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Galley Gossip: A memorable flight for a first time flier {Gadling}
Oct 29th 2009 11:44PM When I was 12 we were returning from Israel through Copenhagen and my mom asked if I could go up and see in the cockpit. Not only did I get to go in the cockpit during cruise, but they even sent the flight attendant back to get me shortly before landing. They let me sit in the jump seat all the way from the beginning of the descent til we reached the gate. It was the greatest thing ever. I now am an aircraft maintenance manager and commercial pilot. I'm not sure how much of a factor that was but it gave me a good impression of being a pilot. There is no way anyone could get away with doing that now.
Are you paying for an airstrip of convenience? {Gadling}
Sep 19th 2009 12:28PM There are many like David who work their way up through the ranks of general aviation to eventually become airline pilots. Every one of those pilots has spent hours making hundreds of landings at general aviation airports training to be airline pilots. There is no way all of that training could be done at the commercial service airports, so every time you fly the airlines, you benefit from GA airports.
Cockpit Chronicles: A gallon saved... {Gadling}
Jun 7th 2009 2:04AM Ron,
I'm and aircraft mechanic but don't work on airliners, but since your question has not been addressed, I will throw in some of my knowledge. All airliners use an MEL (minimum equipment list) to direct the pilots and mechanics as to what they may and may not allow to be inoperative and still operate the plane. On many items, they can be inoperative, but there are added limitations to how you will operate the aircraft. For instance on the King Airs I fly, I can deffer a fuel transfer pump, but that means 1/2 hour worth of fuel is unuseable. Also, I can defer 1 of the 4 fuel gauges, but I can't have a transfer pump and a fuel gauge deferred at the same time. As for APUs, it would not surprise me if they were on the MEL with some sort of limitation, but we would need to find an MD80 pilot to confirm or deny that.
Plane Answers: "Chit-chat" did NOT doom Colgan flight 3407 {Gadling}
May 28th 2009 7:58PM Kent,
Thanks for your take on this accident. Below is a link to another blog by a pilot with some experience in the Q400. His analysis is very similar, and if you have not seen it yet, you will probably find it interesting reading.
http://fl250.blogspot.com/
Cameras for Kibera, a non-profit project to help Kenyans {Gadling}
Mar 15th 2009 5:46PM In 2002 I spent my summer working with African Inland Mission's aviation department in Nairobi. I got to spend some time with the people in Kibera, primarily with those from Calvary church in Kibera. It is heartbreaking to see first hand the hardship they are dealing with, but it was a great encouragement to see the church stepping up and feeding hundreds of children on a daily basis. I know quite a bit can change in 7 years, but the footage in this video is exactly as I remember Kibera from 2002. I am glad to see this project.
Plane Answers: Airplane specific questions {Gadling}
Dec 1st 2008 6:18PM As I remember it from A&P school (aircraft mechanic training), a prop sync system just makes the props spin the same speed. It uses a sensor and adjustment on the propeller governors. A syncrophaser on the other hand also senses the position of the prop blades so that the blades are at the same positions at the same time to reduce noise and vibration further than a simple prop sync can do. Flying King Airs without prop sync, it is easy enough usually to sync the props manually with the prop levers, but some days it sure would be nice to have a prop sync to do it for me.
Is Gadling against Qantas airlines? {Gadling}
Oct 30th 2008 7:14PM As a professional pilot and aircraft mechanic, I realize that no matter how well these incidents are reported, it is almost impossible to use these isolated incidents to compare airlines, largely because the media is poor in accurately reporting technical aviation news, and isolated incidents can be used in very misleading ways, even when that is not the intent. About a month ago while flying over LA, one of my coworkers watched an American Airlines 757 make an emergency landing in the morning at LAX. That afternoon, I listened to events unfold as a second American 757 taking off from John Wayne diverted for an emergency landing at LAX. In my opinion, this is unfortunate, but I don't think twice about flying American. The afernoon emergency did not even make local news. It is very difficult to get the whole picture if you are not involved in the whole operation.
