled?

I think there will be a transition period, the markets are too big to be let suffer major disruption in my opinion. I've no real idea about how it will be managed, but Easyjet taking up an EU AOC I think shows some idea of how they think it will go...

CruelCoin wrote: »

How long does it take to get comfortable speaking the lingo?

I listen to the ATC streams on my phone from time to time, and i'm fascinated at the rapidness of data transfer you guys can manage with your broadcasts.

If you do it multiple times a day, it comes pretty quick. The trick is trying to slow down when it is busy (just listen to JFK arrivals to get some idea) - if English is not your first language it can be tough....

funkey_monkey wrote: »

How difficult is a crosswind landing?

Have you ever had to reign in a colleague who was operating outside of procedures? If so, how was it received? Or vice versa?

Have the eastern airlines fully got rid of the obedience at all costs to Capt. mindset that resulted in a number of crashes?

Would you fly with Malaysia Airlines?

Crosswinds: Not too difficult, anyone who flies in Ireland will understand that most of your landings are crosswinds so you get a lot of practice...

Procedures: No thankfully.

Eastern airlines: I'm not sure to be honest, cultural things like that are especially difficult to overcome. As generations come and go that does tend to change things naturally, but I can only look at the accident rate as evidence it has changed?

Malaysia: No reason not to (never have by the way)

40now wrote: »

I am not a conspiracy theorist am I won't mention the word "chemtrails" but what are those white streaks that come out of planes? you know the things that look like clouds and hang about in the sky for a long time and have you ever done it?

Hmmmm.....

Sabre0001 wrote: »

Ever tempted to do a barrel roll?

What made you interested in becoming a pilot?

Do you have much downtime between journeys? Do you actually get to see a city that you fly to?

How long do pilots spend practicing the pilot voice for the intercom and do you practice what you're going to say?

Done a few barrel rolls, not in airliner though.....

As ridiculous as it sounds, I used to look at the contrails crossing the sky as a kid and be jealous of all the people who were going somewhere...then I got a ride in a DC3 and that really lit the interest in it.

Sometimes you have really very little time if you do have a layover; get a good kip and relax for a while before srtting off again; I've had multiple days off down route and you can do quite a bit; I do not like being stuck in the hotel room.

Some guys write down what they're going to say, some guys learn off a script. When training in new pilots you'll ask them to tell you what they are going to say and you will listen in. It's amazing how nervous some guys are when nobody is watching!

tmabr wrote: »

i was talking to a few pilots at a party a few years back and they were telling me how boring long haul flights can be,

They said sometimes that they would radio each other to say that a certain area had great turbulence and that they would head towards the turbulent air for the craic to break up the boredom - give them something to do.

or where they just winding me up

It's much simpler than that. The seatbelt sign controls the turbulence. Sign off=turbulence, sign on=smooth flight.

Stephen Hawkins football boots wrote: »

How many air hostesses have u been with?

Like I was told many moons ago:

"When you are a co-pilot you are convinced the captain is getting all the action, when you become a captain you realise nobody is getting any!"

Not my words....

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Where did you train? How did you fund it? Any advice on where and how to train for a modular student? What do you think of the "big 3" schools like CTC?

I trained in the States; I was lucky enough to get help to fund it from my prospective employer. There was no other way I could have afforded to raise the cash.

I'm not well versed enough in the schoold to make recommendations for training but I would always advise anyone to scrutinise a school as closely as possible; is the school more focussed on profit and looking good or is it focussed on the student and the result for that student?

How many resources do they have available? Instructors/planes/maintenance etc. Do students tend to take much longer than advertised in the brochure to complete courses?

I think there are some users in the Aviation forum here who could give you much better answers than I could. But before you part with any kind of large sums of money do your homework is the over-arching advice I would say.

CruelCoin wrote: »

Ever hit a air pocket?

We were in a boeing somewhere over africa on the way home from Kenya.
Cold air into hot, plane dropped 5000feet in a few seconds. The cabin looked like a goddamn snowglobe!

Ever hit mega air turbulence that elicited some screams from the back?

The worst turbulence in the cruise I ever experienced was over mid-Atlantic; much worse than forecast but it didn't go on for too long, no issues in the cabin thankfully.

I do remember that we had diverted once upon from one place where the weather was terrible to somewhere where the weather was just less terrible but at least we could land. A mixture of very pale faces and thankful people that day getting off. Then we refuelled, waitied for our outbound passengers and back off into it...!

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Do you walk around the plane before flying it, have you ever refused to fly due to seeing a problem.

A walkaround is completed either by me or another pilot when we get to the aircraft before every flight. There have been occasions where you do see something that you want sorted before you go, never had an issue about getting it done or even getting another aircraft (despite maybe having to wait a while). It is very much the exception though.

CruelCoin wrote: »

Any examples?

The gaps left between planes landing and arriving at airports seem to be huge.

Do you think there is excessive safety in regards to that?

Could the gaps be shortened and for there to still be an acceptable safety margin?

How do you combat boredom?

If you're not allowed certain devices on board, is there a way to entertain yourself when the autopilot is on?

Is there anything to do when AP is on, or do you brush up on manuals, sleep etc?

Examples are a tyre worn close to limits, damage in and around a cargo door, a light installed the wrong way round (!)...in terms of the number of flights I've done it really is a tiny percentage.

Arrival gaps: There already is a lot of work going on in relation to this. You can look up "wake turbulence recategorisation" for some info on it. Other elements are mostly based around the infrastructure. Gatwick for example shows what can be achieved with a single runway when the infrastructure and procedures are designed to enhance efficiency. Heathrow on the other hand has some of the most efficient arrival and departure procedures about but in order to give them a big increase in throughput they simply need antoher runway.

Gaps could possibly be reduced but all that creates is the more likely possibly of delays when conditions are less than ideal (e.g. Heathrow will place an arrival regulation on aircraft when winds aloft are very strong - could be fine on the ground)

Boredom: well we are allowed to read "non-technical" material as there is an acceptance that doing so helps to maintain your level of alertness throughout the flight, manuals while interesting are not exciting to read for hours on end. Crosswords, sudoku, stuff like that. Sometimes depending on who you are working with you could be talking the whole day...

We are also allowed to take rest on the flight deck but it is subject to strict rules but it is eminently sensible as rest is the only way to combat fatigue....

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Is it true that pilot and co-pilot have to pick different foods so they won't be both sick in the event of rotten food ?

When you sit in as a passenger for your own holidays or whatever, would you spend the entire flight analyzing it and thinking of technical details, or do you just switch off and enjoy, or do you prefer to avoid flying on personal time ?

Is there an element of management between pilots and flight attendants, or do they come in and do their job, while you come in to do your job with a completely separate agenda ?

Yes that is true - I got a bad dose of gastroenteritis from a crew meal once upon a time. When it came on I was at home and not at work but it was a week off feeling miserable! After that I actually virtually stopped eating the food on board.

For a time I was always keeping an eye on what was going on and not really relaxing when I was a passenger but that passed and now I don't really think about it at all, get comfortable, read a book or listen to music (noise cancelling headphones really are brilliant). A couple of times I have deliberately avoided going anywhere near the airport when on holiday...

Yes there is an element of management of the total team on board, you have to be able to coordinate when things are going wrong and in reality there is a constant flow of information of how things are progressing during flight between everyone anyhow. Having said that you have to let people do their job, I am not there to tell them what to do for service, I'm not there to check up on them, you have to trust they know their job and responsbilities in the same way they do for us. What you do have to do is instil confidence that you can lead them and they can trust you. Letting people get on with their work without constantly managing them is a great way to get people confident in their role.