globalste

What about coloured lamps, do you use them for radio failure?

T8191

Certainly did ... although don't ask me the exact details now.
Used to happen a lot in the 60's/70's ... then the r/t kit got a LOT better

northernvilla

For the pilots:

1. How do you cope with the first time at an airport? Do you have to be been onboard (but not flying the plane) a few times before "flying" the plane from/into an airport?
   
2. If you are told a particular stand to arrive onto, assuming the airport is new to you, is it a case of reading a map and/or are there other visual aids including signs and lighting etc that direct you to the stand?
   
3. Where did the people with the paddles that used to guide planes onto stands go? I never see them any more.
   
4. What do the different coloured lights on the airfield represent?
   
5. What is the ground staff holding in his hand when signalling to the pilot after the plane is brought off the stand by the vehicle (before the plane leaves for funal taxi to the runway, the ground staff raise their hand with what looks like a red strap?) and then get back into their vehicle.
   
6. Which airport has the most amazing/impressive view on approach/landing?
   
7. What defines a "missed approach"? Is this different to being told to "go around" by ATC?

I have to agree with others that this is a fantastic thread, very interesting.

NV

BingBongBoy

Not a pilot, but can answer some of those...

2 - Once landed, the flight crew contact "Ground" who will issue them with a set of taxi instructions which will take them to their stand, for example, "Left on Alpha, right onto Papa, right onto Delta, onto stand 24" etc...

3 - They have been replaced with technology. It is done by lighting systems, known as "Stand Guidance" which guides the plane to it's correct position on stand.

4 - If you mean the ones embedded in the taxi way, they represent where you can, and can not taxi, where you can enter and not, and also, a lot of airfields now have a lighting system which will light up a pathway in green lights to guide the arriving aircraft to its arrival stand, so ground will say, "Left onto Bravo and follow the greens" and that will lead the aircraft to their stand.

5 - The nose gear locking pin. It has a red "Remove Before Flight" label, and they show it to the pilot to acknowledge that it has been removed.

Jumbodriver

1. Some airfields require a visit but thats only a very few. I think Gibralter and Innsbruck are the only 2 BA ones at the moment. Others have an audio visual brief we have to watch and others just a written one. BA have written briefs for pretty much every concievable airport we could go to or divert to. Theres no reason to visit most airports as charting and procedures are fairly standard worldwide, although obviously we brief ourselves thoroughly before we go somewhere new.

2. There's taxiway signs and maps but navigating a large airport is always challenging.

3. We get marshalled onto stands a probably 50% of destinations on the 747, but the more modern the airport the more likely it is to have some form of electronic guidance. The simplest is the yellow centreline and big stop arrow which you stop abeam.

4. Easier if I link this http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP637.PDF

5. The steering bypass pin. It disconnects the aircrafts hydraulics from the steering system so the tug can turn the aircraft.

6. Well mountainous ones are always good. I think LHR on a good day takes some beating for iconic landmarks though.

7. Its the same thing. Although a missed approach would probably be used more to describe a weather related go around.

HilFly

A question for pilots.

Which are the most challenging airports to fly in and out of? Are any of them actually scary?

I remember reading somewhere years ago that BOS was the only major international airport that was on a pilot's association (BALPA?) black list. Was / is that true?

Jumbodriver

I'm not aware of a blacklist. Nowhere is scary as such, you just have to bring your A game. Some places make the heart beat faster obviously, and probably not the places you'd think of.

BingBongBoy

Aargh... So close... (as in my reply above... )

HIDDY

That was a good question. ^

I'm always amazed how the flight crew find their way around some airports. Especially the ones where they have to do so many left and right turns.

matthandy

How can you see where the nosewheel is in relation to the centre line, or is it just practice? I know that on the A380 there are cameras available in the cockpit so that pilots can see the position of the gear (nose and main) relative to their surroundings.

With regards to airport lighting, when I took of from Seoul I was able to see that the taxi way immediately adjacent to the runway (where we were headed) had a line of lights halfway up it indicating our hold position until we were given clearance. Once we had been given our clearance (I assume), the taxi way lit up and we proceeded to the runway. Is this normal? I don't remember seeing this at any other airport.

Jumbodriver

1. Practice. Theres plenty of visual cues.

2. Its the lighting system that BBB mentioned above. LHR and LGW have it but its only on at night. SIN is the only place I can think of that uses it the whole time. It needs an extra controller in the tower.

Heathrow Tower

The 'extra controller' at LHR and LGW is a specialised role, and that role is all they do in the tower, so they are very good at it!

In Seoul, the system is semi-automatic, the ATC controller inputs the aircraft's route into a computer system (well, in fact, the computer system suggests the 'best' route to the controller, and s/he accepts it or asks for a re-route), and then the lights change on the airfield appropriately. In an energy saving effort, only the 300m of lights in front of each aircraft is lit up, until it gets to its clearance limit and then there's the red bar at the holding point and a big expanse of black nothingness, hopefully to help prevent any aircraft exceeding their clearance limit.

matthandy

Thanks Jumbodriver and Heathrow Tower for your informative answers! ^

northernvilla

Thanks Jumbodriver and BBB.

I was also going to the same question as HillFly in relation to the "scary" airports.

NV

HIDDY

The flight crew don't seem to hang about for long after arriving at the gate. Is it just a case of shutting down the engines and making a run for it?
Or do you go somewhere after collecting your bags to 'sign out' before going home?