What Is Going On?

Flew an LOE with an inop autothrottle and it rocked a 20-year 737NG captain's world.

What do you think it'll do to a Riddle grad?

And I'm a riddle grad!
 
I remember back on my 3rd leg of IOE our FMS was toast. My check airman (great guy) told me I probably knew more about flying green needles (VOR) than he did at that point. We pulled out our calculators and had a good time :)
 
Can't! Usually as per the FOM.

However, some folks have a "glass jaw" when the automation fails.
 
I'm not sure where all this hate for automation comes from??? The Dash8 was a helluva lot more automated than the DC8 and the DC8 was almost easier to fly. Not because of the lack of automation, but that was just how the airplane was built.

As it has been said, there is nothing glorious about flying around raw data, AP off, etc, in fact it is probably a little more dangerous especially in busy airspace.

Now, the issue of when people get the 6000 RVR stare when some piece of automation is TU or fails in flight, that is just poor "professionalism". There is a time and a place to keep those "hand" skills sharp, and it doesn't take doing it on every single leg of every single flight. Eventually one gets to the point where flying the airplane is secondary, but being able to be precise is something that needs practice.
 
For me, the hate comes from not having to think with computers. That's easy for me, it always has been. I haven't really flown a plane with an FMS or an autopilot yet, but I'm pretty positive that, for me, it's going to be cake. I've gotta actually use my brain to keep my aircraft moving in the direction I want, and I like that.

Actually I take that back, I've got a chunk of G1000 time and that thing was a piece of cake. A lot of people struggle with it, but I never did. I thought it made flying a Cessna 172 too easy to be real honest with you.
 
Well, I gotz news for ya, you will never be able to fly an airplane as efficiently or precisely as an AP and FMS combo, simple as that. In the world of 2000# of fuel taxi burns and 12000#s per hour cruise, there just isn't the room for consistent 1% over burns in fleets of hundreds of aircraft.

Just because the computer is thinking, doesn't mean you stop thinking, you actually have to be a bit farther ahead to be able to catch those mistakes that cause the "Hey look, it's doing it again..." moments.

Automation isn't the devil and using it does not make anyone any less of a pilot, our jobs are much MUCH more than flying the airplane.
 
Getting to a jet at 300 hours isn't skipping being a flight instructor, it is simply delaying it until one is captain of a jet teaching the first officer.
 
Kingairer said:
Glossy ads have been around a long time. Not to worry. Once these get stick quick people get on the line awhile they realize how crazy it is to pay 50K to get paid 19K.
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:yeahthat:

And that is why you may never see me in a cockpit of an airplane beyond the instructor level.

I'll be perfectly content to teach on the side if no employer gives me a good reason, both financially and QOL wise, to dump my current gig.
 
Dugie8 said:
Well, I gotz news for ya, you will never be able to fly an airplane as efficiently or precisely as an AP and FMS combo, simple as that.
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I'll have a heck of a fun time trying to though.:nana2: Honestly, as a passenger, I'd rather the AP be handling the aircraft. The ride would be a heck of a lot smoother than a brand new FO trying to fly it. I hear that it can be tough to hand fly at those speeds anyway.:)
 
KLB said:
I'll have a heck of a fun time trying to though.:nana2: Honestly, as a passenger, I'd rather the AP be handling the aircraft. The ride would be a heck of a lot smoother than a brand new FO trying to fly it. I hear that it can be tough to hand fly at those speeds anyway.:)
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Honestly, that depends on the person operating the AP. Speed mode in the CRJ is notorious for up and down pitch changes, radical nose shifts and just plain "WTF?!?!" moments. Example, keep it in speed mode going through 10K and accelerate from 250 to 290....your nose is gonna drop....FAST. There's two options, you can switch to VS mode to control the nose a bit better or (my option) just hand fly the thing. Either one gives a better ride to the folks in the back. Even if you keep it in speed mode, at around 18K feet, you're gonna start getting bouncy-nose syndrome as the AP tries to keep the speed with the pitch. It starts hunting around for a speed and causes the nose to go up and down. I generally prefer VS mode in a climb over speed mode, but I've heard one or two CRJ operators don't let their pilots use VS mode. Something about not adjusting the pitch in the climb and getting a stick shaker....

Now, as for automation making things easier...in cruise, yeah. On an approach into busy airspace....sometimes. If approach clears you for a visual 1000 feet above the GS and heading 90 degrees to the course, which is easier? Spinning the heading bug, setting a lower alititude, hitting VS and spinning the wheel, then adjusting the thrust...oh yeah, and don't forget to arm approach mode. Then there's an option I use a lot.....disconnect the AP, remove the FD and fly the darn thing. It's actually less workload.
 
Well, it's technically an 'auto thrust lever' because *cough* we don't have throttles. :)
 
Or just an autothrottle arm switch, you need to press another button to turn them on.

Clear as a heavy lead curtain? :)
 
Dugie8 said:
Well, I gotz news for ya, you will never be able to fly an airplane as efficiently or precisely as an AP and FMS combo, simple as that. In the world of 2000# of fuel taxi burns and 12000#s per hour cruise, there just isn't the room for consistent 1% over burns in fleets of hundreds of aircraft.

Just because the computer is thinking, doesn't mean you stop thinking, you actually have to be a bit farther ahead to be able to catch those mistakes that cause the "Hey look, it's doing it again..." moments.

Automation isn't the devil and using it does not make anyone any less of a pilot, our jobs are much MUCH more than flying the airplane.
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Well said sir.
 
jrh said:
I was just thinking about this the other day. It's been a LONG time since I've run into a kid who couldn't get enough aviation in his life. The kind of kid who hangs around airports, tries to get a line service job, talks to pilots every chance he gets, reads all the magazines about flying, etc. Somebody who is really passionate about flying for the sake of flying and loves all things aeronautical. It's too bad. I'm sure those types of kids are still around, but they're few and far between.
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Yup...I'm still one of those kids. :) Okay...so I'm not really a kid anymore, but I still get excited about airplanes like I did when I was a kid. The Beech 1900 is an amazing bird to fly. I can't even begin to describe how it feels to pilot that bird. :D

I consider myself an aviator too. I've dreamed about flying airplanes since I was old enough to say airplane. The first time I flew, my instructor called me a natural. I just have a life long passion about it, and it shows in the way I fly. I don't consider myself a great pilot, but the way I approach aviation its evident I'm not here just to make money - its what I love to do. When I was 10 years old I read my first FAA book about flying airplanes. I used to build custom models and fly them in my backyard. I have more aviation toys then you'd find in a Toys-R-Us and I have more Microsoft FS time then I do actual flying time! Pathetic huh? :p
 
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