|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2017 15:18:31 GMT -5
There's not just one "autopilot". Most of the systems are automated, and most of them have multiple modes. Autothrottles work kind of like cruise control, they automatically keep the engine thrust doing what you tell it to do. LNAV keeps the airplane flying along a particular horizontal (lateral) path. VNAV keeps the airplane at a constant altitude (or tells it to climb or descend at some set rate). You can program the airplane to fly to particular waypoints along the way, or just tell it to fly in some particular direction, or whatever. There are also autoland systems that can automatically land the airplane. All these systems work together. There are also systems that can fly the airplane for best economy, or to reach a particular point by a particular time, etc. If your flight took off 20 minutes late, the pilot might choose between burning the least fuel for the flight or burning a little more in order to make up the 20 minutes. Lots of computers involved.
|
|
|
Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Jan 24, 2017 15:22:27 GMT -5
There's not just one "autopilot". Most of the systems are automated, and most of them have multiple modes. Autothrottles work kind of like cruise control, they automatically keep the engine thrust doing what you tell it to do. LNAV keeps the airplane flying along a particular horizontal (lateral) path. VNAV keeps the airplane at a constant altitude (or tells it to climb or descend at some set rate). You can program the airplane to fly to particular waypoints along the way, or just tell it to fly in some particular direction, or whatever. There are also autoland systems that can automatically land the airplane. All these systems work together. There are also systems that can fly the airplane for best economy, or to reach a particular point by a particular time, etc. If your flight took off 20 minutes late, the pilot might choose between burning the least fuel for the flight or burning a little more in order to make up the 20 minutes. Lots of computers involved. So on commercial flights, is it likely that just about the entire duration of the flight is being completed on autopilot, including the landing?
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2017 15:28:54 GMT -5
There's not just one "autopilot". Most of the systems are automated, and most of them have multiple modes. Autothrottles work kind of like cruise control, they automatically keep the engine thrust doing what you tell it to do. LNAV keeps the airplane flying along a particular horizontal (lateral) path. VNAV keeps the airplane at a constant altitude (or tells it to climb or descend at some set rate). You can program the airplane to fly to particular waypoints along the way, or just tell it to fly in some particular direction, or whatever. There are also autoland systems that can automatically land the airplane. All these systems work together. There are also systems that can fly the airplane for best economy, or to reach a particular point by a particular time, etc. If your flight took off 20 minutes late, the pilot might choose between burning the least fuel for the flight or burning a little more in order to make up the 20 minutes. Lots of computers involved. So on commercial flights, is it likely that just about the entire duration of the flight is being completed on autopilot, including the landing? Yes, although pilots are required to fly a certain percentage of hands-on flying just to keep their skills sharp.
|
|
|
Post by Northern lights on Jan 24, 2017 15:35:39 GMT -5
An airplane can land itself entirely without the aid of a pilot?
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2017 16:07:27 GMT -5
An airplane can land itself entirely without the aid of a pilot? Some airplanes, on some runways, if someone tells the computer to do it.
|
|
|
Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Jan 24, 2017 16:10:45 GMT -5
Speaking of landings, when a plane lands it seems as if the pilot slams on the brakes. I always know this will happen, so I brace myself by placing my hands on the seatback in front of me. I've always wondered why this has to be such a sharp slowing.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2017 18:49:15 GMT -5
Speaking of landings, when a plane lands it seems as if the pilot slams on the brakes. I always know this will happen, so I brace myself by placing my hands on the seatback in front of me. I've always wondered why this has to be such a sharp slowing. Because you don't want to run off the end of the runway! Also, they usually don't even want to go to the end of the runway. Lots of times there are multiple places to turn off, and the sooner they can turn off the runway, the sooner they can let another plane land. And also the sooner they can get to the gate. And the sooner they can shut off the engines and stop burning money. Besides, you have probably never really experienced just how hard the airplane can actually brake. I landed one time with maximum thrust reverse, maximum braking, and it really threw me hard into the seat belts. (It was a flight test airplane, so the seat I was on had shoulder belts as well as lap belts.) I've never been on an airplane in commercial service that braked quite that hard.
|
|
|
Post by akbar on Jan 24, 2017 20:03:00 GMT -5
Midway is a fun runway to land .
|
|
|
Post by gnu2vball on Jan 24, 2017 22:32:15 GMT -5
Speaking of landings, when a plane lands it seems as if the pilot slams on the brakes. I always know this will happen, so I brace myself by placing my hands on the seatback in front of me. I've always wondered why this has to be such a sharp slowing. Because you don't want to run off the end of the runway! Also, they usually don't even want to go to the end of the runway. Lots of times there are multiple places to turn off, and the sooner they can turn off the runway, the sooner they can let another plane land. And also the sooner they can get to the gate. And the sooner they can shut off the engines and stop burning money. Besides, you have probably never really experienced just how hard the airplane can actually brake. I landed one time with maximum thrust reverse, maximum braking, and it really threw me hard into the seat belts. (It was a flight test airplane, so the seat I was on had shoulder belts as well as lap belts.) I've never been on an airplane in commercial service that braked quite that hard. Taking off from Albuquerque, the tower ordered our pilot to abort. We stopped, and everybody on the plane was bent over double. We waited for over an hour for the brakes to cool off. It was the start of a very special day. But Mike's right. Planes can stop quickly.
|
|
|
Post by gnu2vball on Jan 24, 2017 22:33:56 GMT -5
Do former Navy pilots land differently than former Air Force pilots?
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 25, 2017 0:12:23 GMT -5
Rejected takeoff test.
|
|
|
Post by Stanlifornia on Jan 25, 2017 11:49:09 GMT -5
So which parts of a commercial flight are actually on Autopilot? Essentially everything?
On Trans-Pacific/ Trans-Atlantic flights, when do the Pilots sleep? And do they just sleep in their seats? (Sorry if this is coming off extremely asinine.)
|
|
|
Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 25, 2017 12:44:26 GMT -5
So which parts of a commercial flight are actually on Autopilot? Essentially everything? On Trans-Pacific/ Trans-Atlantic flights, when do the Pilots sleep? And do they just sleep in their seats? (Sorry if this is coming off extremely asinine.) A friend of mine flies 777's for United, and told me that for flights between 9-12 hours the plane carries one extra pilot (three total) and flights over 12 hours carry two extra (four total). And there are some sort of sleeping quarters for the flight crew - small bunks or something similar.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 25, 2017 13:03:19 GMT -5
So which parts of a commercial flight are actually on Autopilot? Essentially everything? On Trans-Pacific/ Trans-Atlantic flights, when do the Pilots sleep? And do they just sleep in their seats? (Sorry if this is coming off extremely asinine.) A friend of mine flies 777's for United, and told me that for flights between 9-12 hours the plane carries one extra pilot (three total) and flights over 12 hours carry two extra (four total). And there are some sort of sleeping quarters for the flight crew - small bunks or something similar. It depends. On some airplanes, there are just first/business-class seats saved for the relief crew. On other airplanes, there are dedicated separate crew rest areas. A typical schedule is that the captain of the flight will be awake for takeoff and landing but get some sleep between. But it all depends. And it's not just pilots who need rest. The flight attendants also trade off some rest time on the long flights. 777s have a huge space up above the top of the ceiling of the cabin (we call it "the attic"). Many of them have a crew rest area installed up there. On medium-length flights there have been some studies done on whether it is better to let pilots nap (one at a time) in the cockpit or not. The idea is that you want them fresh and rested at the most important time, which is the landing. Some airplanes have a crew rest down in the lower hold, below the floor.
|
|
|
Post by ironhammer on Jan 25, 2017 21:56:56 GMT -5
So, mike, honestly, you work as a pilot for a living? Flight attendant? Mechanic? Engineer? Airline office staff?
|
|