Sounds like fun. When do you guys have to switch over to raw data? Before the FAF? Or will the computer change over automatically?
When dreams come true... (long)
- Thread starter LDJones
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nddons
Touchdown! Greaser!
What are these "security stickers"? Please don't tell me it's a TSA move to put stickers on the exterior of an aircraft.
TangoWhiskey
Touchdown! Greaser!
This made me laugh out loud, brilliant!
Well, all except the part about housekeeping calling the room to tell me they couldn't clean because I had the do not disturb sign up, and thus disrupting my sleep! I've had that happen... at the Ritz Carlton in Aruba, no less--they SHOULD KNOW BETTER!
The FMS doesn't automatically switch. Typically, we navigate in white needles until approach puts us on a vector. At that point we switch to green needles and we "clean up the box", essentially moving the approach waypoints up to be next in sequence. Once on a decent intercept angle for the final approach course and we get cleared for the approach, we arm Approach mode on the autopilot and watch for the localizer and glide slope to come alive.
When you are in white needles and have the localizer frequency tuned you'll actually get blue needles underlaying your white needles! On a visual approach in VFR conditions we will sometimes stay in white needles and just reference the blue needles for backup guidance on the approach.
Confused yet?
I think it flows out of TSA requirements. Once the aircraft has had a thorough security search these serialized stickers go on certain key hatches...essentially places where something nefarious could be stashed. The stickers serve to show those haven't been accessed since the last security search. If one gets scoured off by rain we can replace them as long as the aircraft has been continuously under our control. We just log the new sticker serial number in a log in the aircraft.
Yep, I've had those calls, too! Frustrating!
Overall, I am generally impressed with the efficiency of ATC. But today was a bit frustrating.
We did a turn from MSP to ISN (Williston, ND on the far western edge of ND in the oil patch.) Winds were gusting to 30...glad it was the Captain's leg! Williston is a pretty small airport but is heavily travelled due to the oil boom. They're actually building a new, larger airport north of town that I hope will be done next year. And I hope they put a tower there!
On taxi out I call Grand Forks radio (located on the opposite side of the state but they have a RCO on the field at ISN) to pick up our clearance. They tell me there's flow control in MSP and expect a clearance at :02 after the hour...it's currently 20 til.
So we taxi out and shut down one engine to save fuel. After ten minutes we check in to see if there were any updates. Still :02 after but there's a plane Zero One Lima on approach that we need to wait for. We then hear another SkyWest flight out of DEN call and watch him emerge from the clouds and land. Still waiting on 01L. We finally pick him up on our TCAS. And wait...and wait...and wait. Finally about five after he lands. I call FS again for our clearance and they tell me there's now another airplane maneuvering for the approach. So we wait, and wait....
Finally we pick up the Beechjet maneuvering for the ILS. I know the winds were gusty but, geez....it took over 10 minutes for that thing to make it the less than 20 miles to the airport! Are they really that slow?
After he lands we call again and finally get our clearance and head out....40 minutes later. Very frustrating. We were within 200 lbs of our MINTO (Min Takeoff) fuel....ten more minutes and we would have had to taxi back for more fuel. Thankfully the fueler over-fueled us by those 200 lbs!
Once on the arrival MSP slowed us way down, then put us on another delay vector another 50 miles north of our original route. Eventually we got cleared back on the arrival, then were given a bit of a slam dunk arrival. Three months ago I probably would have muddled it up, but it came relatively easy this time and I made an uneventful arrival on the rain soaked 12L at MSP. On rollout I think I got a little asymmetry in the thrust reversers as I got a bit of a yawing action on rollout that I hadn't experienced. It was easily corrected but got my attention. The captain said it wasn't uncommon in the 200s.
Being late into MSP made for a very quick turn for our last leg to FWA. We were in clouds and rain and bumps all the way from MSP to FWA, from a minute after takeoff until a minute before touchdown with rain on both ends and in between. I've been flying IFR for 35 years but it still amazes me that we've created the machines and technologies that allow us to do that!
So, a good day. And made a few extra $$ thanks to ATC!
We did a turn from MSP to ISN (Williston, ND on the far western edge of ND in the oil patch.) Winds were gusting to 30...glad it was the Captain's leg! Williston is a pretty small airport but is heavily travelled due to the oil boom. They're actually building a new, larger airport north of town that I hope will be done next year. And I hope they put a tower there!
On taxi out I call Grand Forks radio (located on the opposite side of the state but they have a RCO on the field at ISN) to pick up our clearance. They tell me there's flow control in MSP and expect a clearance at :02 after the hour...it's currently 20 til.
So we taxi out and shut down one engine to save fuel. After ten minutes we check in to see if there were any updates. Still :02 after but there's a plane Zero One Lima on approach that we need to wait for. We then hear another SkyWest flight out of DEN call and watch him emerge from the clouds and land. Still waiting on 01L. We finally pick him up on our TCAS. And wait...and wait...and wait. Finally about five after he lands. I call FS again for our clearance and they tell me there's now another airplane maneuvering for the approach. So we wait, and wait....
Finally we pick up the Beechjet maneuvering for the ILS. I know the winds were gusty but, geez....it took over 10 minutes for that thing to make it the less than 20 miles to the airport! Are they really that slow?
After he lands we call again and finally get our clearance and head out....40 minutes later. Very frustrating. We were within 200 lbs of our MINTO (Min Takeoff) fuel....ten more minutes and we would have had to taxi back for more fuel. Thankfully the fueler over-fueled us by those 200 lbs!
Once on the arrival MSP slowed us way down, then put us on another delay vector another 50 miles north of our original route. Eventually we got cleared back on the arrival, then were given a bit of a slam dunk arrival. Three months ago I probably would have muddled it up, but it came relatively easy this time and I made an uneventful arrival on the rain soaked 12L at MSP. On rollout I think I got a little asymmetry in the thrust reversers as I got a bit of a yawing action on rollout that I hadn't experienced. It was easily corrected but got my attention. The captain said it wasn't uncommon in the 200s.
Being late into MSP made for a very quick turn for our last leg to FWA. We were in clouds and rain and bumps all the way from MSP to FWA, from a minute after takeoff until a minute before touchdown with rain on both ends and in between. I've been flying IFR for 35 years but it still amazes me that we've created the machines and technologies that allow us to do that!
So, a good day. And made a few extra $$ thanks to ATC!
TangoWhiskey
Touchdown! Greaser!
I don't expect anybody to call me at a hotel--they'd call my cell. And I use my phone to act as my alarm, I don't use a wake up call from the front desk. I might start adding "unplug the damn phones" to my checklist when I get into my hotel room, right after enabling the VIP override on the thermostat so the motion detector doesn't shut it off in the middle of the night and thus I wake up sweaty and hot. (yes, that link is on my mobile bookmarks and is one of the first things I do when I get to my hotel room!)
No that actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
fiveoboy01
Pattern Altitude
Still reading and enjoying every bit of this.
It seems like most commercial pilots don't usually want to take the time to share their experiences with the common man, so I can say that I appreciate you taking the time to type your adventures out.
Every time my CFI comes into town for a visit, I grill him about airline ops. He hasn't been around in a while. Hmm... haha.
It seems like most commercial pilots don't usually want to take the time to share their experiences with the common man, so I can say that I appreciate you taking the time to type your adventures out.
Every time my CFI comes into town for a visit, I grill him about airline ops. He hasn't been around in a while. Hmm... haha.
Great tip for frequent travelers!
I'm happy to share. I have some flight students who aspire to 121 flying so this is partly for their benefit to get a feel for the transition process. Stay tuned for more adventures!
What saddens me is the number of 121 pilots I meet for whom the flying absolutely, positively, nothing special; just a tedious and necessary irritation.
I mean, I understand that every job has its issues, but you do get to fly.
Glad you're enjoying it, Loren - and thanks for the share!
I agree, Spike. A bad day flying beats a good day working for a living! Fortunately, I've gotten to fly with more who appreciate the magic of what they get to do than the grumpy old men (who are younger than me!) for whom it seems to be a chore.
I used to live at a hotel right off the airport. If you checked into a room in the morning, they would give you a big magnetic 'day sleeper' sign to stick on the door jamb. Between that and a stable houskeeping staff, the disruptions were limited to things like smoke detector tests
.
I was on a four-day trip this week that included three flying through more of the remnants of Hurricane Patricia. It was a really deep low pressure system with winds in the 20G30 for those first three days. We definitely got a workout! The captain was a ten-year veteran of the CRJ and had a lot of great little tips and tricks.
One was a quick way to clean up a discontinuity within the FMS. When you put a flight plan into the FMS, then add an approach, it automatically puts a break between the two called a discontinuity. When the FMS hits a discontinuity it stops sequencing the puts the autopilot in roll mode following the last heading you were on.
You "clean up the box" by taking the first fix you want to track to and moving it up to the last active fix, then hitting the Execute. He pointed out a little message on the top right that goes from Auto to Inhibit when you hit the discontinuity. All you need to do is hit that little button and it automatically activates the plan below the discontinuity. It's a great time saver, assuming you fly through the last fix before the discontinuity.
He had a lot of little nuggets of wisdom. After white-knuckling one of the gusty approaches he coached me to relax and let the CRJ do the work. It has a really impressive roll rate so you can finesse it more than I was doing. The next one was definitely more smooth for the passengers!
I was able to impress him with something another captain had shared with me. That captain had shared that there is virtually no heat on your feet in the CRJ so in the cold of northern MN you need something to get heat on your feet. A 1" PVC 90 degree elbow from Home Depot fits almost perfectly in the eyeball vent to the right of my yoke. One wrap of electrical tape snugs it up nicely, allowing you to redirect that heat to your feet! When I pulled mine out of my flight bag and showed it to him his eyes lit up! On our next layover he hiked over to Home Depot and popped for the .62 cent mod for the CRJ heating system.
One was a quick way to clean up a discontinuity within the FMS. When you put a flight plan into the FMS, then add an approach, it automatically puts a break between the two called a discontinuity. When the FMS hits a discontinuity it stops sequencing the puts the autopilot in roll mode following the last heading you were on.
You "clean up the box" by taking the first fix you want to track to and moving it up to the last active fix, then hitting the Execute. He pointed out a little message on the top right that goes from Auto to Inhibit when you hit the discontinuity. All you need to do is hit that little button and it automatically activates the plan below the discontinuity. It's a great time saver, assuming you fly through the last fix before the discontinuity.
He had a lot of little nuggets of wisdom. After white-knuckling one of the gusty approaches he coached me to relax and let the CRJ do the work. It has a really impressive roll rate so you can finesse it more than I was doing. The next one was definitely more smooth for the passengers!
I was able to impress him with something another captain had shared with me. That captain had shared that there is virtually no heat on your feet in the CRJ so in the cold of northern MN you need something to get heat on your feet. A 1" PVC 90 degree elbow from Home Depot fits almost perfectly in the eyeball vent to the right of my yoke. One wrap of electrical tape snugs it up nicely, allowing you to redirect that heat to your feet! When I pulled mine out of my flight bag and showed it to him his eyes lit up! On our next layover he hiked over to Home Depot and popped for the .62 cent mod for the CRJ heating system.
Everskyward
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Everskyward
This talk about the CRJ reminds me that I have just finished doing IOE foe our new FO who has come over to the dark side from a regional; not the one you work for.
Ha! How long is your IOE typically? What equipment are you flying?
I have a fantasy of going to the dark side once I age out for 121...(I'm secretly hoping the FAA extends that another 2-3 years before I get there!) I figure I should have over 10,000 hours by then with more than half of it in jets.
Everskyward
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Everskyward
Our IOE is usually about 20 hours. We are in a Citation Sovereign.
In her case I believe she was at a regional which was downsizing (this was a couple years ago). She had been a Captain but got kicked back to FO (not sure of the terminology for this). I asked why she hadn't gone to another airline. She said that, originally, she wanted to do corporate but someone in the past told her that she should go to the regionals and get some jet time first. She's definitely not aged out as she is young enough to be my daughter.
Our IOE is usually about 20 hours. We are in a Citation Sovereign.
In her case I believe she was at a regional which was downsizing (this was a couple years ago). She had been a Captain but got kicked back to FO (not sure of the terminology for this). I asked why she hadn't gone to another airline. She said that, originally, she wanted to do corporate but someone in the past told her that she should go to the regionals and get some jet time first. She's definitely not aged out as she is young enough to be my daughter.
Well, good for her. I'm sure she learned a lot from you!
My wife's company just upgraded from an Excel to the Sovereign. What a gorgeous airplane!
I'm glad to hear you guys will take regional refugees!
Hey, all you POAers near ORD who are a fan of this thread: I'm coming to your area!
I just got scheduled for my 700 checkout (OOE) and the last night (Thur., Nov. 19th) I have an overnight at the Aloft hotel near ORD. I'd welcome any and all who want to connect to do so. We can firm up details as to when and where specifically as we get closer to the date, but mark your calendars if you're interested in hearing stories first-hand!
Loren
Edit: I just noticed arrival time is 8:05 so probably will be 9 before I get to hotel and get changed.
I just got scheduled for my 700 checkout (OOE) and the last night (Thur., Nov. 19th) I have an overnight at the Aloft hotel near ORD. I'd welcome any and all who want to connect to do so. We can firm up details as to when and where specifically as we get closer to the date, but mark your calendars if you're interested in hearing stories first-hand!
Loren
Edit: I just noticed arrival time is 8:05 so probably will be 9 before I get to hotel and get changed.
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Catalo
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Catalo
If i wasn't at school id take you up on that. I live 3 minutes away
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
nddons
Touchdown! Greaser!
Loren, I'll be at our firm's national tax conference January 5-7 at the Radisson Mall of America.
If you're not plying the skies in a job you obviously hate, I'd love to buy you that promised beer on the 5th or 6th. I'll reach out when the date gets closer.
If you're not plying the skies in a job you obviously hate, I'd love to buy you that promised beer on the 5th or 6th. I'll reach out when the date gets closer.
Sounds good. I'll see what the January schedule brings!
I've lamented the painful return to paper charts after four years flying with digital charts on my iPad. The future prospects for EFBs was one of my first questions when I was interviewing. They said they were in a pilot test at that point, but no definite timetable was in place.
I've monitored the progress to the extent possible, but there were long gaps between info. We knew it would be a Microsoft Surface tablet but exactly which one and timing were hard to pin down.
Finally, a few weeks ago they announced the details and a timetable for the rollout. Our base was slated for 11/3. I've been chomping at the bit!
I was tipped off Friday 10/30 that they had arrived early and were available for pickup! Since my trip was ending mid-afternoon I stopped by the office and, sure enough, they were there. My assistant chief pilot found mine and issued it! Finally!
I spent my Saturday morning completing the mandatory training modules (four CBT modules!) and getting things tweaked for me. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with the Surface. It's a basic 64GB Surface 3 (not the Pro) with LTE data. The LTE data won't be activated until final approval by the FAA which is expected in December. In the meantime, we can use them, but not in "critical phases of flight" meaning the paper stays for a few more weeks.
But at least we're a giant step closer!
I've monitored the progress to the extent possible, but there were long gaps between info. We knew it would be a Microsoft Surface tablet but exactly which one and timing were hard to pin down.
Finally, a few weeks ago they announced the details and a timetable for the rollout. Our base was slated for 11/3. I've been chomping at the bit!
I was tipped off Friday 10/30 that they had arrived early and were available for pickup! Since my trip was ending mid-afternoon I stopped by the office and, sure enough, they were there. My assistant chief pilot found mine and issued it! Finally!
I spent my Saturday morning completing the mandatory training modules (four CBT modules!) and getting things tweaked for me. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with the Surface. It's a basic 64GB Surface 3 (not the Pro) with LTE data. The LTE data won't be activated until final approval by the FAA which is expected in December. In the meantime, we can use them, but not in "critical phases of flight" meaning the paper stays for a few more weeks.
But at least we're a giant step closer!
Attachments
Hey, ORD fans: My trip was just updated so I fly in the evening before my checkout. So I'll be near ORD both the evening of Tuesday 11/17 (after 7:45 or so) and Thursday 11/19 after 8:45 or so.
Happy to connect with fellow POAers either of those days.
Happy to connect with fellow POAers either of those days.
Jepp Flight Deck is awesome. Hope you enjoy it. I guess your bag will be lighter now!
Well, technically it will be heavier because I'll still have my iPad and my MacBook Air PLUS the Surface! Thankfully I never had to schlep those heavy Jepp binders.
I already ordered an extra module for my Brightline Bag as it's getting pretty full as currently configured.
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
Right now we're leaning towards the Hofbräuhaus in Rosemount on Thursday evening. Not sure what Pilot Pete's is but Tuesday is still open.
fiveoboy01
Pattern Altitude
Take a flight there sometime. It's on the field at 06C. Really cool place and the food is great.
Cpt_Kirk
En-Route
I was on SKW from GTF to SLC last week. I know we had a couple of old farts up front, but I don't think it was your trip. The only thing I really cared about was how good looking our FA was on that leg. Whew.
I found it on the web. I'll add it to my "Must Visit" list.
That would be an SLC-based crew, which tends to be very senior.
We have some very attractive FAs. Whether you get one of them is the luck of the draw! :wink2:
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Kayoh@190
Our FAs are getting more and more attractive as the hiring continues. I'm also on a junior airplane, so that helps. But like Jonesy, it's luck of the draw. I'd be willing to bet his smoking hot FA ratio is far better than mine, though!
That said, there's not really any connection between hotness and awesome. I just flew with a cute 22 year old last week, and she had about as much personality as my effing' flight guidance panel. The best FAs are the ones that are fun to talk to, take great care of the pax, and know when to speak up or keep their mouth shut when it comes to broken stuff in the back. Those come in all ages, shapes, and sizes.
That said, there's not really any connection between hotness and awesome. I just flew with a cute 22 year old last week, and she had about as much personality as my effing' flight guidance panel. The best FAs are the ones that are fun to talk to, take great care of the pax, and know when to speak up or keep their mouth shut when it comes to broken stuff in the back.
Those come in all ages, shapes, and sizes.
Our FAs are getting more and more attractive as the hiring continues. I'm also on a junior airplane, so that helps. But like Jonesy, it's luck of the draw. I'd be willing to bet his smoking hot FA ratio is far better than mine, though!
That said, there's not really any connection between hotness and awesome. I just flew with a cute 22 year old last week, and she had about as much personality as my effing' flight guidance panel. The best FAs are the ones that are fun to talk to, take great care of the pax, and know when to speak up or keep their mouth shut when it comes to broken stuff in the back.
I'll vote for the competent, fun-to-be-around around ones over the hotties anytime.
nddons
Touchdown! Greaser!
What airlines are you guys flying again? In the hundreds of CRJs I've flown over the past 15 years, it seems to me that the only requirement for an FA was that she be short enough to stand up in the RJ without hitting the ceiling. Hips hitting seats B and C at the same time? No problem.
Its actually one of the crappier parts of the AP. In a perfect sim world hitting HDG mode and then switching over to "green needles" and then arming APPCH mode works great.
In the real world it works not so great, the plane wags all over the place trying to find the magic heading..it actually embarrassing sometimes, especially at ORD where it is notorious for false localizers. many guys just hand-fly the final vector inbound there...
A popular work around is the "transfer trick" You need the flying pilot to source raw data and the non-flying pilot to source FMS data to get established .
Transfer the AP to the non flying pilots Flight Director and arm APPCH mode, and let it join the loc (really course) in "white needles" or FMS data while your FD is slaved to green needles..
Once the pink wings on your FD are nice and steady and done "hunting" simply hit the XFER button to transfer to the AP back to your side..the plane wont move an inch.
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EvilEagle
Pattern Altitude
Our FAs are getting more and more attractive as the hiring continues. I'm also on a junior airplane, so that helps. But like Jonesy, it's luck of the draw. I'd be willing to bet his smoking hot FA ratio is far better than mine, though!
That said, there's not really any connection between hotness and awesome. I just flew with a cute 22 year old last week, and she had about as much personality as my effing' flight guidance panel. The best FAs are the ones that are fun to talk to, take great care of the pax, and know when to speak up or keep their mouth shut when it comes to broken stuff in the back.
I'd wager I'd give you a run for your money. The only ones under 50 I've seen are some of the speakers on the international legs. Mostly I've flown with pretty senior mamas. Some of them have been a blast, some need to find a different line of work because they obviously hate what they are doing. Of the handful of hotties I've flown with, I always invite them up front to see something (crossing the rockies, Iceland/Greenland, Dover cliffs, something). Never hurts to spruce up the cockpit a bit.