| Q:Some airlines PA announcements before landing include; "open your window shades" before landing. What might be the reason underneath that kind of recommendation? R: Disorientation, is one of most probable things to happen in most cases of crashes during approaches to land. In such unfortunate cases, loosing orientation to surroundings might cause increased jeopardy to lives of victims. Emergency escapes normally illuminate using emergency power systems, but in heavy crashes, there may remain no emergency power to energize emergency systems, or even the airplane might be upside-down and/or fragmented. One of the effective measures to prevent or reduce the level of disorientation is, as most of the pilots (especially ex-military pilots) would know, to be able to see outside. In other words; "to be in visual conditions". As a last idea but surely not the least, is the aim of easing the rescue efforts of emergency crash teams letting them to see what are behind the windows of crashed airplanes (A victim`s head right behind the shade?) . This would certainly help to avoid further unintentional harm to victims during rescue procedures. That is why some airlines world-wide, may apt to include "window shades" in their standard PA announcements for Take off or Landing Approach. Q: I am willing to start an integrated ATPL course in (time frame), in (city/state/country) with a FTO called (name of flt school) based at (location). If you could have a quick look and advise me if I am going in the correct direction. I am now (age). Would this enable me to become a first officer and more importantly, would an airline company be interested in me for sponsorship? The course involves the following: -Commercial Pilot License (CPL) - Instrument Rating (IR), - Multi Engine Rating (ME) - International Flight Radiotelephony Operator's License, - Frozen ATPL - Multi Crew Co-operation (MCC) Subjects covered: - Performance and Flight Planning - Aircraft General Knowledge - Human Actuations and Limitations - Meteorology - Navigation - Operational Procedures - Principles of Flight - Radiotelephony - Spanish language Training flight hours as: Basic Aircraft Phase 120:00 hours Complex Aircraft Phase 30:00 hours Multi Engine Phase. 30:00 hours Basic Simulator Phase FNTP I. 50:00 hours Advance Simulator Phase FNTP II / MCC. 40:00 hours Many thanks for your time. (Name of inquirer) R: Regarding the ailing airline business throughout the world, unfortunately, airlines have been cutting jobs, laying-out personnel in serious degrees. In addition to that, what you would get out of the course, normally, is not sufficient to acquire a First Officer seat in major airline industry. Some regionals may hire inexperienced pilots or even may pay for "abinitio-pilot-training" for willing youngsters contracted to work for related companies for predetermined obligatory time frames. As a flying fan, once the course is over, you should seek for a job in small planes in GA (general aviation) sector to build up time and experience. Do not expect an immediate job in airline industry nor believe in flight school advertisements aimed to hunt customers. I appreciate your love of aviation. If you still intend to start the training course to be a pro-pilot in the present aviation conjuncture of the world, I would suggest you to make a contract with your school as a future visual flight instructor for a certain time when your course is over. This should give you a chance to built-up time and hands-on experience for visual conditions, at the same time to further increase your instrument experience on a secondary job in light craft. Q: Sir, I had the opportunity to read your web page in which you described the ETOPS concept. I do have an inquiry, and appreciate your support or suggestions. The B737-200 was certified in 1985 by the FAA for ETOPS up to 120 minutes. What I am trying to find is, the FAR reference/description of this certification, And if possible try to get a copy of it. Do you think you can point my compass in the right bearing? R: B737-200 JT8D-9 = 120 min (Dec1985) -15 = 120 min (Dec1986) -17 = 120 min (Dec1986) Operating Airline: ALOHA. Route: Hawaii to Johnston Island. (800 miles SW of Hawaii) Related docs: FAR section 121-161, AC 120-42A, GAI-20 No doubt, you're going to need an additional ETOPS approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of the aircraft registry of your fleet as well as the operator if different from the original. Q:What is Mach? R: Mach number is the ratio of the aircraft to the speed of sound in the air existing at flight altitude. This ratio is called a Mach number in honor of ERNST MACH who first discerned its usefulness. Q: What is the jet stream? R: The WMO recommends the following description: Normally, a jet stream is several thousand miles in lenght, several hundred miles in width, and a mile or so in depth. A vertical wind shear is of the order of five knots or more per 1000 feet, and a horizontal shear is of the order of 10 knots or more in 60 NM. An arbitrary lower limit of 50 knots is assigned to the speed of the wind along the core of the jet stream. As a general rule the wind speeds grater than 80 knots is called wind shear but there are two rather distinct jet streams over the Northern Hemisphere. They are the POLAR JET and the SUBTROPICAL JET. Q: What is clear air turbulence? R: Clear air turbulence, abbreviated CAT, normally is caused by wind shear between two different layers of air which are adjacent to one another. The two different layers of air may be moving in opposite directions, at different velocities, or in combination of these factors. The term CAT is commonly reserved to describe turbulence at higher altitudes not associated with cumulonimbus clouds. Q: What is mountain wave? How severe it could be? R: Mountain waves, sometimes referred to as standing waves, are a product of displaced stable air. The turbulence produced by MW action can be destructively severe. Turbulence may develop on the leeside of the mountains and extend as high as the lower stratosphere for a distance frequently in excess of 150 miles downwind of the mountaintops. Q: What is a wind shear? R: Wind shear can be defined as an abrupt change in airflow velocity or direction over a short distance, either horizontally or vertically. At higher altitudes and speeds, W/S is hazardous and can structurally damage an aircraft and injure its occupants. Whereas low level wind shear in the terminal environment, can cause a stall or unintended ground impact. W/S and its associated turbulence can be found in the vicinity of the jet stream, the leeward side of the mountains during high winds, anywhere in the vicinity of thunder storms, across a frontal boundary, temperature inversion and any time a microburst is encountered. Q: What is HYPOXIA? R: HYPOXIA can be defined as a lack of sufficient oxygen available to the body cells. The degree of hypoxia depends upon the reduction of the partial pressure of oxygen in the air sacs within the lungs. The reduction of Oxy pressure becomes apparent in the physiological deficient zone which from about 12.000 ft. to about 50.000 ft. The most important characteristic of hypoxia is that a crewmember may not be aware of the effects that hypoxia is having on his body. Some of the certain symptoms are: a. An increased breathing rate. b. Lightheaded or dizzy sensations. c. Tingling or warm sensations. d. Sweating. e. Reduced or total loss of vision. f. Fatigue or sleepiness. g. A light blue coloring of the skin, fingernails and lips. h. Behavioral changes. Q: What is the difference between TAT and RAT? R: No difference at all. Although the temp indication from a Rosemount Probe is defined as Total Air Temperature, some operators prefer to label this indication as Ram Air Temperature. Q: As a 135 flight department operator, considering the economic slowdown, we're looking into ways to modify our pilots scheduling so that there is more equitable assignment of flights across the crew. One of the obvious ways to do that is to assign the flights to the next guy up in a rotation. Sometimes this rotation may take several days. We have some questions as to the legality and longevity of rotating the available pilots on a next up basis. Specifically, we have some people in the organization believe that if you have a pilot available on call but free to do other stuff as long as they can respond in a reasonable time of one hour or so, it may constitute them being "on duty" for 135.273 purposes. We would like to find a way to structure it so that the on call pilot is not subject to being labeled as "on duty". Any ideas or referrals? R: As a consequence of my research on effective FAA and JAR rules, I believe you should deem "standby time" as a kind of duty time. First of all, whenever you assign standby duties for your crew on next guy up in a rotation basis, their duty time shall still be limited by 14:00 hrs. No matter where they'll hang out. If they're able to get to the airport within 30-60 minutes, they can well hang around their houses or swim in a pool or play tennis whatever. Otherwise; they have to standby in a pilot lounge right on the field. But the main point is, if a standby pilot gets a call from the dispatch office for an alert trip, say on his sixth hour of assigned standby duty time, he shall have 8 hours remaining to be able to fully complete the entire mission. (Considering a duty time limit of total 14 hrs.) In my opinion this is the legal way also the safer way for planning. Otherwise imagine a guy having an emergency call at the last half hour of his duty time. He has been open eyes for 13.5 hrs, he gets a call for a duty of say 8 hrs (or an unknown length), crummy weather, psychologically tired PIC, let alone the chances for emergencies, the chances for a simple CFIT is higher ( after 21.5 hrs of fully open eyes). No matter how long is the rotation period (may be several days), this period should consist of 14 hrs duty time plus 8 to 10hrs of rest between each 14 hrs slice of duty times. In many operations rest period is increased to 10 hrs at home base and kept as 8 hrs out in remote places. Q: What sorts of phenomena happen at 39000 ft. (High Flights)? I have heard strange things occur. Can you enlighten please! Why is it that military and or NASA aircraft do not suffer from any of high level adverse conditions but yet airliners and small commercial planes do? Electrical problems for example, is this due to a protective coating that used on the craft I have seen the SR-70 it has a rubberized shell I believe which could protect it from electrical storms that would occur at that altitude? It just seems to me that all planes that fly at a higher altitude have suffered from severe electrical malfunctions while the government planes seem to cruise right thru it. R: The troposphere has a thickness which varies with time, season and latitude. On the average its height extends to appr. 60 000 ft. above the equator to 28 000 ft. above the poles. The troposphere is the most unsettled layer of the atmosphere. The Tropopause is the layer between Troposphere and Stratosphere and it is in the area where the temperature change does not exceed 2/3 of one degree Celsius per thousand foot increase in altitude over a range of 6000 ft. Stratosphere is normally stable and is characterized by relatively small changes in temp with height. Cirrus clouds and tops of very strong cumulonimbus clouds penetrate, at time, within this region. As far as 39 000 ft. is concerned (I believe 39 000 ft. is nominal here and you're point was high levels here), CAT (Clear Air Turbulence) due to unstable air or thunderstorm activity in the vicinity is quite common at especially south of 45 degrees North (Northern Hemisphere), or north of 45 degrees South latitudes. Also remember, the core of the POLAR JET STREAM usually lies between 30 000 and 40 000 ft. I remember once flying at 43.000 ft. on a Learjet, I had encountered an unexpected moderate to severe CAT which had caused a temporary loss of control of the plane and I'd had a hard time to get the plane down to 39.000 ft. westbound, that had better riding conditions. The weather charts show the turbulent area only very roughly and there the tropopause may even have bitter conditions than lower, yet PIREPS as well may play a good role here. Always remember; speed spectrum lessens with altitude. I neither remember nor heard of any incident of electrical problems solely due to high altitude flying. And I personally cannot imagine such case other than equipment malfunctions such as inherent chances of generator failures, electrical fire, etc. Only lightning strikes of stormy weathers around the world have so far caused electrical problems, up to and including total loss of electrical power in some cases. I wish I were a NASA check pilot than an airline captain, but I'm not. I'd attended one of the airborne weather radar seminars of great guy "Archie Trammel", who is an admirable researcher, there, he had mentioned of reinforced NASA aircraft made out of ex-fighters just to fly thru thunderstorms in heavy lightning activities for the sake of science. Those are the guys I admire and we all owe them a lot. As you may also know, jet-A fuel and flame arresters in the design of modern jetliners are of utmost importance and have almost diminished the chance of vapor ignitions in fuel cells of airplanes. In my aviation career I believe I'd two lightning strikes and one electrical outburst (an electrical discharge with a loud noise like a cannon fire due to missing or dirty trailing edge discharger strips under heavy electricity build up conditions). Tecs could only find little tiny holes on the radar dome on first two cases that I was at least 10 NM away from storm cells. Unfortunately I have no knowledge on SR-70 airplanes but I believe you can refer to NASA for further info on your question. Just to add I'm not a tech, as far as airplane systems concerned, airline or business jet pilots get optimal training on their initial or recurrent trainings. i.e. we are not trained on the quality of the electrical cables etc. but the systems and their functions. I hope this would do it for you. Q: May HYPERVENTILATION be a problem on jetliners or high altitude business jets? R: Not quite. Hyperventilation or over breathing is a disturbance of the respiratory system due to excessive loss of carbon dioxide from the lungs especially when oxygen masks are used. So this episode might be encountered more commonly by military aviators who may use oxy masks continuously than civil aviators who normally do not use masks. Anyhow, in pressurized transport category airplanes no body can totally omit the possibility of hyperventilation in case of physical exertion, emotional tension or anxiety. Q: What is the reason for BUMPY RIDES on jetliners? What is atmospheric vacuum? R: First of all, there is no vacuum in the atmosphere. But there may be unstable air conditions like arising heated air or falling cold air. When unstable temperature conditions get together with moisture, then rough weather conditions may get tough to challenge the flights... So, even on a clear sky, sudden temp changes and wind direction and strength changes at cruising flight level may cause bumps and chops, those what well may turn out to be of a variety of turbulence levels. Turbulence on clear sky is simply called CAT-Clear Air Turbulence. Q: WHAT IS AEROPHOBIA? R: Aerophobia or aviophobia is an exaggerated, usually inexplicable and illogical fear of flying. The people who have this unfortunate phobia can easily get rid of it by merely going over this fear by simply flying in spite of their fear. That is so simple. Q: What are the frequently used cruising speeds of jetliners or corporate jets? R: As far as True Air Speed (TAS) is concerned, average speed varies between 7 to 9 Nautical Miles per minute at average cruising levels. We simply apply winds aloft to so-called True Air Speed to find out our ground speed. One thing to pay attention over here is the True Air Speed's dramatically increase with altitude up to tropopause levels. So, minimum time and optimum economy flight between to points is practically flown by cruising at optimally higher altitudes, and starting the descent at optimum Top of Descent (TOD) points. Selection of earlier than optimum descent points, would dramatically increase airborne time. Q: WHAT ARE THE FREQUENTLY USED FLIGHT LEVELS OR ALTITUDES BY JET AIR TRANSPORTERS? R: The various levels go up to 51.000 ft. for transport category jet aircraft. For example most of the Learjet types or Gulfstream are certified up to 51.000 ft. But if you consider Concords, they may go up to 60.000ft. Assigned levels change as to being east or west bound, odd or even numbered levels, or when in MNPS routes over the Atlantic Ocean. There are also visual flight levels that may be used with visual clearances but only when at or below 20.000 ft. and below transonic and supersonic speeds. (Ref: ICAO rules of the air Annex-2) Q: What would be the time of useful consciousness in a case of a "loss of cabin pressurization-rapid depressurization" until donning oxygen masks? R: Time of useful consciousness would approximately be as follows depending on the altitude; 30.000 ft.........................1-2 min. 28.000 ft.........................2,5-3 min. 25.000 ft.........................3-5 min. 22.000 ft.........................5-10 min. In such cases; the flight crews would start an emergency descent down to at or below 14.000 ft, depending on the grid minimum off route altitude or minimum enroute altitude, in coordination with appropriate Air Traffic Control Center. If the incident were under positive radar control, she will probably be assigned an initial heading to descent. If not, she will deviate from her route about 30-45 degrees, then parallel her original route. This procedure shall minimize chances for midair. In some countries, those already have many routes like spider webs, the initial descents may be made straight, without a turn, as this might jeopardize the flight safety of the airplanes on the neighboring routings. Q: WHAT IS THE CHANCE OF THROMBOEMBOLISM (economy class syndrome) ON FLIGHT? R: Dehumidification, motionless plus very transient, slight but still there G factors (gravity factors) laden on long haul flights, may pose in favor of thromboembolism. But the risks are very slight and almost omitable... The best things to do, to lower the risks, to almost zero are as the following: a. Drink lots of plain (spring) water to neutralize dehumidification process of your body. b. Try to move around at least once every hour. c. Avoid alcoholic beverages before and during flights. d. Every once in a while move your muscles while sitting in your seat. e. If you have no problems with your stomach, take some aspirin before flight. f. If you're a pax, you may try some red wine but not much. A glass or two would do it for you. Q: HOW TO RECOVER FROM AEROPHOBIA? I get frequent questions via email on aerophobia. I found out that, amazing numbers have been suffering from a very unnecessary fear. That is the fear of flight. Recovery is very easy from my view point. Just remember the following rules: Air travel is safer then other means of travel. Thrust your Flight Deck Crew. Stick flying in spite of your fear. The best way to beat a kind of fear is to go over it. Tell cabin crew that you have aerophobia. Request that you want to see and talk to the Commander or in flight Captain on your problem. This may be before or during flight. They will certainly relieve your fears as much as possible. Try to contemplate the sky, the clouds, the stars, the moon, and the city lights down there. Enjoy the aerial view, enjoy what you see... If you encounter bad weather conditions, again, thrust your Flight Deck crew. Assume the situation as a transitory rough road riding on a car and be patient until you are on a smoother one... Q: How dangerous would turbulence be, which season or geography is disadvantageous? The effect of turbulence varies from light to severe. The capability of harming people on board and/or damage to aircraft varies in this spectrum as well. But the risk of fatality in my opinion is quite remote for CATs, excluding major stormy weathers. Worst seasons are early spring and late autumn and geographical disadvantage increases as you approach towards the the Equator. Q: Would it be right to explain realities of aviation or limitations in layman's terms? I'd suggest never to speak and think in layman's terms for the sake of avition ethics, just to be able to survive and fly longer. All test pilots know that, there are certain extra safety margins added on aircraft limitations. However those limitations are to be adhered to. Otherwise jeopardy would be closer to all. |
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| Q&As ON AVIATION |
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