This week in Patrick Smith's ASK THE PILOT column at Salon.com:

Engine Fumes, Daredevil Turns, Landing Gear Failures and Other In-Flight Horrors. Plus: From REM to the Simpsons, the weird phenomenon of the pop-culture tailspin:


ON FUMES:

"….What you're smelling is backflow of exhaust fumes drawn into the air conditioning units. It's not an ideal situation, obviously, but usually it lasts only a minute or two, until the engine reaches idle speed. To some extent it depends on the wind…"

ON TEMPERATURE:

"…Some pilots will raise the temperature slightly in the belief that it helps people sleep, but this is rare. Adjusting the temp controllers is very common while on the ground or during climb and descent, but once at cruise we set the dials to a recommended and basically leave them alone until somebody complains. On the jets I fly, there are three temperature zones adjustable from the cockpit. The equipment does a very good job, though the temperature values we see on the gauges aren't always reflective of the exact comfort level. Over a long flight, we'll typically get three or four calls from the cabin attendants asking us to raise or lower the temp slightly…"

ON ABRUPT TURNS:

"… airline training does not teach basic flying technique. It teaches procedures, aircraft systems, and crew coordination. What you experienced was probably just a product of the departure profile. Because of noise abatement rules, departure paths are often tightly packed with turns and climbs …. And passengers have a tendency to grossly overestimate the angles of bank, descent, and climb. For turns, figure 20 degrees maximum. You'll never be more than 15 or 18 degrees nose-high, and even a steep descent is under ten degrees nose-low…"

ON LANDING GEAR:

"…Landing gear are great sources of passenger worry, but to an extent they're an airframe's most expendable zones. Gear problems sit pretty close to the bottom on a list of a pilot's worst nightmares…"

ON AIR FRANCE AND THE MISSING MAYDAY…

"…The pilots would have been communicating with air traffic control by voice over high frequency radio or by means of an onboard datalink unit. Sending even simple messages by these methods is relatively time consuming and is not something the pilots would have been concerned with in the heat of an emergency. You have this Hollywood-inspired image of a pilot with a microphone in his hand, saying "Mayday, mayday, this is Air France...." It doesn't happen that way. The first orders of business is to keep control of the aircraft and deal with the problem. You do not make radio calls until circumstance affords…"


Plus: the pop culture tailspin:

The Replacements, Husker Du, "the Simpsons" and REM


The full article is here:

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...askthepilot336

Access is free. Watch for the “skip this ad” or “enter Salon” links on the gateway page.



Recently in ASK THE PILOT: Airplanes, Oxygen, and Myths about Cabin Air
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...askthepilot335