VNAV, Descend Via and Embray'ers

First time in an E170 jumpseat today. Holy cow, that was a nice looking machine. What's up with that BMW i-Drive mouse thing? That was pretty unique. I swear I saw a cursor move on the MFD as he clicked away. Mind = blown

You did. Takes some getting used to, but it's a pretty cool device.

It controls mostly the MFD, but can also be used to scroll through the EICAS messages if needed, or even tune NAV/COM frequencies of the PFD.
 
Eh...

Considering I only see DCA during Shuttle flights, means I see the River Visual 19 waaaaayyyyy too much during a 3 or 4 day trip and way much more when all I do for a month is the DCA-LGA Shuttle.

If I'm feeling adventurous, I might disconnect the autopilot before the final turn at Gravelly Point, otherwise, I keep it coupled to the RVAV-F approach and let the box do all the work.

I'd probably hand fly it more if io didn't see that approach as often I do these days. It was actually a welcome change to fly the Mount Vernon Visual a couple of nights ago.
My feelings exactly. When I was an f/o I flew the shuttle almost exclusively because those 4 days tend to pay anywhere from 22-24 hours vs 20 maybe 21 hours for a non-shuttle trip. I'd rather make more money for being gone the same amount of time.

After 2 years of doing probably 80% of my flying between the same 4 airports (PHL, BOS, LGA and DCA) it's autopilot on at 1000' and off after the 500' call. Makes life easier.
 
My feelings exactly. When I was an f/o I flew the shuttle almost exclusively because those 4 days tend to pay anywhere from 22-24 hours vs 20 maybe 21 hours for a non-shuttle trip. I'd rather make more money for being gone the same amount of time.

After 2 years of doing probably 80% of my flying between the same 4 airports (PHL, BOS, LGA and DCA) it's autopilot on at 1000' and off after the 500' call. Makes life easier.

I'm the same way. Just finished up a 25 hour 4-day. Hardly flew due to all the cancellations though.
 
I'm the same way. Just finished up a 25 hour 4-day. Hardly flew due to all the cancellations though.
My favorite were the "I hate the shuttle!" Captains I'd fly with. The looks on their faces when I'd say " Oh so you like having to fly an extra 3 days a month to get the same amount of credit because non-shuttle trips are less-efficient?", were hilarious. Uhhh, well, uhh, you know I had a PIT layover last week! Classic.
 
I was lucky to get on. It seems Yooo-nited's regional operations take a severe hit during any IROPS at EWR.
They offload basically all of their cancellation risks to their regional partners, it would seem. I mean, they shut down XJT CLE, full stop, two (?) years ago when the weather tanked.
 
They offload basically all of their cancellation risks to their regional partners, it would seem. I mean, they shut down XJT CLE, full stop, two (?) years ago when the weather tanked.

Definitely. Cleveland is nothing....Try EWR.

A line of wx planned to come through in the summer and the whole regional schedule will get torpedoed. Same with winter storms...A day or two of flying will get cancelled. Unacceptable not to have cancellation pay if you'll be frequenting ewr as a UAX carrier.
 
Definitely. Cleveland is nothing....Try EWR.

A line of wx planned to come through in the summer and the whole regional schedule will get torpedoed. Same with winter storms...A day or two of flying will get cancelled. Unacceptable not to have cancellation pay if you'll be frequenting ewr as a UAX carrier.
Happiness is V1 in Newark with a takeoff alternate.
 
was to just click off the autopilot and hand fly it.
.

I was actually chastised by a CKA at our current shop Hacker for doing this very thing. TIMBRS4 into PDX , Left high and fast, cleared for the visual 28R and oh btw look out for the MD-80 landing on the left side. Eff it, I clicked off the AP and hand flew it. It was a beautiful thing. During the debrief I got a lecture on how my knowledge of the automation was "weak" and how come I just didn't FPA it down 3.5 degrees to intercept blah blah blah.. I was astounded....
 
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