The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

Cessna_Pilot

Again to quote;
"When runway is in sight and at or above 100ft or 50ft(dependent on approach catagory) autoland is disengaged"

When I last in for my recurrent training we had a little time at the end to practice some non prescribed stuff.
I asked could we do a manual disconnect at a rad alt of 50 foot on a cat 3a to mins. The result was not pleasant.

As Boeingboy says there, it is extremely dangerous and a reread out your company's manuals is certainly a priority, perhaps before you go flying again. I personally don't believe that an airline has doing this written into it's SOPs.

NewSigGuy

LeftBase wrote: »

When I answer here I try and state things in simple enough terms for those who are not dealing with the daily abbreviations and technical terms etc.

To clarify the issues raised. We are advised to use autoland for CAT II/III however we have a Decision Height of 100ft(CAT II) or 50ft(CAT III) at which we must be able to make out the significant characteristics of the runway and we are not permitted to fly autoland to touch down. When runway is in sight and at or above 100ft or 50ft(dependent on approach catagory) autoland is disengaged. If at DH we do not have visual reference we go around. If the crosswind is above 20kts and autoland cannot be used we can operate down to 100ft which is the DH for those conditions. Commanders are advised to divert after one failed attempt in this case.

Company will not allow us to operate without a DH.

So does your company stipulate that all CAT 111 approaches are to a manual landing.. Seams a little odd!

ProfessorPlum

In fairness to left base, he did say earlier that CAT3 approaches would normally be to autoland, and I think he was trying to clarify that of course you could disconnect and land manually at anytime if visual references are sufficient.
Wrt disconnecting the AP at low level, he flies an A320, and disconnecting to complete the landing manually is allowed in the event that a failure may make autoland impossible - as Basill said earlier. It's not illegal, and I've never experienced any untoward pitch changes, so it's not dangerous. Maybe the type you guys are on is different.

Rabbitt

Can those Aer Lingus Regional planes take off if they loose an engine/propellor while on takeoff?

Growler!!!

Rabbitt wrote: »

Can those Aer Lingus Regional planes take off if they loose an engine/propellor while on takeoff?

Yes indeed they can. Even if they lose an engine or something is loose:)

Lapmo_Dancer

It is approved procedure on the ATR to disconnect the AP at 50' Rad Alt on a CAT II approach. Happens quite quickly, lights at 100' - 3 consecutive including a lateral element; disconnect at 50' and at 20' close the Power Levers and flare.

Rabbitt

Growler!!! wrote: »

Yes indeed they can. Even if they lose an engine or something is loose:)

Phew. Probably gonna be flying on one soon so trying to reassure myself they are good planes

boeingboy

Lapmo_Dancer wrote: »

It is approved procedure on the ATR to disconnect the AP at 50' Rad Alt on a CAT II approach. Happens quite quickly, lights at 100' - 3 consecutive including a lateral element; disconnect at 50' and at 20' close the Power Levers and flare.

We were talking about Aircraft that Autoland off a Cat 3A approach. With a Cat 3B the problems not there if u continue with a 0 feet DH.

Those new ATRs are nice, I was very impressed with the Cockpit Layout and Crew Procedures on my recent Cockpit Jumpride to DUB.

Nice Lady Captain

Growler!!!

Lapmo_Dancer wrote: »

It is approved procedure on the ATR to disconnect the AP at 50' Rad Alt on a CAT II approach. Happens quite quickly, lights at 100' - 3 consecutive including a lateral element; disconnect at 50' and at 20' close the Power Levers and flare.

Check out the new guy! That's nearly word for word from OMB.

Rabbitt wrote: »

Phew. Probably gonna be flying on one soon so trying to reassure myself they are good planes

They are good aircraft, no need to worry. If you're really concerned it might ease your mind that all the worst scenarios you can think of are practiced in the simulator every 6 months.

TheBoss11

Iv a question. What is reverse trust and what does it do to the airplane?

Locker10a

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Iv a question. What is reverse trust and what does it do to the airplane?

Im not a pilot or anything but it kind of does what it sounds like it does! It reverses or redirects the thrust of the engine in order to slow down the aircraft on the runway upon landing!! Its the roar you hear after the aircraft touches down on the runway when landing. Make no mistake though, while the engines have a reverse feature the plane cant fly backwards :p;):D

Lapmo_Dancer

They obviously can't fly backwards but some aircraft, have the facility to "power back" on the ground. It's dependent on operator and airport approval.

IRLConor

Lapmo_Dancer wrote: »

They obviously can't fly backwards but some aircraft, have the facility to "power back" on the ground. It's dependent on operator and airport approval.

I know it's a military and not civil aircraft, but it's something they like to show off with the C-17:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLlRqjAEWMo

EDIT: Here's some footage of an ATR doing it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiDbmr7H2so

cliffordg90

What would you recommend the best route would be to go down to become an Airline Pilot? When the funding for an FTO is unavailable?

TheBoss11

cliffordg90 wrote: »

What would you recommend the best route would be to go down to become an Airline Pilot? When the funding for an FTO is unavailable?

I'm not a pilot but I'd assume Military would be your only other option, or you can get a cadetship but that's extremely difficult to get into and even at that you still have to pay a portion of the costs.

keith16

What are the circular things here (with the white markings) and why do they spin around?

basill

Stab trim. On the Airbus they don't spin like on a Boeing and make lots of noise and risk taking off your hand. You hardly notice them move actually.

adam88

basill wrote: »

Stab trim. On the Airbus they don't spin like on a Boeing and make lots of noise and risk taking off your hand. You hardly notice them move actually.

What they used for

keith16

basill wrote: »

Stab trim. On the Airbus they don't spin like on a Boeing and make lots of noise and risk taking off your hand. You hardly notice them move actually.

So trim is the angle of attack? Do they only provide a visual reference, you don't grab them to control the trim do you? :pac:

ProfessorPlum

keith16 wrote: »

So trim is the angle of attack? Do they only provide a visual reference, you don't grab them to control the trim do you? :pac:

It basically changes the angle of the horizontal stabiliser, to take the load off the stick. And you only use them to set the trim for take off, or if the sh1t really hits the fan and the aircraft ends up in a very degraded state you might have to use it. That would be a very bad day.

IngazZagni

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

It basically changes the angle of the horizontal stabiliser, to take the load off the stick. And you only use them to set the trim for take off, or if the sh1t really hits the fan and the aircraft ends up in a very degraded state you might have to use it. That would be a very bad day.

On Boeing aircraft you manually adjust the stab trim regularly during manual flight. It's automatic when the autopilot is engaged. During manual flight it is controlled via a switch on the control column and it is used all the time for small adjustments. On the Airbus this is done automatically all the time I believe.

ProfessorPlum

IngazZagni wrote: »

On Boeing aircraft you manually adjust the stab trim regularly during manual flight. It's automatic when the autopilot is engaged. During manual flight it is controlled via a switch on the control column and it is used all the time for small adjustments. On the Airbus this is done automatically all the time I believe.

Yep. The pic is an airbus, and it's only used manually as I've said.

Suasdaguna1

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

That would be a very bad day.

Professor, it would be a day for pints and medals !

keith16

Suasdaguna1 wrote: »

Professor, it would be a day for pints and medals !

Some baked goods and confectionary perhaps? :P

ProfessorPlum

Suasdaguna1 wrote: »

Professor, it would be a day for pints and medals !

I will glady forsake the pints and medals to avoid that day. My aim is a nice, boring day at work

eatmyshorts

IngazZagni wrote: »

On Boeing aircraft you manually adjust the stab trim regularly during manual flight.

Not on the 777. It will trim automatically for thrust, gear and flap changes, but has to be manually trimmed only for speed changes.
It's a bit of a mish-mash, probably done to placate the anti-Airbus crowd who would go mad if it had full auto-trim.

When someone comes out with the usual "but I like to know what the controls are doing" line when denigrating the Airbus philosophy of non-moving sidestick/thrust levers, I always point out that on the 777, we can't see what the stab trim is doing as the only indication is a small display indicator either side of the thrust lever quadrant. Usually takes them a few minutes to think about that one!

Fame and Demise

When adjusting the flaps, and you'd say e.g. flaps 15, what does the 15 mean? Is it 15", 15 degrees, or something else?

amen

It basically changes the angle of the horizontal stabiliser

Is the Tail not also trimable?

youknowwho

amen wrote: »

Is the Tail not also trimable?

I assume you mean the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Generally on large aircraft all the control surfaces can be trimmed to allow straight and level flight if for instance an engine failed. Light aircraft tend to only have elevator trim.

AFIK propeller aircraft can also tend to yaw at high power settings and the rudder trim allows this to be compensated for.

youknowwho

Fame and Demise wrote: »

When adjusting the flaps, and you'd say e.g. flaps 15, what does the 15 mean? Is it 15", 15 degrees, or something else?

Degrees - I believe Boeings have a number of settings and Airbus only have 3 but the professionals in here will be able to comment on the different settings.