Archive for September, 2013

Push back

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

All the vision in a plane flight deck is forward. Understandable yes? But when we leave the gate, what we call push back, we go backwards. These days the Captain steers, or the First officer if dual tillers installed, while the power push unit (ppu) drives. During this process you have ground control (ATC) the engineer, controlling the push steer right steer left, and starting engines. I can’t juggle but this should qualify.

You can’t see the ground crew, but the disembodied voice below respects the red beacons top and bottom flashing warning: these engines will come to life and suck you off your feet if you get within 25 feet once we light the fire.

With both engines running, she’s awake and coursing with her own power; hydraulics, electrics, pneumatics, like a track star stretching through the flight control check. Fuel check all a ok.

Nose to the blue, darkening to the east where the day expires like a prayer unsaid off to another place another time the challenge is a foot which I never tire of – bring it on.

The theory of replaceability

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

This theory is well illustrated by S Levitt. The typical prostitute earns more than an Architect. It may not seem that she should. The architect would appear to be more skilled and better educated. But little girls dont grow up dreaming of becoming a prostitute so the supply is limited. Added to this the job is unpleasant and forbidding therefore they are hard to replace. None of these factors are in play for Architects which manifests in their pay.

Now lets look at lotto. The $10 bucks you spend on your ticket is easily replaced combined with the allure of the $10 million prize blinds you to the fact that you have a 1 in 8 million chance of winning.

Where there is a disconnect between the pay and the replaceability makes those jobs highly vulnerable to shifts in markets.

Thought of the day

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

othing wears a pilot out like watching the other guy fight the jet. And nothing degrades flight performance like the inevitable outcome–the jet wins, as it should.

This pointless tail chase arises out of two competing malignancies. First, there seems to be an inborn reluctance to consign more and more vertical and lateral (read: climbs, descents, and navigation) maneuvering to flight management systems. Part of that, I believe, comes not only from a reluctance to acquiesce to the reality that in most cases, the automation can do a better job than the humans, but in a real sense, from a backlash against the encroaching automation sub summing what used to be mostly art.

Preflight thought of the day

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

Now” is a moving target, mortgaged by “then,” which in the preflight cockpit is more about “there:” the air nautical miles divided by pounds of fuel burned per each.

Thanks Capt Manno

Early call on reserve

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

There is something about a 5 am reserve duty that instills trepidation in even the most seasoned pilot. Especially when it falls on Friday. What is it about Fridays that makes them callout magnets?

0501 oh dark early phone call with the cherpy heavily caffeineated night crewing officer saying we have a duty for you. Now at this point it is waky waky hands off snaky and all you want is the sign on time but before you can get a word in the full duty is all over you like a cheap suit. Slow down and just tell me start and finish time.