OT Flying an A320 :)

Hi guys,

A couple of days ago, I had this fantastic opportunity of flying in
the cockpit, from start to finish, on a 3-hour flight from Almaty to
Atyrau in Kazakhstan in an A320 that our Company had chartered. I was
in the jump seat between the captain and FO. There was a crew of 6 and
there were 6 passengers in a 150-capacity aircraft

There were two very friendly Canadian pilots who didn't think much of
answering my Qs - and there were a few Qs

Apart from learning quite a bit, I also unlearned the following:

a. There's a stick to pilot the aircraft and not a U-shaped control
column.
b. Cockpits don't contain a drove of dials and needles, but are
completely digital.
c. Planes aren't turned during taxiing using the rudder but have a
lovely little device that controls the nosewheel.
d. Brakes aren't manually applied upon landing but are preset.
e. Pilots pay a lot more than passing attention to wake vortices.
Indeed, the captain waited for almost five minutes on the runway
before deciding to takeoff since a huge Russian cargo plane took off
prior to our departure.

Being the friendly chaps, the pilots allowed me to disengage the
autopilot and bank the aircraft as much as I liked during cruise and I
think I did a decent job of maintaining the correct heading because
upon re-engagement of the autopilot, the correction it had to do was
almost imperceptible. The captain also let me throw open the throttle
for takeoff, although his hand was snug above mine

The weather was quite rough at the end of the ride, with very low
visibility, making the landing thrilling.

For all the unbelievable sensation, I must confess that the experience
left me feeling that piloting is a mite too staid and has this
ineffable remoteness to it. I really hadn't known that planes have
this degree of automation... I mean, the things can nigh fly
themselves. Not sure now I want that; I'd reckoned flying to be a lot
more raw, honestly. There wasn't one moment where I experienced the
raw feeling one gets while driving a car or motorcycle. And I wasn't
even on some small, unsophisticated airplane. I know you'll be gasping
at how silly I could be for saying this but that's what I felt anyways
:\

Ramapriya

On 25 Nov 2004 04:28:47 -0800, (Ramapriya) wrote in
: :

e. Pilots pay a lot more than passing attention to wake vortices.
Indeed, the captain waited for almost five minutes on the runway
before deciding to takeoff since a huge Russian cargo plane took off
prior to our departure.

Given the facts, that wingtip vortices begin at the point the aircraft
leaves the ground, and the heavy Russian freighter had rotated far
down the runway because of its weight, and your lightly loaded
aircraft could have easily left the ground substantially before the
point where the freighter had, why couldn't your PIC have departed
whenever he wished? Was he concerned that the prevailing crosswind
component might blow a vortex back on the runway? Parallel runways?

"Ramapriya" wrote

For all the unbelievable sensation, I must confess that the experience
left me feeling that piloting is a mite too staid and has this
ineffable remoteness to it. I really hadn't known that planes have
this degree of automation... I mean, the things can nigh fly themselves.

Small planes do not fly themselves. YOU do the takeoff and YOU do the
landing, and all the flying inbetween. In exception to what I just said,
some high-end single engine planes do have autopilots that will fly the
plane to a certain course and altitude, and will also turn to a new course
that you have progamed into it. Very expensive to get those features in GA
(general aviation.)


There wasn't one moment where I experienced the
raw feeling one gets while driving a car or motorcycle. And I wasn't
even on some small, unsophisticated airplane. I know you'll be gasping
at how silly I could be for saying this but that's what I felt anyways
:\

Ramapriya


The only thing that might be silly is you thinking that it would be a raw
feeling to fly a transport aircraft. Lots of people call large aircraft
pilots "bus drivers", because that is about what they do. Calm, reliable,
comfortable transportation is what people expect when the fly commercial,
and usually they get it.

When you learn to fly, after a number of hours, you may become skilled
enough to fly some high performance airplanes, many of them being home
built, that can do steep banking, rolls, loops, and other exciting maneuvers
that will make riding a motorcycle feel tame.
--
Jim in NC


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(Ramapriya) writes:

the pilots allowed me to disengage the
autopilot and bank the aircraft as much as I liked during cruise and I
think I did a decent job of maintaining the correct heading because

Hmmm....another chap with an odd name who is only learning to fly
during the cruise phase...

Bob Fry wrote in
:

(Ramapriya) writes:

the pilots allowed me to disengage the
autopilot and bank the aircraft as much as I liked during cruise and I
think I did a decent job of maintaining the correct heading because

Hmmm....another chap with an odd name who is only learning to fly
during the cruise phase...


I can't believe you wrote that. OMG A TERRORIST CALL HOMELAND SECURITY.

"Ramapriya" wrote in message There wasn't one moment where I experienced
the
raw feeling one gets while driving a car or motorcycle. And I wasn't
even on some small, unsophisticated airplane. I know you'll be gasping
at how silly I could be for saying this but that's what I felt anyways

Next time you get to fly a bus, have the pilots disconnect the batteries.
generators, and ram turbine. Try to land.

Next time you get to fly any plane. have the pilots take you through a
thunderstorm. Then decide what keeps an Airbus out of thunderstorms.

Next time you fly a bus, watch the autopilot fly a perfact approach, and
then watch as it goes missed approach into a holding pattern with very
little fuel remaining. Try not to sweat too much as the automation refuses
to release control to you because you forgot a keystroke while arming the
approach. Pray you figure it out before you run out of gas.

Next time you fly a bus, cut both engines at 35000 feet and try to land on a
runway. Any runway will do.

Next time you fly a bus, pray that the tail stays attached. Pray that it
will turn into a real airplane like an MD-80.

D. (motorcycles are for kids)

"Morgans" wrote in message ...

The only thing that might be silly is you thinking that it would be a raw
feeling to fly a transport aircraft. Lots of people call large aircraft
pilots "bus drivers", because that is about what they do. Calm, reliable,
comfortable transportation is what people expect when the fly commercial,
and usually they get it.

When you learn to fly, after a number of hours, you may become skilled
enough to fly some high performance airplanes, many of them being home
built, that can do steep banking, rolls, loops, and other exciting maneuvers
that will make riding a motorcycle feel tame.

My motorcycle rides, and the lack of that kinda thrill, was *exactly*
what I was thinking when I wrote what I did. But I have hope now,
reading what you wrote

Ramapriya


PS: Noticed the terrorist thing started in this thread again? :\

"Capt.Doug" wrote in

Next time you get to fly a bus, have the pilots disconnect the batteries.
generators, and ram turbine. Try to land.

Snip - some more good examples

I fear you were aiming your bus driver comments straight at me. I deserve
your reply. I realized as soon as I sent the send that what I wrote was
insensitive and incomplete.

I do realize that a bus driver could not handle the emergencies you
mentioned, and that was not the intent. I was only commenting on the
"thrill" aspect. The skill and expertise needed to fly today's complex
airliner, boggles my mind. Managing and operating the flight director and
all the other complex systems, and troubleshooting when things go tits up is
an huge job, and an admirable position.

Keep up the good work, and continue the smooth, non-thrilling "bus rides"
that everyone wants and expects.

Did that come out any better? g
--
Jim in NC


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"Morgans" wrote in message ...
built, that can do steep banking, rolls, loops, and other exciting maneuvers
that will make riding a motorcycle feel tame.

By the way, I also got confirmation on what I'd for long suspected to
be unnecessary - the warning to switch off mobile phones on the
aircraft. I asked how phones, which use a completely different set of
frequencies to operate in, could interfere with air traffic
communication. And the pilots did admit that it was just something
that international regulations required and that there isn't much to
evidence interference, unless satellite phones are used.

And it was only when I went looking for a gage with a ball and saw
none that I learnt (from the captain) that, "Every turn on an aircraft
is a coordinated turn". Wonder why John Denker has written a piece on
coordinated turns at all...

Ramapriya

Ramapriya wrote:

By the way, I also got confirmation on what I'd for long suspected to
be unnecessary - the warning to switch off mobile phones on the
aircraft. I asked how phones, which use a completely different set of
frequencies to operate in, could interfere with air traffic
communication. And the pilots did admit that it was just something
that international regulations required and that there isn't much to
evidence interference, unless satellite phones are used.

You got that backwards: Every high frequency electronic device emits
radiation and therefore can, theoretically, interfere. So the question
is not whether there is evidence that it does interfere, but whether
there is proof that it does not.

And it was only when I went looking for a gage with a ball and saw
none that I learnt (from the captain) that, "Every turn on an aircraft
is a coordinated turn". Wonder why John Denker has written a piece on
coordinated turns at all...

Certainly true for the airbus: You fly it with the joy stick, and the
computer takes care of coordination.

Stefan