Gadling

Welcome to Plane Answers where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Kyle writes:

First of all, thanks for taking the time to respond to people's questions. There's something I've always wanted to know. Do pilots ever get scared of turbulence? If so, what makes them bad enough to actually be scary. Is there a way a passenger can know when to be concerned and when it's just normal bumps and shakes?

Thanks, Kyle.

Turbulence is more annoying than frightening, usually. But I think it's more upsetting for passengers than some pilots realize.

I learned a good lesson when flying as a passenger some years ago. I was sitting next to a really nice lady who had previously worked as an agent for another airline. She had obviously flown a great deal, but she startled me when she grabbed my arm as soon as the airplane hit the slightest bit of light chop (pilot-speak for small rhythmic bumps). She said to me, "If the pilots would just ACKNOWLEDGE this turbulence--if they would just say something, I'd feel so much better."

That moment stuck with me. As a co-pilot, it's not really my place to make reassuring PAs--that's up to the captain--but I will do my best when I move to the left seat.

Turbulence becomes worrisome to a pilot when it could cause harm to our flight attendants or passengers who aren't buckled in. That's our biggest concern. I'm very confident that the airplane will hold up to the roughest of air, but we just don't want anyone to get hurt. Take a look at this Boeing video showing the maximum inflight load the 777 will take before failing. The wing finally failed at 154% of the maximum rated load. The video that follows after the jump has to give you confidence in today's airliners.

Our photo of the day today comes from damiel who took this picture from the passenger seat of a Sterling Boeing 737 equipped with colorful winglets. With the outside air probably hovering around -50 degrees F what little moisture in the air during the climb out promptly froze.

By focusing on the ice crystals, he captured another beautiful part of flying. The crystals almost look like little organisms splitting off and growing. For a little color, it's great that the winglets were painted almost perfectly to go with the deep blue in the sky.

Way to go, damiel!

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

There are some advantages to flying a reserve schedule every now and then. I prefer the variety and the thought that just maybe I'll get called out to cover a New York trip to Zurich or Brussels. It's rare, but it has happened before.

For April, I didn't fly anywhere I hadn't flown before, and they managed to use me on almost every one of my available days. Having just arrived home from the Miami and San Francisco trip, crew scheduling already needed me for another early morning departure. This time they had me fly down to Miami and deadhead home on the same day.

It was hardly worthy of a full Cockpit Chronicles. I rode home in the coach cabin and slept most of the way. Fortunately, we're required to have at least one day off every 7 days, and crew scheduling decided I could use one.

This meant that I'd have a small stretch of three days in a row before my month would be over. There's always the chance that a three-day trip could pop up if someone called in sick, but I was pretty sure I'd have the last few days off.

My wife gets nervous when I tell her that there's little chance they could use me. Don't worry, I'll be home to take you and the kids to the airport for your trip to Germany, I'm sure! I figured I'd flown too many hours to be legal for another three-day trip. I should have listened to my wife. She knew I'd get the call.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Justin asks:

My question concerns the autopilot. During the course of a flight how often is it used? Are there times where it can not be used because of heavy turbulence and other weather phenomenon?

Great question, Justin.

First, I should describe the autopilot system in a jet. It's essentially a device that a pilot will program to climb, descend or hold an altitude while following a specified route of flight. The system also includes autothrottles, which maintain the speed of the airplane in cruise and adjust the power automatically for climbs and descents.

It might not be fair to let me judge for the Photo of the Day series. Clearly my bias towards things with wings is known. So as long as the powers that be don't catch on to my skyward leanings, I'll pick shots like this one.

I'm also a fan of blue and white. If the contrails could have just been a bright yellow, well, we would have just created my family crest.

My obvious bias aside, this picture, taken by jonrawlinson, makes for a great background for any pilot's computer desktop. It's currently set as mine, in fact.

The only question remaining was what kind of plane and which airline was flying it? Some thought it was British Airways, but the color scheme when viewed at the full size proved otherwise. It's an Atlas Air 747-400, probably heading to my hometown of Anchorage, Alaska. Well done Jonrawlinson!

It's too bad we don't have a video of the week contest at Gadling. Jon's amazing HD video of Death Valley would have easily been a winner.

If you have a travel related picture that you'd like to share, then join the Gadling group on Flickr and submit some of them for our Photo of the Day.

I can't wait for our one European destination to come back to Boston in May. These crack of dawn departures don't fit my circadian rhythm at all. I'm convinced in fact, that when I retire I may never again see the sun rise.

That said, it's just so amazing to walk down the jet bridge and out the side door to start the preflight inspection and see the sunrise shining down the polished fuselage just as the light breaks through the horizon. Even after so many years it's still enough to get you excited to climb once more into the sky, turn left to one-four-zero and pop through a thin cloud layer into the bright sun. For me, this is the best part of the job. Not the layovers or the diminished travel benefits, but the ability to fly an airplane I could never afford, to places I never thought of seeing with other pilots and flight attendants that I enjoy working with.

This morning's flight down to Chicago was completely full. The captain, Roland, was someone who I hadn't flown with before and we had two American Eagle pilots in the cockpit jumpseats. The 757 has two seats located just behind the pilots that are used for FAA checkrides or for extra relief pilots who sit there for takeoff and landing. But they're most often used by pilots who are trying to get to or from work. Often these pilots work for a different airline.

Welcome to Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

This question was submitted by Jim,

Hi Kent,

My question concerns how much advance notice pilots get when there are other planes in their immediate air space. In some of my travels, while at cruising altitude, I've seen other planes cross paths just below us. Knowing how many planes fill the sky each day and knowing that your reaction time is minimal, I wonder how pilots and controllers work together to keep all those planes apart. Also, what's the rule on how much distance must there be between planes when on the same route and at intersection points?

Being the only pilot on reserve, I figured I'd be getting a call to fly over the weekend. Sure enough, Camille called on Thursday to tell me I'd be departing at 6:30 the next morning. It was a new sequence that I hadn't flown yet. They took away our Panama City and Caracas trip and replaced it with a Caracas and New York layovers.

While I wasn't really itching to fly to Caracas again, the idea of a day in Manhattan sounded like fun. We seem to get N.Y. layovers every year or two for a few months at a time.

John K. was the Captain and he was yet another one of the Boston pilots I enjoy flying with. I know I'm constantly pointing out how nice it is to fly with the Captains I'm paired up with, but I sincerely believe that Boston has the most good-natured group of pilots at the company. I have no scientific proof of that, but I'm sticking with it.

John and I had a great time in Paris a year ago, when he showed me that some bread, cheese and wine at the local grocery store can be the perfect way to enjoy Paris on a summer evening. So I knew we could find something interesting to do in New York.

Welcome to Gadling's latest feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from take off to touch down and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Dennis asks:

As one who travels somewhat frequently for business and pleasure, I have taken notice recently of just how pervasive it has become for United Airlines (the carrier I usually fly) to seat airline employees dressed in full uniform (most probably dead heading to the next hub) in the First Class cabin, even though in many cases there are ample seats available in economy. Somehow I get a little offended by this. At the very least, wouldn't it be a show of goodwill if space is indeed available to upgrade paying customers at the gate and let the crew sit in back? Is this a common practice amongst all airlines? What are your comments on this topic?

Thanks for the question, Dennis.

While I can't speak for United Airlines, I can give a little background on this practice as it relates to my airline. Employees have negotiated improvements to their benefits as they relate to non-revenue travel and deadheading while at work.

According to a report by CNN tonight, Delta has announced it's long rumored merger with Northwest has been approved by both airlines. This merger was supposed to happen months ago, but the airlines were holding out on an announcement until the pilot groups at each company could come to a seniority agreement. The pilots, both represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, were unable to negotiate a mutually agreeable seniority list. The airlines were trying to avoid the acrimonious situation that currently exists between the USAirways and former America West pilots that is threatening the combined airline.

The Delta name and Atlanta headquarters will be kept, and Delta will become the world's largest airline, a position held previously by American Airlines. Delta is hoping that a quick resolution to their pilot contract, which would eventually apply to both pilot groups, might make the merger a success.

Northwest Airlines hold a 'golden share' in Continental Airlines which has prevented Continental from seeking their own merger. Any deal involving Northwest would allow Continental to be freed from any veto power that Northwest has. Look for a possible Continental and United announcement shortly.

Update: Delta and Northwest have already launched a site with details of their plan for world domination.