How common is it for the former military guys to have actually flown fighter jets though? There's a lot of planes in the military, I would imagine quite a few come off flying planes not THAT dissimilar to a passenger jet, like cargo planes or B-52s or something.

OK. Among pilots of smaller planes, the two biggest navigation apps are Foreflight and Garmin Pilot. But I don't know how many of those features would be redundant on a big airliner.

My sister used to be in a Marine Reserve Air Wing (not a pilot, ops officer). All the pilots flew for commercial airlines as their job. One weekend a month with the air wing was for fun.

What percentage of a flight are you actually in control of the aircraft?

Stupid Question

If the flight aware app on my phone can seemingly track my sister's recent flight from Turkey to Toronto and even show that they were off of their predetermined course, why can't they find the Malaysian airliner?

Where do you think the app is getting it's info from?

100%

How some other pilots use their time on Auto-Pilot (plane was in the air during this photograph)

Here is a fresh doc, up to date as of today April 1st:

PDF - 2p2 thread - 1626(!) pages

And as an added bonus, here is the equivalent PDF summary of the ongoing thread with W0X0F that's also underway on flyertalk.com (although this thread seems to have died back in July, so I haven't updated it since then):

PDF - FlyerTalk thread - 278 pages

I recently watched "Flight" and went back and read your comments. One question I had was about crosswinds. Denzel mentioned "nothing like a 30 kt crosswind..." when they were on their takeoff roll. Are crosswind restrictions different for takeoff and landing? I think the opening scene is the best of the entire movie!

Are reverse thrusters always applied before the nose wheel touches the ground on landing?

is there any/much difference in safety records between large US commercial providers and US business/private jet providers?

That can vary from one airline to another and from one type of plane to another. The manufacturer or the plane has maximum "demonstrated" crosswinds derived from their flight testing and the operator of the plane then decides on their own internal limits. For my type of aircraft, and where I work, the limit is the same for takeoff and landing: 40 kts. For me to land with a 40 kt crosswind in real life (I've done it in the sim), you can bet that I would seek an alternative, i.e. a runway aligned more nearly with the wind.

You are a very discerning cinephile. I agree 100%.

I never use reverse thrust until the nose wheel is down and I don't recall seeing anyone I fly with doing this. But that might be a company culture. It could be routine at other companies.

I don't know the answer to this, but I would suspect that airlines operating under FAR Part 121 have the edge in safety if only because Part 121 is so restrictive with regard to system redundancy, crew training and rest rules, maintenance schedules, etc.

When you consider the entire range of business/private jet providers, there is a wide variation in operating requirements and practices depending on the type of operation (e.g. Part 135, Charters and Air Taxi; Part 91, Privately owned/operated for non-commercial use). Some companies have large fleets with operating practices that rival airlines and their safety record is probably comparable. At the other extreme is the multi-millionaire who owns a jet and puts undue pressure on his pilots to fly or risk losing their job.

oh okay, thanks. is there a big difference between 135 and 91? I assume I was flying on a 135, but maybe not.

What rules are the millionaire yelling at his pilot subject to?

Ever seen anything...unidentified?

If you paid to fly as a passenger, it wasn't a Part 91 operation.

Not sure what you mean.

I did, is Part 135 fine, then?

You said a millionaire forcing a private pilot to the limits was of course going to be more dangerous. If there's just some guy who owns a plane and employs a pilot to fly him around, what rules are they subject to?

Yes, Part 135 carriers just operate under slightly less restrictive rules, which take into account the fact that air charter and on-demand air taxi operations are a different animal than scheduled airlines. For example, if you have a business offering flights to Martha's Vineyard in a six seat single-engine plane, you can't be expected to have the same level of system redundancy as the airlines.

They are subject to Part 91 rules, the same as a private pilot. Part 91 still has lots of safety rules included, but much less restrictive than 135 or 121. For example, a flight under 135 or 121 can't even attempt to make an approach unless the reported weather is at or above the minimum visibility requirements for that approach. There is no such rule for Part 91, i.e. you can always "take a look" and see if you can make it in. Of course, you're still supposed to respect the minimum altitude for that approach, i.e. if you don't see the runway when you get down to the minimum altitude, you can't land.

And that's where it can sometimes get dicey for the pilot. His employer puts undue pressure on him to land and the result is the pilot busts minimums...a very unsafe practice that will ultimately have a tragic result. The pilot is the one breaking a reg here and it's up to him to say no to this pressure. But in the real world that might mean losing your job.

In the early days of flying the mail and even the very first passenger carrying airlines, this practice was not uncommon and many accidents resulted. This was a major impetus for a brave band of airline pilots to form the Air Line Pilot's Association. Up until then you either flew, despite bad weather or lack of rest, or you were replaced with someone else who would.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=2952

Do they have forced retirement at your airline? What age?

Assuming it's something like 60, is there a career path for 60 (or whatever retirement age is) year olds?

What about a 60 year old who's never been a commercial pilot but it retiring from some other occupation? Obviously an airline will never hire him, but is there work for, e.g., a retired doctor who's been flying privately for years to take on piloting as a part or full-time second career.

For Part 121 (scheduled airlines), the mandatory retirement age is 65 (the last legal flight the pilot can make is the day before turning 65). For operations under Part 135 or Part 91, the only requirement is that the pilot successfully pass the required medical exam.

(Up until about six years ago the mandatory retirement age was 60. The change to 65 was a pretty controversial subject.)

There is no set path for anyone who wishes to keep "flying for hire" after reaching age 65, but there are certainly possibilities ranging from working in the corporate world to becoming a flight instructor.

In the scenario of the retired doctor, I think his best bet would be to find work as a flight instructor. Unless he's got a logbook full of flight time I doubt he would find a 135 operator or corporate flight department that would be interested. Flight schools, on the other hand, often have trouble keeping a good reliable cadre of flight instructors around. That's because the job is often a time-building stepping stone for aspiring airline pilots.

Saw Die Hard 2 the other day while flipping channels. Still the worst representation of aviation in the history of cinema? I still laugh at how easy they make it look to deceive the pilots.

There's so much that is just horribly wrong in that movie, not the least of which is the closing scene with a 747 taking off and leaking fuel. BW throws a match on the leaking fuel and it races to the plane and makes it explode!

fyp

Can you really invert an aeroplane like in that movie 'Flight'?