Sounds like a tough way to make a living...........Bill
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Sounds like a tough way to make a living...........BillBeen there, done that. 98% of my flying time was hand flown, but I did have a former student, a private business owner, who bought a tricked out Cessna turbo 210 and hired me to fly his people around and instruct any of them who wanted to get some stick time. This plane had a top of the line autopilot, area nav and flight management system, and flying became a matter of programming and monitoring rather than "driving the airplane". After three or four hours at FL230 unpressurized, with the nosebags on, the siren song of sleep became overwhelming. I would ask the guys in back to set their watch alarms to five minute repeat and check us in the front seats at each interval. As the only professional aviator in the bunch, I was the only one who couldn't afford one of those fancy dancy "aviator watches" that were so popular back then. Got woken up by ATC or the back seat guys on more than one occasion. Didn't help that the owner was a stickler for productivity, which meant long days, short nights, and multi day trips were the norm. Didn't have ALPA to fall back on, back then.
Cheers,
Wes
It's a cut throat, cost cutting, ball busting jungle out there run by unsympathetic nonflying bean counters, unless you are onboard with with one of the high profile "legacy" major airlines with a strong pilots union. My girlfriend just retired from American, and over our careers we've known hundreds of airline pilots. Not one of them would encourage or allow their kids to pursue a career in aviation. It ain't what it used to be.Sounds like a tough way to make a living...........Bill
Still, I think commercial Airlines are the safest mode of travel considering passenger miles covered.It's a cut throat, cost cutting, ball busting jungle out there run by unsympathetic nonflying bean counters, unless you are onboard with with one of the high profile "legacy" major airlines with a strong pilots union. My girlfriend just retired from American, and over our careers we've known hundreds of airline pilots. Not one of them would encourage or allow their kids to pursue a career in aviation. It ain't what it used to be.
The truth of this is finally setting in, as there has developed a major pilot shortage at the airline level, and today's kids are too smart (or too lazy) to sign up for a life of hard work and economic bondage, no matter how "romantic" or "exciting" it's cracked up to be. "Cracked up" is the operative term here.
So, Bill, you nailed it precisely.
Cheers,
Wes
PS: The traditional pathway of "working your way up" to the airlines through General Aviation is much less feasible today than it used to be, as GA has shrunk and the first big step beyond flight instructing has become a much bigger leap. Entry level has become 1500 hours, an ATP, and a type rating in a commuter jet. Also the safety folks have become leery of GA pilots entering the airline world, as their early training is likely less standardized. So the answer has become aviation academies like Embry Riddle and American Flyers. Any seasoned captain can tell you horror stories of brand new ATP and type rated first officers who are so far behind the airplane their head has legal ATC separation from the aircraft. Kathleen says she'd rather have a 900 hour freight dog who's been flying cancelled checks at night in a Navajo than a newly minted 1500 hour academy graduate in her right seat heading into DCA on an icy windswept night after holding in freezing precip. It's a big jump from a Seminole or a Duchess to a Canadair 700.
And you're right, Bill. We all know how dangerous the highways are, and Amtrak and Greyhound aren't exactly pristine in the safety department either.Still, I think commercial Airlines are the safest mode of travel considering passenger miles covered.
The recent controversy/ scandal/ dispute with Ryanair and its pilots was a bit disturbing to me. There are always two sides to every argument but it seems that the head of the company considered his pilots to be little more than taxi or bus drivers. It sounded so complacent, as if he thought that because there hadn't been an accident he could push the working hours/working conditions envelope to its limits.And you're right, Bill. We all know how dangerous the highways are, and Amtrak and Greyhound aren't exactly pristine in the safety department either.
It's just that our expectations of airline safety are so much higher. Despite the issues and controversies, the airlines have done exceptionally well in the last couple years in the safety arena, but that has historically always been subject to "bunching" of accidents and incidents so don't expect it to continue indefinitely. The price of safety is eternal vigilance, and a period of "perfect safety" tends to result in a relaxing of said vigilance. Here's hoping it lasts.
Cheers,
Wes
TRAINING??? DRILL?? STAN/EVAL? Is anybody on the ball here? USAF is supposed to be the most organized, procedural, and anal of the services; you're shakin' my faith, man!The 3 Stooges reinforced by the Keystone Cops could have not put on a better performance.
I am with you on hoping it lasts.And you're right, Bill. We all know how dangerous the highways are, and Amtrak and Greyhound aren't exactly pristine in the safety department either.
It's just that our expectations of airline safety are so much higher. Despite the issues and controversies, the airlines have done exceptionally well in the last couple years in the safety arena, but that has historically always been subject to "bunching" of accidents and incidents so don't expect it to continue indefinitely. The price of safety is eternal vigilance, and a period of "perfect safety" tends to result in a relaxing of said vigilance. Here's hoping it lasts.
Cheers,
Wes
There's the never-ending tension between cost control and safety, which has become more pronounced as airline management has transitioned from operations people to money people. In the US and worldwide this has been the inevitable result of deregulation. It's the infamous "race to the bottom".The recent controversy/ scandal/ dispute with Ryanair and its pilots was a bit disturbing to me. There are always two sides to every argument but it seems that the head of the company considered his pilots to be little more than taxi or bus drivers. It sounded so complacent, as if he thought that because there hadn't been an accident he could push the working hours/working conditions envelope to its limits.
I don't know if that is a direct quote of Michael O'Leary but it certainly sounds like him. Of course in case of emergency he expects all pilots to do what Sullenberger and Skiles did putting an Airbus down in the Hudson.There's the never-ending tension between cost control and safety, which has become more pronounced as airline management has transitioned from operations people to money people. In the US and worldwide this has been the inevitable result of deregulation. It's the infamous "race to the bottom".
"We spend millions to give pilots all this automation to ease their workload, and they complain they're tired and overworked! Ungrateful lazy bastards! I write their paychecks, and I expect them to fly when and where I say. They use safety as an excuse for laziness."
Cheers,
Wes
Nope, don't know who Michael O'Leary is. That was a generic airline management gripe I hypothesized. Anyone who's been in the business has certainly heard it before.I don't know if that is a direct quote of Michael O'Leary but it certainly sounds like him. Of course in case of emergency he expects all pilots to do what Sullenberger and Skiles did putting an Airbus down in the Hudson.
It seems Michael O'Leary is the perfect generic CEO for an airline, you got him to a "T".Nope, don't know who Michael O'Leary is. That was a generic airline management gripe I hypothesized. Anyone who's been in the business has certainly heard it before.
Cheers,
Wes
That was early on in the evolution of the "Roboplane". The whole technology of the airplane second-guessing the pilots has its pitfalls, all of which have to be filled in one at a time. I'm glad my flying days were over before that came along. I want the airplane to do what I tell it to do, not override me with its control laws.The Air New Zealand crash of an Airbus A320 gives me the scares.
The pilots didn't do anything because quite likely they were brainwashed into faith in the technology, that it's smarter than they are, then confused by the plane's behaviour, then trapped by their low and slow predicament. Classic case of many small circumstances building into an unmanageable situation. If they'd been at altitude and had the time to work the problem they might have survived, but they were trying to accomplish "under the radar" flight maneuvers they'd been refused by ATC at altitude.Why did the pilots not do something instead of relying on the automation?. And why wasnt a big neon sign flashing with a big klaxon to say the aircraft is not happy? The actual error message was certainly not picked up and you would think it should have been better shown
Of course! Aren't all airline pilots Supermen and super heroes?? They damn well better be, for what we pay them!Of course in case of emergency he expects all pilots to do what Sullenberger and Skiles did putting an Airbus down in the Hudson.
You don't actually stall an A320, at least not the way we do an "iron airplane". You fly it up to an incipient stall and then the FBW control laws take over and fly it out. If you actually succeed in driving it into a full stall, you're outside the certified flight envelope and you're a test pilot. Your insurance company will love that. The accident flight crew had almost certainly not ever actually flown an A320 out of an actual full stall manually. That just isn't how it's done.Why did the pilots not do something instead of relying on the automation?
The crash of flight AF 296 at Habsheim air show was caused by playing about with the fly by wire system. Not only was it the first commercial flight of a fly by wire aircraft it was the first flight of an A320 and the first time they had been shown to the public.You don't actually stall an A320, at least not the way we do an "iron airplane". You fly it up to an incipient stall and then the FBW control laws take over and fly it out. If you actually succeed in driving it into a full stall, you're outside the certified flight envelope and you're a test pilot. Your insurance company will love that. The accident flight crew had almost certainly not ever actually flown an A320 out of an actual full stall manually. That just isn't how it's done.
Cheers,
Wes
Do it man! Good stuff.By the way, if y'all liked my post on oxygen systems, you'll never believe what I found out when I worked on G-suit valves. Probably should start a new thread on that if anyone is interested.