101
votes
Why don't jetliners maneuver to avoid a bird strike if spotted in time?
If you're low, slow, and heavy (say, early in climb with full passenger and fuel load for a transcontinental or transoceanic leg), just dipping a wing can result in a stall and crash if you lose power ...
- 17.2k
93
votes
Accepted
Why don't jetliners maneuver to avoid a bird strike if spotted in time?
Not possible to see birds in time
Incredible as it may seem, this re-enactment of flight 1549's bird strike is actually drawn out and made twice as long as it actually happened.
The Cockpit Voice ...
- 2,387
75
votes
Accepted
Explaining a "Great Circle Route" to young Civil Air Patrol cadets
I would recommend that you don't introduce the term first and then try to explain it verbally, but demonstrate it in an interactive, hands-on practical way instead.
Bring a globe, a flat map, and a ...
- 27.2k
73
votes
How to avoid or cope with a bad day where my flying felt sloppy?
But my question is how do pilots stay at their A game
The answer is they don't, and don't try to. I have ridden motorcycles most of my life and that was my first realization of being on some days, ...
- 3,818
45
votes
Accepted
What's the point of using T-38 to instill flight proficiency in Space Shuttle pilots?
What the T-38 airplane provides NASA is currency and proficiency in high performance aircraft operations in a jet which has many of the same characteristics as the shuttle in this respect ie high wing ...
- 74.6k
45
votes
Accepted
Do Flight Simulation Instructors stop the simulator before a simulated crash?
I would say that crashes happen fairly frequently on initial type courses where new pilots are moving up to jets, and mainly on what are called "V1 cuts", where an engine is failed right at ...
- 134k
44
votes
Can the airport name be omitted when contacting ATC if the frequency is not used by any other nearby airports?
When every transmission to the tower begins with "Executive Tower...." that is the keyword that makes the controller's ears perk up and start taking notes.
If you don't say the magic words, your ...
- 30.8k
42
votes
Accepted
What does a typical discovery flight consist of?
A typical discovery flight is about a 30 minute on the ground introduction to the airplane and the cockpit controls, followed by a sightseeing flight of 30-minutes to one-hour. The entire process ...
- 30.8k
38
votes
Accepted
How long does it take to train a commercial pilot to fly a fighter jet?
fly it or fight it? There is a major difference.
A few days studying the systems and maybe a few hours in a simulator and/or a two seater with an instructor and he could probably fly the aircraft and ...
- 16.1k
36
votes
How can I avoid flight simulator software reinforcing bad habits?
I posted this answer on FB a while back:
I’m a commercial pilot as well as a flight sim fan with somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 hours logged on Flight Simulator and Falcon 4.0 games. I ...
- 74.6k
35
votes
Accepted
What simulation software do airlines use?
X-Plane offers a "Professional Level" which is mostly about licensing. However X-Plane also has an FAA certified version that if paired with proper controls is legal for certain training/instructional ...
- 102k
33
votes
First time passenger flight by two pilots?
It is never “the first time”. What he is really saying is that after many hours of flying the aircraft (or an approved simulator) this is the first time doing a revenue flight with passengers. ...
- 37.9k
32
votes
Accepted
How able were pilots of three-person cockpits at running the normal FE work?
First, these answers insofar as the licenses and airline operations apply to the U.S. system since that is all I am familiar with.
You must have a Flight Engineer license to operate as an FE. Just as ...
- 39.2k
32
votes
Accepted
How were pilots selected and trained before the introduction of simulators?
Almost every pilot learns to fly in an actual aircraft, this is one of the reasons all trainers have dual controls.
My first day out, ever, was in an actual plane, behind real controls, in the sky. ...
- 102k
32
votes
Accepted
What happens after a professional unintentionally crashes in a simulator? Can they be disciplined?
Crashing a Level D Full Flight Simulator during a training session is not good. They exist for:
Initial training, of licensed pilots who have not flown the type before and need to become familiar ...
- 62.3k
31
votes
Accepted
Do airline transport pilot trainees ever fly a passenger-less aircraft?
When pilots are trained for flying in an aircraft type they have not flown in before, they go through type rating, then line training. During the type rating, they learn where all the instruments and ...
- 62.3k
31
votes
Why don't jetliners maneuver to avoid a bird strike if spotted in time?
The closing speeds are simply too high to be able to do anything.
A jet airliner is flying at an absolute minimum of 250km/h. Geese can fly at well over 50km/h, so you're looking at a potential ...
- 12k
31
votes
Accepted
Will dual-learning in a glider make my airplane learning safer?
Yes learn both, but... not at the same time. As Dave says, there are too many differences to be absorbing simultaneously. It's like a new airline pilot taking a type course on a Dash 8 and an RJ at ...
- 134k
30
votes
Is it true that different variants of the same model aircraft don't require pilot retraining?
It appears to depend on how much changed. You do have to have some training between models. The selling point was that an airline with 737 pilots could fly the MAX variant with minimal retraining
"...
- 6,233
29
votes
Accepted
When approaching a stall, is the first priority to apply power or lower nose?
The instinct drilled into a pilot's head from the beginning as the primary response is "lower the nose" to lower AOA. If you learn in a glider, that's the only option, so it's easy to drill the ...
- 134k
28
votes
Why does aileron response diminish as speed becomes slower, from slow-flight up to the stall? (In a light trainer)
This is real easy, no explanation required:
Tell your student to stick their hand out the window of the car driving 25mph in the city and rotate it like an aileron.
Then have them do it on the freeway ...
- 27.2k
27
votes
Accepted
Is training and pay different for cargo and airline pilots?
Do cargo pilots receive different training than airline pilots?
First, cargo carriers are airlines just as passenger carriers are airlines, and cargo pilots are airline pilots. In the U.S. there is ...
- 39.2k
26
votes
Accepted
Do any companies offer 'ejection' experiences?
No, there are no companies offering ejection seat experiences, for many reasons:
Cost: Ejection seats are expensive, base costs are somewhere around $100,000 per seat. Seats can't generally be re-...
- 54.2k
25
votes
Accepted
Does a large simulator bay have standard public address announcements?
My experience with the military is that loudspeaker announcements like this do NOT occur in simulator buildings. They would be both distracting and largely unnecessary when there are land lines and ...
- 27.2k
24
votes
What qualifications or training allow a test pilot to fly a new aircraft?
All commercial or military test pilots attend either a DoD or ABET approved test pilot school. The military has two said achools: the USAFTPS at Edwards AFB in Muroc, CA and the USNTPS out at NAS Pax ...
- 74.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Why do we still interpolate in performance tables?
I was in the technical publishing business (flight and maintenance manuals) in another life. Tables are used as an alternative to graphical plot presentations in flight manuals, and make it a little ...
- 134k
23
votes
Accepted
What is a "frozen ATPL"?
A frozen ATPL holder is somebody who has passed all the required (14) exams for the issue of an ATPL but does not have the required flying hours. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a 'frozen'...
- 100k
23
votes
Accepted
How can I avoid flight simulator software reinforcing bad habits?
The best recommendation I can give you is to get a VR headset. Yes, they're a bit pricey, but not bad at all compared to actual flight hours in a real airplane. Practicing for visual flight just isn't ...
- 19.5k
23
votes
Does a large simulator bay have standard public address announcements?
My answer applies to the 141 training programs I've been a part of; Michael Hall's answer is correct - there are no loudspeaker announcements made, with one rare but important exception:
"FIRE ALARM ...
- 23.3k
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