Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Blogformation My New Years Resolution
Blogformation My New Years Resolution
#blog #aviation #avgeek #newyearsresolution
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WORLD!!!
Its been an adventure, to say the least! Look for my "Best of" links below, after todays post!
Speaking of which . . .
HAPPY 100 Commercial Aviation!
Heres a cool link about it with some fun pics: http://www.businessinsider.com/1914-first-commercial-flight-price-anniversary-2013-12
and now . . .
Its Blogging in Formation Week!
New for 2014: 2 BiF posts/day, from 1 GA pilot & 1 Airline pilot!
New for 2014: 2 BiF posts/day, from 1 GA pilot & 1 Airline pilot!
Jan. 1: Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley
Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt
Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt
Jan. 2: House of Rapp - Ron Rapp
Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier
Jan. 3: iFLYblog - Brent Owens
And please Welcome Aboard our newest Blogging in Formation member, Mark L. Berry!
Mark blogs at: http://marklberry.com
See more about Mark after this post, below!
This Months Theme: My New Years Resolution!
So, lets cut to the chase . . .
My New Year’s Resolution:
Turn off the *&^% and Fly!
As most of you know, I recently wrote an article for nycaviation.com entitled, Do Commercial Pilots Really “Suck” at Manual Flying? (http://www.nycaviation.com/2013/11/commercial-pilots-really-suck-manual-flying/#.Uqkg5pFItFw)
In it, I detailed a new FAA study which posits that the “greatest risk” in today’s cockpit is 1.) Over-reliance on automation leading to complacency, and 2.) Lack of understanding of automation, leading to a reluctance to, well, “Turn off the magic and fly.”
While I take issue with the FAA’s premise that it’s “our greatest risk” (see an upcoming NYCA post where I, Karlene Petitt and others write about pilot fatigue), I did generally agree with the above two points.
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Today’s airliners are six times safer than your own bathtub.
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Today’s airline pilots fly the safest airplanes in history. They are the best-trained pilots in the world, operating in an environment that has become six times safer than your own bathtub. But pilots are human, and therefore prone to human error.
ANATOMY OF AN AIRLINE FLIGHT
You board your plane,
take your seat,
strap in.
The door closes.
The plane pushes back.
In the cockpit, what’s happening?
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You board your plane, strap in. The door closes.
In the cockpit, what’s happening?
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In a nutshell:
—After the tug disconnects and the engines are started, the Captain taxies the plane out to the active runway. He steers with his hand tiller and stops with the toe brakes on his rudder pedals.
—Cleared for Takeoff: The PF (“Pilot Flying”—either Captain or First Officer) takes the controls, runs the thrust up, steers with the rudders. The PNF (“Pilot Not Flying”) calls, “V1…Vr…” The PF rotates (pulls the stick back), the plane lifts off and flies.
—PNF: “Positive Rate” PF: “Gear Up” The PNF raises the gear handle and the landing gear sucks up into the gear wells.
At this point, 95% of the time for 95% of the pilots, the PF engages the “Autopilot.” (On the new RNAV departures, this is actually required for precision maneuvering.)
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| The infamous "Otto Pilot!" |
From here on out, except for special cases, the airplane is flown entirely on autopilot. While most modern aircraft can “autoland” (land on autopilot), most of the time the PF disconnects the autopilot—usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000’ AGL—and lands manually.
Make no mistake, at all times while the autopilot is engaged, the PF is “flying.” That is, s/he is telling the autopilot what to do.
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For airliners, flying is nothing.
Managing the flight is everything.
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Think of today’s autopilot as a fancy, 3-D Cruise Control. You use your CC in the car to relieve you from the mundane burden of constantly adjusting the accelerator.
This frees his mind up to take in the “Big Picture”—watch for other traffic, monitor the radio frequency, monitor performance and deal with other issues.
This type of flying—monitoring an autopilot—may not seem as romantic as Luke Skywalker “keeping it on manual for a while,” but believe you me, this is the safest way to travel.
As I’ve said in the past, When it comes to airliners, flying is nothing. Managing the flight is everything.
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| "I just want you to know: were all counting on your Otto-Pilot." |
Here’s the problem—and this is one of the main points the FAA is driving at:
all this “managing” and no “flying” makes Jack a dull pilot.
In Fifi (our affectionate name for the Airbus), this is doubly true.
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All this “managing” and no “flying” makes Jack a dull pilot.
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Those who have taken basic flight training know that there are several controls you constantly have to manage:
—the stick, or yoke, controlling up/down, right/left.
—the rudder pedals, coordinating turns with the stick to keep the plane flying efficiently (also used for directional control on the ground, and for landing in crosswinds.)
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