The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

fr336

eatmyshorts wrote: »

Not a good start. What's up with your generation wanting everything handed to them on a plate?

Wow.

martinsvi

stubble1 wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm going into my 3rd year in college, doing an IT course. After my LC I was mad to become a pilot and was seriously considering it, but I just looked at it from my parents point of view and felt the training was just too expensive.

I'm 20 now and I enjoy the course I am doing, after 3rd year I will hopefully have a degree and IT graduates walk into jobs with ease these days (hopefully it will be the same for me).

As someone employed in "IT" for 10+ years now I thought I just pitch by saying only good candidates walk into jobs with ease.. not everyone is good. So to say - don't let your guard down, you still have to work for it.

stubble1 wrote: »

But my love of aviation and aircraft is still in me, I'm beginning to consider doing the following: working in IT for a few years, saving up a bit then go off to hopefully obtain a private pilots license and work my way up from there.

Am I mad? I could be 24 or 25 by the time the opportunity presents itself. But I feel that I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don't at least have a go.

no you're not mad at all, that's how many people start out, I'm pretty much doing the same except I'm nearly 30 now.. If you think about it, at 25 or 30 years you still have 30+ years of work ahead of you, you better be sure you spend them doing what you love.

stubble1 wrote: »

Why does pilot training have to be so bloody expensive!

planes are really expensive!

stubble1 wrote: »

Apologies in advance if something like this has been asked in this thread already, but I'm too lazy to scroll through it!
Thanks guys.

that's your loss really... have you seen the pile of books you have to go through for mere PPL? (not even to mention ATPL).. PPL/ATPL requires a LOT of reading, so if you're really considering in, this thread is a good warm up!

easygoing1982

stubble1 wrote: »

Apologies in advance if something like this has been asked in this thread already, but I'm too lazy to scroll through it!

if you can stubble i would edit your post and delete this part. so fair most of the replies are in direct response to this

stubble1

martinsvi wrote: »

As someone employed in "IT" for 10+ years now I thought I just pitch by saying only good candidates walk into jobs with ease.. not everyone is good. So to say - don't let your guard down, you still have to work for it.



no you're not mad at all, that's how many people start out, I'm pretty much doing the same except I'm nearly 30 now.. If you think about it, at 25 or 30 years you still have 30+ years of work ahead of you, you better be sure you spend them doing what you love.


planes are really expensive!



that's your loss really... have you seen the pile of books you have to go through for mere PPL? (not even to mention ATPL).. PPL/ATPL requires a LOT of reading, so if you're really considering in, this thread is a good warm up!

"you better be sure you spend them doing what you love", my exact thoughts and why I posted this question! Don't get me wrong I really like my course but I've travelled around a good bit now and enjoy flying, but to do all that as a pilot would be a whole new level!

Thanks for the help guys.

stubble1

fr336 wrote: »

Wow.

Yes i thought eatmyshorts' comment was a bit out of order as well.

el tel

stubble1 wrote: »

I'm just asking for bit of help and advise bud leave out the bitterness. I'm sure similar questions have been asked hundreds of times before and answered every time.

Good edit there! I think you deleted the bit about not wanting to spend 7 hours sitting at a computer screen?

In which case, if you don't like sitting gawping for hours at not much happening on a computer screen then perhaps neither IT nor flying is for you :pac:

But on the bright side, if you think flying training is expensive, you don't want to be paying for astronaut trailing...it's astronomical.

tricky D

Instead of being lazy and emotional, be smart and pay attention to detail: Using the search functions www.boards.ie/search/submit/?query=how+to+become+an+airline+pilot has already been suggested to you by eatmyshorts but for some reason you have missed that very helpful detail. No hours required, just a few seconds and you have all the advice threads you could hope for, but you'll still have plenty of reading up to do.

You're going to need to work much better at finding the right info for yourself. You won't be able to afford being lazy or relying too much on having others to help you with the huge amounts of info and literature you'll be dealing with.

/2c

smurfjed

Reference from avherald.com

A Korean Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration HL8211 performing flight KE-962 from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to Seoul (South Korea) with 186 passengers, was climbing out of Riyadh's runway 33R when a loud bang was heard from the left hand engine (PW4168A) prompting the crew to level off at about 6000 feet MSL, shut the engine down and return to Riyadh for a safe landing on runway 33L about 30 minutes after departure.
A replacement Airbus A330-200 registration HL8228 departed Riyadh the following day and reached Seoul with a delay of 25 hours.
On Jul 28th 2015 the French BEA reported in their weekly bulletin that the left hand engine stalled at about 500 feet AGL followed by its EGT showing over limit and ENG 1 FAIL ECAM warning. The engine was shut down and the aircraft returned to Riyadh. The occurrence was rated a serious incident and is being investigated by Saudi Arabia's Accident Investigation Board.

Does the A330 have fuel dumping capabilities?

tricky D

Customer option according to wiki.

eatmyshorts

smurfjed wrote: »

Reference from avherald.com



Does the A330 have fuel dumping capabilities?

As tricky D said, it's a customer option. Some do, some don't.

Stealthirl

Listening to a aviation podcast the other day and 2 questions came into my head.

1) Do any of you listen to aviation podcast like Airline Pilot Guy/Airplane geek podcast ect

2) Do you undergo any type of simulation for hypoxia ?

In the podcast they were talking about a device that simulates hypoxia but on the ground in a sim.

smurfjed

1: No
2: No

I have seen the hypoxia simulator advertised, but we cant get our bosses to pay for it

JCX BXC

A hypoxia simulator? How would that work?!?!?

Growler!!!

Carnacalla wrote: »

A hypoxia simulator? How would that work?!?!?

http://youtu.be/WTNX6mr753w

Something like this.

Stealthirl

I meant something more like this
http://www.flyingmag.com/real-hypoxia-training-flightsafety

Just seamed strange that there is a lot of training for pilots to experience all emergency situations but had not see anything relating to hypoxia training or experience outside of some militaries

rudders

Really dumb question here but how does one learn to fly a micro light if they only have 1 seat? Where would the instructor sit?

smurfjed

Really dumb question

In a 2 seater version :)

martinsvi

rudders wrote: »

Really dumb question here but how does one learn to fly a micro light if they only have 1 seat? Where would the instructor sit?

most microlights have 2 seats

danube

I see a few people on this thread have failed the medical because they have a lazy eye. I have a lazy right eye as well as double vision because of a squint . But I do have 20/20 vision in my left eye. Does this surely put me out?
I think I read somewhere that having a squint does not automatically disqualify you. I did pass a medical for the army and the tester even said that I had good eyesight!

smurfjed

http://airfactsjournal.com/2015/07/archives-leighton-collins-flies-747-paris/ This is a fun read and shows how times have changed

eatmyshorts

smurfjed wrote: »

http://airfactsjournal.com/2015/07/archives-leighton-collins-flies-747-paris/ This is a fun read and shows how times have changed

Brings back memories of using the old Litton Carousel INS. Only held 7 way points at a time in it's memory. Each new one had to be entered, by lat and long coordinates as space became available! Regaining DME/DME updating after an oceanic crossing resulted in the LNAV wandering around like a dog pissing in snow!

smurfjed

DC-6 First Officers and Flight Engineers. XXXXX Air Cargo has openings for Alaska Based DC-6 First Officers and Flight Engineers with good flying skills and a strong work ethic. These positions offer potential opportunity to advance to a management position.
DC-6 First Officers: Must have an ATP or a current ATP written to be considered. A DC-6 Type Rating is preferred but not required.

Where on earth do you get a DC-6 type rating these days?

Shannon757

smurfjed wrote: »

Where on earth do you get a DC-6 type rating these days?

Maybe the Pan Am flight academy?

jasonb

smurfjed wrote: »

http://airfactsjournal.com/2015/07/archives-leighton-collins-flies-747-paris/ This is a fun read and shows how times have changed

Great article, as are the others mentioned it in (Constellation and 707). Thanks for posting it...

J.

smurfjed

A day in the life of a corporate pilot.....

SANTO DOMINGO: Four Frenchmen were sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison in the Dominican Republic for drug trafficking.
Pilot Pascal Fauret, co-pilot Bruno Odos, passenger Nicolas Pisapia and alleged broker Alain Castany were arrested in March 2013 as they were about to take off from the Caribbean resort of Punta Cana.
Dominican authorities say they were preparing to take off in a mid-size Dassault Falcon 50 jet with 26 suitcases carrying 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine.
After deliberations lasting 10 hours, the court found the men guilty of the "crime of associating to ... possess illegal drugs."

Dean.

I am 19 yo just starting college in September (Aviation Technology). I love planes and flying in general. When I go on holidays it's one of the best parts of the experience for me.

All my life I have wanted to be a pilot and I know how expensive it is but, if I stayed focused and was determined to be a pilot would it be worth it in the end? I know my love for flying will never change so you don't have to tell me that but is it still possible to be a successful pilot in todays world?

I don't care much for 200K+ salaries as such but would like to be able to get by.

Dean.

I am 19 yo just starting college in September (Aviation Technology). I love planes and flying in general. When I go on holidays it's one of the best parts of the experience for me.

All my life I have wanted to be a pilot and I know how expensive it is but, if I stayed focused and was determined to be a pilot would it be worth it in the end? I know my love for flying will never change so you don't have to tell me that but is it still possible to be a successful pilot in todays world?

I don't care much for 200K+ salaries as such but would like to be able to get by.

Negative_G

Dean. wrote: »

I am 19 yo just starting college in September (Aviation Technology). I love planes and flying in general. When I go on holidays it's one of the best parts of the experience for me.

All my life I have wanted to be a pilot and I know how expensive it is but, if I stayed focused and was determined to be a pilot would it be worth it in the end? I know my love for flying will never change so you don't have to tell me that but is it still possible to be a successful pilot in todays world?

I don't care much for 200K+ salaries as such but would like to be able to get by.

Flying for enjoyment and flying for a living are two very different things in my mind.

I think you will find it hard to find it hard to find a pilot, airline or otherwise, who underwent all the training that is involved who will openly say they regret it.

Have you taken any introductory flight lessons?

Fyi, the glamour days of flying are long gone and I would expect you would struggle to find many pilots on anywhere near 200,000 a year.

Lockheed

Dean. wrote: »

I am 19 yo just starting college in September (Aviation Technology). I love planes and flying in general. When I go on holidays it's one of the best parts of the experience for me.

All my life I have wanted to be a pilot and I know how expensive it is but, if I stayed focused and was determined to be a pilot would it be worth it in the end? I know my love for flying will never change so you don't have to tell me that but is it still possible to be a successful pilot in todays world?

I don't care much for 200K+ salaries as such but would like to be able to get by.

In this day and age, if you want to fly because you love flying, it's best to go to college, get a good paying job, getting your PPL and buying your own private plane, and fly it on the weekends or such. Going for the whole airline pilot thing wuld cost in excess of 75,000 euro for what is not a brilliant paying job.

martinsvi

Dean. wrote: »

I am 19 yo just starting college in September (Aviation Technology). I love planes and flying in general. When I go on holidays it's one of the best parts of the experience for me.

All my life I have wanted to be a pilot and I know how expensive it is but, if I stayed focused and was determined to be a pilot would it be worth it in the end? I know my love for flying will never change so you don't have to tell me that but is it still possible to be a successful pilot in todays world?

I don't care much for 200K+ salaries as such but would like to be able to get by.

at 19 you should be able to do a bit of a research on the profession you claim to love so much.. I mean seriously there are 12 yo's who can find Tinder yet you seem to somehow missed pprune?

200k+ salaries? what are you talking about? there are people literally paying to fly! Pay to fly - p2f - look it up!

also read this - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057480804

Dean.

martinsvi wrote:

200k+ salaries? what are you talking about? there are people literally paying to fly! Pay to fly - p2f - look it up!

I never claimed that pilots make this much at all. Was just saying I wouldn't be doing it in hope for some crazy ass salary.

bkehoe

Dean. wrote: »

I never claimed that pilots make this much at all. Was just saying I wouldn't be doing it in hope for some crazy ass salary.

200k debt and 50k gross annual income is more like it. OK OK, maybe not quite that much debt, but 150k is easily achievable if you pay for type rating, etc.

smurfjed

200k+ salaries?

That's about the average airline Captains salary where i work :) But its a long slog from your CPL to left seat for a foreign carrier.

Dean.

bkehoe wrote:

200k debt and 50k gross annual income is more like it. OK OK, maybe not quite that much debt, but 150k is easily achievable if you pay for type rating, etc.

Yes I believe the type ratings can be anywhere from 30k onwards. Quite sickening actually after paying nearly 100k for all that training !!

I have been looking into Bartolini Air in Lodz, Poland. Their full ATPL costs just 45k with accomodation and meals included plus all course material, exam fees, landing fees etc...pretty unbelievable considering the cheapest I can seem to find here in Ireland is from 75k onwards.

smurfjed wrote:

That's about the average airline Captains salary where i work But its a long slog from your CPL to left seat for a foreign carrier.

Well that may be why I actually said it. I recall reading a forum a few months ago. It spoke of captain who flys for Aer Lingus who makes 21,000 p/m!!!

Although, I was in no way suggesting that is the normal salary to be expected these days.

Dean.

http://www.flyinpoland.com

Tenger

Dean. wrote: »

.................
Well that may be why I actually said it. I recall reading a forum a few months ago. It spoke of captain who flys for Aer Lingus who makes 21,000 p/m!!!.....

Might have been that way 10 years ago. EI have cut back on salaries. I'd hazard a guess at half that figure.

KoolKid

Hi Guys just curious. Is there any method used in the naming of standard approach patterns?

smurfjed

Yep, governed by ICAO Annex 11

APPENDIX 3. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE IDENTIFICATION OF STANDARD DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL ROUTES
AND ASSOCIATED PROCEDURES

KoolKid

Thanks.
Found plenty on it here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057117361

Newbie1000

Hi,

I have noticed a white bubble on the roof of Aer Lingus' A330 aircraft recently (may have always been there but just noticed) ; anyone know what it is there for? Is it the wi-fi or is that too obvious?

Thanks

Bigcheeze

Newbie1000 wrote: »

Hi,

I have noticed a white bubble on the roof of Aer Lingus' A330 aircraft recently (may have always been there but just noticed) ; anyone know what it is there for? Is it the wi-fi or is that too obvious?

Thanks

Yeah it's the wifi. The bubble creates extra drag which adds to fuel cost.

Newbie1000

Thanks

mhiggy09

Hi just a quick question. Does constantly flying have an impact on your body and if so how?

smurfjed

Yep, fatigue and greater exposure to radiation. There is also a lot of discussion in the UK about the health impact of oil getting into aircraft air circulation systems, prolonged exposure to this air has caused a number of problems for crewmembers.

http://aerotoxic.org/about-aerotoxic-syndrome/

smurfjed

Emirates are coming to town, 18th/19th Sept. They recently changed their requirements down to 1500 hours with no aircraft type requirements.
Some might find it an interesting change from FR.

Growler!!!

You'll need an ATPL also. An actual one, not a frozen one! Might go and have a look, along with the rest of my colleagues no doubt.

pepe the prawn

smurfjed wrote: »

Emirates are coming to town, 18th/19th Sept. They recently changed their requirements down to 1500 hours with no aircraft type requirements.
Some might find it an interesting change from FR.

I've seen the online advertisements for it recently, great news for pilots looking to broaden their horizons. What's the reason for a recruitment roadshow, surely they are inundated with applications without having to go out looking for people? Or is the pilot shortage we've been hearing about actually starting to materialise...

jamo2oo9

pepe the prawn wrote: »

I've seen the online advertisements for it recently, great news for pilots looking to broaden their horizons. What's the reason for a recruitment roadshow, surely they are inundated with applications without having to go out looking for people? Or is the pilot shortage we've been hearing about actually starting to materialise...

The pilot shortage has already materialised a bit this year especially in Asia. I would imagine that Middle East is starting to feel it now.

Growler!!!

There is a shortage of experienced pilots always has been. Emirates may have changed their application policy but they will still have preference for guys with over 3000 jet hours.

The problem is getting that first step on the ladder. Once you begin flying for a living the company will try and max your hours each year so your logbook fills up fast.

Any movement upwards leaves places below for newly minted commercial pilots to start. So any movement such as with emirates can only be a good thing.

smurfjed

As an outsider I used this think that Emirates was an airline of first choice, but in the quest for financial profits and personal bonuses it has changed dramatically.
Pilots are now rostered to fly around 90 hours stick time a month, with bunk time, training, online training etc are not counted. Combining this with a route structure that almost spans the globe and minimum rest layovers and the crew fatigue levels have increased. They have stopped upgrade classes due to crew shortages which in turn annoys the first officers who had an expectation of getting command with x years.
Dubai has had runaway inflation for the last number of years and the salaries aren't that great, ok they are better than most Irish based pilots take home pay, but they are still low for the amount of flying done.
Throw in their medical services and the impossible task of getting flights that people bid, or days off or even vacation, and people are getting tired, frustrated and have a desire to leave.
The next big question becomes where do they go? For a while it was Turkish as I believe they offered 8 days off per month, this basically means that your family will now be based in Dublin. Some others have moved to other Middle Eastern airlines and this used to be unheard of, it was always the other way around. And I understand that some even went back to Ryanair.
So over time the attraction of the big shiny jets in the Middle East has worn off, people with the hours and experience that Emirates required just don't appear to be interested. So HR just dumped their experience requirements down to a basic ATPL with 1500 hours, suddenly they have opened to door to CRJ pilots, P2F pilots from Asia and even ATR guys (sorry Growler :)) Does it mean that people will get hired with that experience, I dont know, but it allows HR to scream that they have lots of candidates and therefore the rot doesn't have to change.

I think that as you get older, it becomes a case of not what you fly, but achieving your required quality of life, if you are earning enough to live on, and think that you can stay in your company until retirement, then stay there