Only time that I have applauded was in 85, when coming back from Majorca with my then GF and her son.
We had a mare of a flight, as we had a long delay and had to swap planes, as our original one developed an engine fault after take off. Then after landing back in Majorca, a 4 hour wait while another plane was sent from the UK. As this plane was a DC10 and it was only half full, we had to split up for take off/landing so the plane could be trimmed properly. Before we got into UK airspace, the pilot warned us of a severe storm and that we had to go round it, so we were informed we may have to land in France as the fuel load wasnt sufficient because of the head winds on our flightpath.
I dont know why, but the pilot decided to land in the end at Gatwick instead of Heathrow, but warned us of the severe turbulence as the storm was moving over the London area. As we started our descent, it was like riding a bucking bronco with all you could see was sheets of lightning, and I think all the adults were thinking dark thoughts, but as for the kids they were having a great time!...
The applause when we landed was deafening, and even the cabin crew joined in, which made it seem more than a little surreal.
The one upshot though, was the airline (Britania as was) paid for taxis to take us home.
I remember reading once about a chief stewardess who announced after a particularly heavy landing "And Captain Kangaroo will now bounce us to the terminal."
I had a friend who used to fly cargo for DHL, he says that old joke that pilots use is actually very true, "A flight across the Atlantic is 6 hours of boredom with 15 minutes of panic at each end"
I had a friend who used to fly cargo for DHL, he says that old joke that pilots use is actually very true, "A flight across the Atlantic is 6 hours of boredom with 15 minutes of panic at each end"
Yes one of my friends is a first officer for BA and he sayes that much of the flight and even the landings can be done by autopilot!
Yes one of my friends is a first officer for BA and he sayes that much of the flight and even the landings can be done by autopilot!
That is true, but as I understand it (I'm not an expert so I'm happy to be corrected on this), pilots have to log a certain number of manual landings or they lose their licence. The result is that most landings are manual.
Yeh its the ILS ( Instrument Landing System ) that lands an aircraft automatically. The only exception is that im sure they have to turn the autopilot off at around 250 - 500ft and then land manually.
Take-off is a bit different though, I think this is manually done, then as soon as they get off the ground the Autopilot goes on.
Not necessarily. That's the thing with air, you see - you can't see what it's doing..
If we still had the spirit of inventiveness that we once had, this problem could be solved quite easily. Simply attach a long pole to the front of the plane and attach a camera to it which looks back towards the plane.
Yeah, is unusual, hadn't experienced it since the 1980s, however for first time flew Ryan Air the other week and on both outbound and inbound there was a round of applause - very strange.
Yeh its the ILS ( Instrument Landing System ) that lands an aircraft automatically. The only exception is that im sure they have to turn the autopilot off at around 250 - 500ft and then land manually.
Take-off is a bit different though, I think this is manually done, then as soon as they get off the ground the Autopilot goes on.
There is a system called "Autoland" available that can land a plane completely automatically in partnership with ILS and with just the pilot supervising in case of problems or emergency, most major airlines have it and most major airports support it. However, pilots must complete a certain number of manual landings and will pretty much always land a plane in rough weather anyway.
My pilot friend used to say you can tell an auto landing and a manual landing apart except when an excellent pilot is at the controls. Basically if the plane guides in smoothly in good weather and lands smoothly around one third of the way along the runway, it is probably an Autloanding.
Yeh its the ILS ( Instrument Landing System ) that lands an aircraft automatically. The only exception is that im sure they have to turn the autopilot off at around 250 - 500ft and then land manually.
Take-off is a bit different though, I think this is manually done, then as soon as they get off the ground the Autopilot goes on.
Not all airports support ILS and not all aircraft do either.
Yeh its the ILS ( Instrument Landing System ) that lands an aircraft automatically. The only exception is that im sure they have to turn the autopilot off at around 250 - 500ft and then land manually.
Take-off is a bit different though, I think this is manually done, then as soon as they get off the ground the Autopilot goes on.
You can let ILS take you all the way down the glideslope, but I'd always have hands on the control in case the QFE (pressure) was set wrong. The only thing the pilot has to do is the flare and throttle-back/reversers.
For take-off, they'll be in control until they are directed out of the TMA at the least.
(This is where a commercial pilot comes in and tells me otherwise!)
Comments
We had a mare of a flight, as we had a long delay and had to swap planes, as our original one developed an engine fault after take off. Then after landing back in Majorca, a 4 hour wait while another plane was sent from the UK. As this plane was a DC10 and it was only half full, we had to split up for take off/landing so the plane could be trimmed properly. Before we got into UK airspace, the pilot warned us of a severe storm and that we had to go round it, so we were informed we may have to land in France as the fuel load wasnt sufficient because of the head winds on our flightpath.
I dont know why, but the pilot decided to land in the end at Gatwick instead of Heathrow, but warned us of the severe turbulence as the storm was moving over the London area. As we started our descent, it was like riding a bucking bronco with all you could see was sheets of lightning, and I think all the adults were thinking dark thoughts, but as for the kids they were having a great time!...
The applause when we landed was deafening, and even the cabin crew joined in, which made it seem more than a little surreal.
The one upshot though, was the airline (Britania as was) paid for taxis to take us home.
That is one flight I never want to repeat!.
I'd applaud for that too...
http://www.thatwasfunny.com/17-real-flight-attendant-quotes/1083
#4 and #12 have been quoted here already.
Yeah, when they land 'on time' I say on-time as not sure how late they still class as on time.
Yes one of my friends is a first officer for BA and he sayes that much of the flight and even the landings can be done by autopilot!
That was the jingle / announcement on my latest flight, even though it didn't land early or on-time, maybe they class within 15 or 20 mins as on time?
That is true, but as I understand it (I'm not an expert so I'm happy to be corrected on this), pilots have to log a certain number of manual landings or they lose their licence. The result is that most landings are manual.
Take-off is a bit different though, I think this is manually done, then as soon as they get off the ground the Autopilot goes on.
If we still had the spirit of inventiveness that we once had, this problem could be solved quite easily. Simply attach a long pole to the front of the plane and attach a camera to it which looks back towards the plane.
It was probably relief.
There is a system called "Autoland" available that can land a plane completely automatically in partnership with ILS and with just the pilot supervising in case of problems or emergency, most major airlines have it and most major airports support it. However, pilots must complete a certain number of manual landings and will pretty much always land a plane in rough weather anyway.
My pilot friend used to say you can tell an auto landing and a manual landing apart except when an excellent pilot is at the controls. Basically if the plane guides in smoothly in good weather and lands smoothly around one third of the way along the runway, it is probably an Autloanding.
Not all airports support ILS and not all aircraft do either.
You can let ILS take you all the way down the glideslope, but I'd always have hands on the control in case the QFE (pressure) was set wrong. The only thing the pilot has to do is the flare and throttle-back/reversers.
For take-off, they'll be in control until they are directed out of the TMA at the least.
(This is where a commercial pilot comes in and tells me otherwise!)