Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Well, there you have it. @Hammertime has dropped the hammer. Disregard at your peril you know nothing hacks!
horrific storms
- Thread starter ian
- Start date
Well, there you have it. @Hammertime has dropped the hammer. Disregard at your peril you know nothing hacks!
Trust me when I say this. When deviating around weather there is absolutely 0 ego. This PIC AUTHORITAH thing is just a strawman. We just want to bring everyone home safe without having an ambulance meet us at the gate.
etflies
Keeping calm, Chiving on.
I flew the NE airspace between Boston and DC almost exclusively for years not all that long ago, so I'm familiar with the frustrations of the area.
That said, I don't actually disagree with some of what you're saying. I agree that it is cringe-inducing to hear fellow "professional" pilots cop an attitude while an overworked controller is trying to stuff X amount of pounds of crap into an ever shrinking bag. I agree that TCAS is a tool, not a potential replacement for ATC. I disagree that I have an ego because 'I r pylit.' I'm focused on flying safely and legally. I fail to see where you find an ego problem in that.
However, my FOM dictates how close I can get to a storm being painted on our radar. My experience dictates how comfortable I am pushing those boundaries. As such, just because one airplane in front of me does something, doesn't mean I will follow suit. If that means the airspace ends up being closed well, then it closes. If we start holding, so be it. The northeast, or the entire east coast for that matter has no shortage of options for diversion airports.
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wheelsup
Well-Known Member
Personally I feel for controllers. The experience level of most pilots using radar is quite low. Lots of guys deviate around Detroit, Chicago, Indy etc. And they deviate really far, 50-100 miles, screwing up controllers plans. The blowoff we go around in daytime is flown under or through all the time at night just because you don't know it's there.
I will say the onboard weather we now have is a godsend. You can make much more strategic decisions a lomg way out vs having to zig and zag.
That being said we also deviate around pop up clouds because the ride can be brutal sending carts up and people crashing down. ATC won't see those as they contain little moisture. They are normally located right on the centerline of an RNAV arrival.
I will say the onboard weather we now have is a godsend. You can make much more strategic decisions a lomg way out vs having to zig and zag.
That being said we also deviate around pop up clouds because the ride can be brutal sending carts up and people crashing down. ATC won't see those as they contain little moisture. They are normally located right on the centerline of an RNAV arrival.
nabbyfan
Well-Known Member
I've been on one FAM, but they're really kind of a PITA for us to get approved for. I can't speak for every facility, but most won't approve a FAM unless you already have the days surrounding your weekend off, which is hard to get unless you use your one time to bid leave in advance for the next year to set up a FAM, which most people won't do.
It was informative and I had a good experience and agree more controllers should try and get on one, but honestly most of the busier facilities staffing is so bad that it's really hard to get anything more than one day off, and using that rare extra offtime to sit in a cockpit and be reminded of work doesn't sound too great.
I do think it would be good for both sides to do more tours. If pilots could come to the facility and just watch a full shift and see what goes on and how little things can have huge effects on a Sector I think it would do a lot for awareness on that side of the mic, and vice versa.
I know personally one thing I took out of the FAM was how much of a pain reprogramming an arrival into the FMS can be, and I kind of adjusted the way I assign speeds and stuff based on that.
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Anyone remember AirTran 426?
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb....ev_id=20001211X10040&ntsbno=DCA98MA045&akey=1
We were right behind him on climbout. The controller told him that company had gone through the gap 30 minutes prior with no problem. He took that route. They offered us the same route.
THe captain elected to go upwind and around the long way. In his words, "That thing is a plane eating monster. I'm not getting within 30 miles downwind of it." It was a massive storm with an anvil at least 20 miles long.
As they started yelling "MAYDAY" on the radio, all he could say was, "See? What a bunch of assclowns."
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb....ev_id=20001211X10040&ntsbno=DCA98MA045&akey=1
We were right behind him on climbout. The controller told him that company had gone through the gap 30 minutes prior with no problem. He took that route. They offered us the same route.
THe captain elected to go upwind and around the long way. In his words, "That thing is a plane eating monster. I'm not getting within 30 miles downwind of it." It was a massive storm with an anvil at least 20 miles long.
As they started yelling "MAYDAY" on the radio, all he could say was, "See? What a bunch of assclowns."
etflies
Keeping calm, Chiving on.
Thanks for taking the time to explain that, I didn't realize it was such a PITA for you all. The one we had in the jump a while back made it sound somewhat painless.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Don't know when you had your jump seater but pre-9/11 and post 9/11 are completely different programs for us. Post 9/11 is a much bigger pain with scheduling and paperwork. Plus they make us shave our beards and I just can't do that.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Boris Badenov
This is no laughing matter.
Hahahah. Not me but I'll give you dollars to donuts I know who it was. Can't remember the guy's name atm, but he had about half a pack's worth of teeth, was from somewhere south of Kentucky, north of Florida, and not heavily populated, and was utterly fearless in weather. You could watch him (and we did) on flightaware and he would drive straight through anything. Like, stuff he didn't need to. Air mass storms just sitting there...straight through. Always wondered what happened to him...
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Once upon a time, when paper checks still had to get to the bank, when men were men (and so were women), when piston twins were top of the GA food chain, when single engine turbines were oddities, gods deigned to walk among mere mortals. And when they did, they were known as Freight Dogs. Their like is not to be found in the world today.
Every company has them.
In the early 90s when I was flying cargo in a Lance, we'd all mass launch on our routes in the early a.m. I had a pretty heavily loaded route, and another company plane launched in the same direction as me but to smaller towns and with a much lighter load. He would always pass me about 20 or so minutes after takeoff as I was just reaching cruise altitude. One day, as he was passing off my right side, he clicked the mic on company as per usual, and as I glanced over, he was passing by me in a wings level descent....inverted. Waggled the wings as he passed by, rolled it upright ahead of me, and pressed on to his destination.
There's always someone. He was leaving to a different job in a week or so.
Now it's "I gotta offline deadhead on a 777 now? Earlier it was a 787. I'll go through Bahrain instead as they have a better executive lounge!"
@Gonzo
This 3 year old 777 is a piece of crap.Now it's "I gotta offline deadhead on a 777 now? Earlier it was a 787. I'll go through Bahrain instead as they have a better executive lounge!"
@Gonzo
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
"Compass' 175s are ragged out so imma take my 1497 hours total time and go to Skywest, they gots the newest hotness!"Now it's "I gotta offline deadhead on a 777 now? Earlier it was a 787. I'll go through Bahrain instead as they have a better executive lounge!"
@Gonzo
SeanD
Well-Known Member
That is so true. Just look at those out dated skinny ass winglets on the Compass jets.
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
The MiG-28 can't sustain a negative g dive
Finny
Well-Known Member
thegriffinpages
AKA "Icicles"
New guy here working toward my Aircraft Dispatcher Certificate.
I agree with what you said. My Dad is an airline pilot (17 years now) and personally I would want him to make the decision to go ahead or not. After all, its his ass up there in that plane. I'll always try to remember that when I finally go to work as a Dispatcher. I'll help the pilot see what I see on the screen, but it's his life potentially on the line. He's got to live with his decisions, but so do I.
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