Great thread. What would be the best path if someone knew they wanted to be a commercial pilot?

How long do you think it will be until most/all flights have WiFi on board? Is the answer different for domestic/international flights in this respect?

Didn't see that episode, but have you ever seen a man on the wing of a plane?

I'm sure you know this, but just to reiterate, it is a million times better to tell your passengers there there is an amount of time left in the flight you know to be more than what it is than to underestimate. Passengers are so clueless about where the hell we actually are and feeling like we're in the air with no idea how long is left is so awful.

Great thread though, one of the few of this length and depth I've actually read all the way through.

Very funny Rick.

For others: this clown is in a semi-regular game I play in and quite often I deal. When I make any blunder, whether it's a misdeal of misreading a hand, there's always someone who uses this line on me.

Yeah, you get the idea. Thankfully, he stopped short of that line.

The best controllers in the world are New York approach, O'Hare approach and Atlanta approach (IMO, or course), not necessarily in that order. All of them can move airplanes and do it efficiently. Atlanta controllers are probably a tad more polite and tolerant (as you might expect in the genteel south). NY and Chicago controllers do not suffer fools gladly. Know your s*** and don't clog up the frequency with unnecessary verbiage. But having said that, I find them very patient with foreign carriers in NY. They are well aware of the potential language issues.

thanks a lot for this thread. the most entertaining and insightful thread i think i've ever read on 2p2

Pilots can carry firearms on a volunteer basis (the FFDO program) after a week of training. Still not allowed on international flights though.

Sealing the cabin? I assume you mean the cockpit (or, as current political correctness calls it, the flight deck). Sealing the cockpit means that we would have to have a lav up there and that's a re-engineering expense. Everything is driven by cost/benefit, so that ain't happening. I'm pretty happy with the way it is today. We have much stronger doors on the cockpit and procedures in place to lock down the cockpit in emergencies (i.e. no one in or out).

Clever. I like it.

Are you referring to the fact that I alluded to a story and then left it out? If so, I shall post it forthwith.

You were told wrong. That is absolutely untrue. The vast majority of flights have no guns on board.

(So what you're telling me is that a pilot lied? I find this hard to believe.)

The advantage to having one type of plane is strictly economic (but very significant). Southwest doesn't have to have mechanics trained on several types of planes or pilots trained on several types (and jumping from one type to another, resulting in increased training costs).

At any given time, a pilot is current and qualified in only one type of aircraft. Though I have type ratings on my pilot certificate for the Jetstream 32, Jetstream 41, Canadair Regional Jet, and the DC-9 and its variants (including the MD-88), I can't legally fly them right now. I am only current and qualified on the 757/767. If I should bid to move back to the MD-88, I would have to go back to Atlanta for sufficient training to get current in that type. The amount of training depends on how long the pilot has been away from that type. At this point, it's been over 2 years for me so I would have to go through the complete course as if I had never seen the plane before. That means about a month in Atlanta. Imagine the cost...oh, the humanity! This never happens at Southwest.

No real difference. The majors have the luxury of drawing from an applicant pool of experienced pilots, either out of the military or guys who have been Captains at a regional. Different story at the regional level where supply and demand has dictated a steady reduction in qualifications necessary to get hired.

Thanks.

If you had asked me that question a week ago, I wouldn't even have known what you're talking about. I think I saw an article somewhere about e-cigs. Never heard anything about it in relation to the job, so I can't answer your question. My guess is that, since there's no smoke or flame involved (am I right about this?), it would be ok.

No, it would be more like a free-falling safe.

Ha Ha...dark aviation humor...good stuff huh?

The plane is not going to plummet unless the turbulence is so severe that the plane breaks up. I've never heard of clear air turbulence being this strong, but inside a level 5 or 6 thunderstorm you're taking your chances with Mother Nature. That's why we avoid these things like the plague.

Even so, planes do successfully fly through very mature storms and make it...they really are built strong. Just look at the wing stress tests that Boeing (and others) do. The wing doesn't break until some ridiculously high G loading.

I well remember my worst ride: November 11, 1995, Dulles to Albany in a J-32 (built like a tank by British Aerospace). We were turned right into a red cell on the wx radar by Dulles Departure control (red=severe, probably level 4 or 5). It was night and I was flying. All hell broke loose, altitude changing +/- 1500 , airspeed going from stickshaker (stall) to Vmo (max operating speed, the red line, or Do Not Exceed speed; beyond this speed the manufacturer does not guarantee that the plane will stay in one piece) and back again. When we approached stall, I lowered the nose to maintain airspeed and avoid the stall; when we approached Vmo, I relaxed the controls so as to 'unload' the wing (i.e. reduce the g loading) and avoid overstressing the wings and tail. Throughout all this, the plane was shaking so violently that I told Tom, the other guy, "you have the power" and I used both hands on the control wheel. I couldn't read the instruments and could only keep a vague sense from the artificial horizon of our pitch and bank attitude.

I remember very well my thoughts at this moments: (1) don't go inverted and (2) I hope it doesn't get worse. It lasted probably less than 3 minutes...the longest of my life and it was still quite rough, though manageable, for the next 45 minutes. I'm sure the passengers thought this was the end. When we landed at Albany, they all sat still after engine shutdown with that 1000 yard stare.

It occurs to me reading this over that I probably did nothing to allay your fear of turbulence. I don't like it as a passenger either. For some reason I deal with it fine when I'm flying (sense of control?), but it puts me on edge as a passenger too.

BTW, one thing we do to mitigate the effect of turbulence is reduce our speed to a "Rough Air Penetration" airspeed. In the 767 that's 290 or mach .78, whichever is lower. Think of driving on a bumpy road. It's easier on everyone, including the car, if you slow down. In a plane, the instantaneous g-loading is reduced by slowing the airplane.

Do you ever dream of crashing?

Thanks and kudos for your knowledge of old pop culture.

have you ever bought anything from skymall?

I've been very impressed with the variety and quality of questions too.

Well we had a Captain at ACA (my previous airline) who had a folder over an inch thick of incidents and training issues. You put a weak First Officer with him and it really could have been a recipe for disaster. Why wasn't he fired? Very hard to do at most airlines and a lot of this is because of protection by the union.

[I am a member of ALPA and I'm glad we have it because without it the company has complete power over the individual. The downside of unions is that it protects the least deserving among us. This is a poor summation of my view on pilot unions, but I don't want to digress too much from your question.]

Just to give an indication of this guy's attention to detail: on more than one occasion, he left an airplane with an engine running. On a Roanoke overnight, he was called at the hotel by ground personnel asking how to shut down the right engine.

He ended up having a very serious incident in an Airbus which could have easily led to a crash and certain fatalities, but he was saved by a very sharp FO. As a result of this incident, he was demoted to First Officer and never did go back to the left seat.

The padding is probably true and due to the fact that the airlines are judged and rated by on-time performance. If on-time suffers enough, the FAA takes action, though I admit to not knowing offhand what that is (it might be economic sanctions).

However, the "padding" is also due to the fact that the block times (gate to gate vs. liftoff to landing) include the expected taxi time. On our international flights, we often have over an hour of taxi time built in to the schedule. Occasionally, for whatever reason (full moon? I'm never quite sure) we taxi right out and takeoff and thus arrive at the destination nearly an hour early. The opposite also happens -- because of weather or very strong winds limiting the number of usable runways, taxi time grows to nearly 2 hours and now we are late.

Good question and I will answer it fully when I come back in a few hours. I will have to leaf through my logbook for this one, but I can think offhand of probably a half dozen really good ones (all in my general aviation days).

I can tell you the worst landing I ever made as an airline pilots was when I was checking out on the MD-88. I had already made two very good landings and the check airman who was responsible for my IOE (Initial Operating Experience) had remarked that I was doing great.

We ended up at La Guardia, flying the Expressway Visual approach to Runway 31 (this is a fun approach which turns right around Shea stadium) and it was night and there was a very strong and gusty crosswind. Over the end of the runway as I started to flare for landing, the wind died completely and I wasn't quick enough with the power to cushion the sudden drop. We slammed onto the runway...hard.

Dan Marino was in 1st class on that flight and as I said goodby to the passengers, taking my lumps for a job mediocrely done, looked at Dan, shrugged, and said "You can't win them all." He said "You don't have to tell me that."

Near accident stories coming later...

on my last flight Ryanair were selling them, so I expect they are OK for international flights.

If I'm on an international flight from the US to Russia and Im with my girlfriend does anyone who works for airline really have a problem with me getting blown in the bathroom? Is it accepted, frowned on, or outright banned?

What's the Vmo of a 767? What's average cruising speed?

Again, this is a fantastic thread. You're great at dumbing everything down while giving lots of details.

There's no flame. They do put off vapor, (more or almost none depending on the type you have - similar to what comes from a smoke machine used at a concert.)

Wiki

They've been banned in flight by American Airlines:

Also reportedly banned by Southwest.

Ryanair is reportedly selling e-cigs in flight.

2p2 thread on e-cigarettes here.

Hi W0X0F, thank you for doing this thread, its a very enjoyable read.

I'm currently on my way to Australia, I was planning on working and paying for the private pilot licence (i think around 3.5k?) and then paying to do the commercial pilot licence (i think around 16k?) If i get these two licences would i be able to find work easily ie: are pilots in demand?

eventually I want to fly small private jets for business people. What would be the best route for me to do this and what type of salary figures would i be looking?

Now THIS is how an "ask me" thread is done. Excellent work OP