A few weeks ago, A NW plane landing at MSP informed the tower that they needed to do an autolanding.
The weather was nice and the skies were clear. Why would they need to do this and inform the tower?
Quote:
Originally Posted by l'etoile
The autoland was likely for pilot currency. For many European carriers it's opposite, they have to make a point to do hand landings because it's SOP to do autolandings.
Actually, the reason was for the plane's currency. The plane has to do an autoland every so often to stay in Cat III status. It then falls back to a Cat II status if currency is not updated. Eventually it would fall out of autoland tolerance. Thus the need to do it every so often. Mechanics can also do a test on the ground to get it updated.
The pilot's get their Autoland currency during their simulator sessions. Doing it in the jet doesn't do anything for our currency.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aluminumdriver
The pilot's get their Autoland currency during their simulator sessions. Doing it in the jet doesn't do anything for our currency.
Thanks for the correction.
Following up on this ...is this unique to UA to do it all in the sims? And how many landings are you required to do (Euro pilots have told me three a month). How often do you go to the sim for you currency?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TA
another question for you --
I would want to use the ILS as a crutch so not to have to rely on visual so heavily. Or is that a no-no?
According to the FARs, for turbojet aircraft, you must use any glideslope reference that is available. Simply meaning that is there is an ILS available for that runway it must be tuned in and used for reference. Now with that being said, alot of us still tune it in a set it up but still use the VASI as primary.
Following up on this ...is this unique to UA to do it all in the sims? And how many landings are you required to do (Euro pilots have told me three a month). How often do you go to the sim for you currency?
I "believe" it is a yearly requirement to be reset. We have our training every 9 months, so that is when we reset our training. As for whether it is the same everywhere, I really don't know. I really personally never pay attention to it since United makes sure we stay current through our training program.
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Recently took UA to LAX-BOS and back. Listened to Channel 9 and heard the word "rattlesnake" used quite often on the flight back to LAX. Asked a young male FA what it meant but he didn't know. Does it perhaps refer to one of the air routes followed across country? It was very overcast last evening and I could see only clouds for about half the flight.
Recently took UA to LAX-BOS and back. Listened to Channel 9 and heard the word "rattlesnake" used quite often on the flight back to LAX. Asked a young male FA what it meant but he didn't know. Does it perhaps refer to one of the air routes followed across country? It was very overcast last evening and I could see only clouds for about half the flight.
Hi there, what is the pilot's view on the US Airways fuel controversy? US Airways says they have brought in pilots for retraining who have gone beyond the 60-90 minute extra fuel guidelines. The union says the pilots are being unfairly singled out as US Airways is putting pressure on pilots to reduce fuel loads.
Recently took UA to LAX-BOS and back. Listened to Channel 9 and heard the word "rattlesnake" used quite often on the flight back to LAX. Asked a young male FA what it meant but he didn't know. Does it perhaps refer to one of the air routes followed across country? It was very overcast last evening and I could see only clouds for about half the flight.
If I remember correctly, Rattlesnake is either a VOR or fix somewhere out west.
Quote:
Originally Posted by imref
Hi there, what is the pilot's view on the US Airways fuel controversy? US Airways says they have brought in pilots for retraining who have gone beyond the 60-90 minute extra fuel guidelines. The union says the pilots are being unfairly singled out as US Airways is putting pressure on pilots to reduce fuel loads.
What's your take?
Hmm, this one can be difficult. While I agree we need to try and watch fuel usage, I see this particular incident as personal against these particular pilots. If the company wants to push fuel saving techniques, they can push it. But to single out 8 particular captains for "special training" does seem retributional in nature. Ultimately, it is the PIC's decision and his alone on how much gas to carry on a certain flight since it is his certificate on the line. I have had many flights where I look at a flight plan and just laugh looking at the little gas the company has given me. I add gas and move on. So far, United has not been singling out pilots for "special training" based on fuel usage, as it should be IMO. The company says they have no problem with pilots diverting for fuel. Well, we do since it A) means more work and even more gas in the long run with a divert and B) any divert usually means misconnects for passengers.
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