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Recent Comments:
Cockpit Chronicles: A captain's line check {Gadling}
Sep 19th 2011 10:35AM You said: "While it might seem to be nit-picking..."
I've got to say, when it comes to aviation safety, there are very few things I regard as "nit-picking".
Another interesting post, Kent. Keep 'em coming please!
Cockpit Chronicles: There's more behind the Air France 447 crash than pilot error {Gadling}
Aug 12th 2011 8:37AM As a PPL who's never flown anything larger than a Piper Archer, I'm lucky not to know what a stall feels like in such a large aeroplane. Are there any physical manifestations of a stall that the pilots can feel in such a large aircraft or do the hydraulic controls take out all of the feedback from the stick?
I can sympathise that conflicting speed reports would cause massive confusion (especially at night with no external visual reference) but presumably the Standard Stall Recovery for large jets is the same as for smaller aeroplanes, so why wouldn't you do it at the first sign of the stall warner regardless of the readout on the ASI?
I'm not trying to be argumentative and I'm certainly not wanting or trying to apportion blame, but surely from 35,000 feet, there ought to be enough time to work out which of the ASI is misreading. Is there an argument to say that so many audible warnings in the cockpit actually *increases* confusion and potentially *causes* a panicked response?
Cockpit Chronicles: Is it time for pilots to ditch the hat? {Gadling}
Mar 22nd 2011 10:09AM Personally, I think the hat conveys an air of authority and professionalism. You wouldn't go flying in your jeans and a t-shirt because it wouldn't look good, and people would find it harder to entrust their lives to you. The pilot's hat is part of the uniform, just as it is for police officers; you wouldn't see them on the beat without their hat either.
Cockpit Chronicles: Nearly a near midair collision {Gadling}
Nov 15th 2010 8:11AM Thanks, Kent. I knew there had to be a sensible answer to this!
Cockpit Chronicles: Nearly a near midair collision {Gadling}
Nov 15th 2010 6:04AM Great post again, but I've got a query about this bit:
"The NTSB requires that any flight responding to a TCAS resolution advisory above 18,000 feet must pull the voice recorder circuit breaker after completing the parking checklist. This would allow the NTSB to analyze the tapes from ATC and the aircraft involved in the loss of separation incident."
I find this mildly concerning, but for different reasons to the one you stated in the post. Is there anything which says the recording must be copied and the breaker replaced (and hence CVR) reactivated before the next flight? If not, does the aircraft fly without a CVR (somewhat defeating its purpose) or is the aircraft grounded until the tapes get copied?
Apple sends takedown notice to iPod hacker's ISP {TUAW.com}
Sep 26th 2007 9:01AM There's something I still don't understand. The iPod Touch and the iPhone are both based on OS X Leopard, right? i.e. They are derivative works of OS X and hence Darwin. Doesn't the Darwin licence require that they release and make public any code modifications/derivations?
Also, I'm firmly with the group who thinks that an API and 3rd party apps for the iPod Touch would convince more people to buy them. The contract required for an iPhone is simply too expensive for me, so that's out. The touch is my next best option, but aside from WiFi, there's nothing it can do that my current iPod can't. Open it up and you've got my 270 quid, Apple.
