Ask The Pilot

[petercr]

JB, whats the chances of multiple portions of those scenarios happening together in real life? Do they throw worst case after case at you just to keep you on your toes?
Thanks - was a very interesting read and made my working day yesterday seem like a picnic.

 

[jb747]

JB, whats the chances of multiple portions of those scenarios happening together in real life? Do they throw worst case after case at you just to keep you on your toes?
Thanks - was a very interesting read and made my working day yesterday seem like a picnic.

No, that's pretty pointless. You can overload anyone, and even maxing someone out will almost certainly result in them not actually remembering anything much of the sim.

The sessions also have to be very repeatable. Everyone gets the same basic session...otherwise it wouldn't really be possible to fairly assess them.

Things that happen in the real world do make their way into the sim sessions. Shortly after QF30 happened, depressurisations always seemed to cause autopilot and electrical issues. The current session is a bit of meld of QF30 and 32, with the combination nasty engine failure and depressurisation.

Any session that has so much in it that you start dumping things as soon as they are done (as actually happens with real world problems) has little training value.

 

[por930]

I would imagine a benefit the simulator is to safely practice a few 'unusual occurrences' and then the normal company operations stuff to make sure unsafe practices do not creep in.

On another matter. I have some times noticed when looking at FR24 the 388 flights: QF1, EK413 and EK407, to Dubai some time take a very South Westerly path out of Australia..eg, over Port Augusta and then a big arc turning North. Is this to do with a jet stream or other weather event that causes the "less direct" flight?

 

[jb747]

On another matter. I have some times noticed when looking at FR24 the 388 flights: QF1, EK413 and EK407, to Dubai some time take a very South Westerly path out of Australia..eg, over Port Augusta and then a big arc turning North. Is this to do with a jet stream or other weather event that causes the "less direct" flight?

Flight plans can be affected by many things (overflight charges, volcanoes, restricted areas, etc). The system normally runs a whole set of possible flight paths, looking for the minimum cost. That will generally be the fastest, but not always. Many weather 'events' that are nasty on the ground, aren't all that much of a problem in flight. Moving 20 or even 50 miles off track will get you around most things.

 

[777]

I drop dead.

Curious: how many times have you died and how many passengers have you killed in the simulator over your career?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

When we come back, it's all low vis sequences. These are always flown by the captain.

Does the FO ever get to practice the low vis sequences? What happens if the captain is not around (as a result of some emergency) to handle them?

 

[jb747]

Curious: how many times have you died and how many passengers have you killed in the simulator over your career?

One or the other of us dropping dead is just a way of starting an incapacitation exercise. And I guess they figure the old blokes are more likely...

I've never crashed the sim (that I can recall), so I guess my passengers have all survived.

 

[jb747]

Does the FO ever get to practice the low vis sequences? What happens if the captain is not around (as a result of some emergency) to handle them?

No. The low vis procedures are only ever flown by the captain. If I've dropped dead, he'll almost certainly just divert to an airfield that does not require a Cat II/III landing. Autolands are never done by the FO, irrespective of the conditions.

 

[mikenz]

I've never crashed the sim (that I can recall), so I guess my passengers have all survived.

JB - Do pilots ever crash the sim? What would happen in that situation?

 

[mikenz]

What's involved in moving from FO to Captain? I imagine there would be lots of training to handle the additional flying duties, but do they alslo need to go through more 'leadership' type training? Or would they only be selected if they already had good leadership qualities?

 

[jb747]

JB - Do pilots ever crash the sim? What would happen in that situation?

I'm sure it happens, but, the sim instructors would always try to ensure that the motion is off before it happens. They can do that very quickly, and I'm sure they'd see it coming. I'm told that the sims can actually be damaged if allowed to 'crash', so I won't try to test it out.

I've seen the sim go ape, and simply stop responding to inputs. There are emergency cutoff switches that are within everyones' reach, though I've never seen one used.

 

[jb747]

What's involved in moving from FO to Captain? I imagine there would be lots of training to handle the additional flying duties, but do they alslo need to go through more 'leadership' type training? Or would they only be selected if they already had good leadership qualities?

Different airlines have very different systems and standards. In some, it's not much more than turning up with a different uniform (well, there's training, but it doesn't take long, and nobody fails). In QF mainline, it takes about 5 months.

There are assessments of FOs prior to being allocated a slot, so some might not even be allowed to try a training slot. Basically, there's about 15 sim sessions (and there can be a few more if you are simultaneously changing aircraft types). There is some form of leadership training, but I think that is actually done as a separate item, and is required prior to being allocated a slot. Leadership, or lack thereof, will become very evident during the sims and flying in any case. I don't know anything about the 737 training...but on long haul you require approximately 25 sectors before the final check, so you're looking at a couple of hundred hours, and about 4 months of line training. In days past, it was less hours, simply because the average sector length was less. The training captains don't have to generate issues...it's amazing how many will appear in that time, from all sorts of sources.

Very few fail for not being able to fly to an adequate standard. Most trip up on leadership issues. I expect the most common errors are the 'one man band' and the mini Hitler. I work on the simple theory that the company gives me a well qualified crew to go flying with, and if you don't interfere with them too much, they'll simply get on with the job. Works nicely.

The standard of the FOs is extremely high (they all hold command endorsements for the cruise phase, and would be considered cruise captains in many airlines).

 

[por930]

JB, In relation to log book flight hours and how strictly they are apportioned between the flight crew. On all flights where there are multiple flight crew for a long haul, how do you divi up flying hours, for example on a 15 hour flight,,,do you as flight captain always get the 15 hours as PIC or do you and the flight crew portion the PIC hours when on a rest break?
And on a short haul flight of say 3 hours when a FO 'flies' that segment as PIC, will they get those hours in their log book? I suppose if it was low viz approach, you would take over the FO duties as PIC, and therefore get these 5-10 minutes, or are these is this simply ignored?

When you have a check and/or training captain on board, and I presume they do not actual flying, do they have special log books where they note their respective hours when training or carrying out a pilot check?

 

[docjames]

There is some form of leadership training, but I think that is actually done as a separate item, and is required prior to being allocated a slot. Leadership, or lack thereof, will become very evident during the sims and flying in any case.

jb747 as always thanks for a very interesting thread and answering all these questions. I enjoyed your summary of the sim session.

I'd like to know more about the leadership training. Is this done "in-house" or is there an external program used?

Wondering if you could expand more on this? Thanks.

 

[jb747]

JB, In relation to log book flight hours and how strictly they are apportioned between the flight crew. On all flights where there are multiple flight crew for a long haul, how do you divi up flying hours, for example on a 15 hour flight,,,do you as flight captain always get the 15 hours as PIC or do you and the flight crew portion the PIC hours when on a rest break?
And on a short haul flight of say 3 hours when a FO 'flies' that segment as PIC, will they get those hours in their log book? I suppose if it was low viz approach, you would take over the FO duties as PIC, and therefore get these 5-10 minutes, or are these is this simply ignored?

When you have a check and/or training captain on board, and I presume they do not actual flying, do they have special log books where they note their respective hours when training or carrying out a pilot check?

The PIC always gets the entire flight, no matter who flies. An FO may log copilot time, or AICUS (acting in command under supervision), but never command.

Take offs and landings, as well as instrument time is recorded by whoever did them.

 

[jb747]

jb747 as always thanks for a very interesting thread and answering all these questions. I enjoyed your summary of the sim session.

I'd like to know more about the leadership training. Is this done "in-house" or is there an external program used?

Wondering if you could expand more on this? Thanks.

I did my command training over twenty years ago, when there was entirely different system in play. I don't know the details of the course, because it didn't exist in my time.

 

[bryanjones]

I did my command training over twenty years ago, when there was entirely different system in play. I don't know the details of the course, because it didn't exist in my time.

Curious about some of the airforce pilots who fly big planes such as the hercules, etc - if they were to come in would they still do the full captain training even though they have performed this role in the military?

 

[bryanjones]

Now that I live in Switzerland, I've had some interesting experiences with the french ATC system the past couple of months as they strike for the right to strike...

Flying LHR-GVA, our plane was not able to push back from the gate until a slot was given. After about 30 mins the captain must have convinced someone to let them push back and go and park on a remote holding area near T5. Apologies if i get some of the terminology wrong, but the captain basically said to me, "we want to push back and go and park there. We're in the way there, and they will want to get us up and flying".

Who would this someone have been (london? french? - i.e. who does all this negotiation between the various countries that you fly over and coordinates slots that you can takeoff/land when things go off schedule? And is the crew involved in any of this or is it the back office people?

A couple of other interesting things happened - we were at the remote area for about an hour so one of the flight attendants came and got the only kid on board and had the captain show her the coughpit. Then the captain came on the PA and said if there were any bigger kids who wanted a look then they should come up - I was first up and got about 5 mins in there chatting to the FO. Made my day!

He pointed out a little printer between the pilots and said that often they will get their takeoff time instructions sent through that prior to the ground control contacting over the radio - thought that it was interesting as hadn't seen it mentioned on here previously.

 

[jb747]

Curious about some of the airforce pilots who fly big planes such as the hercules, etc - if they were to come in would they still do the full captain training even though they have performed this role in the military?

Command slots will be 20 years down the road...they'll barely remember the RAAF days...

 

[Orca]

jb747, thought you may (or may not) be interested in this clip... Harrier Has Stuck Nose Gear, Lands On A Stool, Pilot Is Awesome