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5/20/2009 9:52:01 AM

why can't i use my gameboy?

what do electronic devices (like my gameboy, which don't xmit as hard as a cellphone) actually do to the plane's instrumentation?

how often do people make jokes from the movie Airplane?

5/20/2009 10:03:34 AM

why the hell does it matter if I have my seat leaned back when we take off or land? i mean, it's not like they lay down far enough to put me at some kind of angle where i'm going to fly out of the seat from the force..

5/20/2009 10:05:12 AM

Do you itemize any drycleaning you do on your taxes?

5/20/2009 10:05:15 AM

Quote :

"I've had my cell phone on above about 4000' AGL (not in a commercial aircraft) and it'll bump from full service to 0 bars about every 3-5 seconds. It wears itself out jumping from signal to signal, so chances are, your phone wouldn't work either."

Yeah, I used to take phone calls when instructing. I've gotten it to work around 6,000 ft in semi-mountainous areas, but any higher than that you probably won't be connected for more than a few seconds.

Quote :

"when the pilot comes on the intercom and says "please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened, this means you too seat 23A", is he/she serious? "

Yes, we have a surveillance system and watch all the passengers in the back at all times. Especially hot females.

Quote :

"why can't i use my gameboy? what do electronic devices (like my gameboy, which don't xmit as hard as a cellphone) actually do to the plane's instrumentation? how often do people make jokes from the movie Airplane?"

I didn't know you can't use your gameboy. That sucks.

I'm not an expert on the whole PED and interference thing, and I've read a lot of contradictory information. There's a lot of stuff on the net, and it looks like you will be able to use your phones at some point. I think a few airlines like Emirates have already toyed around with cell service in air via on board satellite. Do you really want everyone on the plane yapping away though? When I fly as a passenger I'd rather have the plane be dead quiet so I can pass out, but maybe that's just me.

I had a captain make an Airplane reference last week, so it definitely happens.

Quote :

"why the hell does it matter if I have my seat leaned back when we take off or land? i mean, it's not like they lay down far enough to put me at some kind of angle where i'm going to fly out of the seat from the force.."

Again, I don't make the rules, hell I don't even enforce 'em. That's the flight attendant's job. They probably don't want you going face first into the person's seat in front of you if we reject the takeoff and slam on the brakes/reversers.

Quote :

"Do you itemize any drycleaning you do on your taxes?"

No, but I could. Sadly, I'm not that frugal.

5/20/2009 10:27:45 AM

Waking up at 4 AM sucks.

5/23/2009 10:52:43 PM

Do you ever wish you did more than drove a bus around the friendly skies??? Or are you happy saying "rotate" and then turning on the autopilot and the FMS?

5/24/2009 3:09:54 AM

What is your scariest fliying experience?

5/24/2009 3:55:27 AM

Quote :

"Do you ever wish you did more than drove a bus around the friendly skies??? Or are you happy saying "rotate" and then turning on the autopilot and the FMS?"

Nope, I love it. It's actually a little bit more than that, but I'll leave you to your conclusions. Oh, and that FMS is on when we turn on AC power. Plus I don't need to do this the rest of my life if I don't want to, anyway. I entered State doing Aerospace Engineering; if I had to do that for the rest of my life I'd blow my brains out.

Quote :

"What is your scariest fliying experience?"

Since this is the like third time someone asked this, reference first page (I think), I'm going to answer a different question that I will pretend you asked.

Quote :

"What is your awesomest flying experience"

Probably flying a C172 off the Virginia coast and doing touch and gos on a little Island called Tangier.

5/25/2009 10:53:07 AM

Have you ever told a passenger to go fuck themselves?

Landing into Midfield Midway on a Southwest connection, the pilot almost ran off the side of the runway in a totally botched landing. As I was walking off the plane I said sarcastically, "nice landing." The pilot's smile turned into anger as he told me to go fuck myself.

I just smiled and walked away

5/25/2009 10:57:02 AM

Quote :

"Have you ever told a passenger to go fuck themselves? Landing into Midfield on a Southwest connection, the pilot almost ran off the side of the runway in a totally botched landing. As I was walking off the plane I said sarcastically, "nice landing." The pilot's smile turned into anger as he told me to go fuck myself. I just smiled and walked away "

Haha, no, but now I have a new hero. Where is Midfield? Did you mean Midway?

5/25/2009 11:11:51 AM

Yep, Midway. Not sure what I was thinking there

5/25/2009 11:14:20 AM

Hahaha, just be happy he got the thing on the ground and stopped. There's not too much room for error at Midway.

5/25/2009 11:19:16 AM

I'm flying Colgan air from NJ to NC in July. Do you think its safe? i mean i was creeped out by that crash man. I understand there isn't ice in July, but the pilots just seemed like idiots. What is your take?

5/27/2009 3:23:55 PM

Oh, there's ice in July...especially at altitude. Mostly in the carbs of small prop planes, though...

Their reaction was pure idiocy. I could have done better than that.

5/27/2009 3:29:43 PM

Quote :

"Or are you happy saying "rotate" and then turning on the autopilot and the FMS?"

This is why no-one likes the Air Force.

5/27/2009 5:59:29 PM

Quote :

"I'm flying Colgan air from NJ to NC in July. Do you think its safe? i mean i was creeped out by that crash man. I understand there isn't ice in July, but the pilots just seemed like idiots. What is your take?"

Yeah you're fine. I have three competent friends at Colgan. They have no idea what this guy was trying to do. It was opposite of what he was trained since he started flying. Isolated incident, i'm sure.

5/28/2009 5:38:33 PM

Quote :

"why the hell does it matter if I have my seat leaned back when we take off or land? i mean, it's not like they lay down far enough to put me at some kind of angle where i'm going to fly out of the seat from the force.."

I always thought the seat back/tray table thing was so that if you crashed and had to evacuate the plane it would be easier.

5/28/2009 6:30:03 PM

Meh still retarded

5/28/2009 6:35:40 PM

What is the longest flight you have made?

5/30/2009 9:59:59 PM

Quote :

"What is the longest flight you have made?"

I've done Memphis to Salt Lake City, which is probably one of our longest flights at the moment. It's blocked for about 3 hrs 25 min. Max range on my aircraft is somewhere around 1800 NM. I think that flight is in the ball park of 1200 NM.

It once took me 4 hrs 30 min to do Richmond to Knoxville in a Cessna though.

5/30/2009 11:59:54 PM

i made it through my flights to NY and back last week....

why the fuck do the jet engines on big planes have to make such weird noises when they decelerate....scares the shit out of me.

/pussy

5/31/2009 12:17:22 AM

Quote :

"i made it through my flights to NY and back last week.... why the fuck do the jet engines on big planes have to make such weird noises when they decelerate....scares the shit out of me. /pussy"

I knew you'd make it.

It's just the sound it makes when it accelerates, in reverse.

5/31/2009 12:54:22 PM

What was one of the funniest radio calls you've made/heard while flying?

5/31/2009 7:01:24 PM

Quote :

"What was one of the funniest radio calls you've made/heard while flying?"

Damnit. I always forget them after I hear them. I'll try to think of one. I've been told to be aware I'm faster than a regional jet on final once while in a Piper Seminole . Here's a thread with a bunch, some better than others:

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/hangar-talk/2263-whats-funniest-thing-you-have-ever-heard-over-radio.html

I do, however, have a pretty neat story. We're departing O'Hare for Detroit and we have a jumpseater on board. We get over Lake Michigan on the departure and check in with Chicago center. The jumpseater says to tell the controller (a female) that [insert jumpseater's name here] is on board. She laughs, says "good to see he got on the flight" and immediately gives us a shortcut. Turns out it's his wife.

I get back on Friday... What are you doing bia?

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 12:20 AM. Reason : .]

6/1/2009 12:09:32 AM

Quote :

"I get back on Friday... What are you doing bia?"

You'll have to keep a logbook of these. This weekend I got nothing man. Suppose to have guard drill, but I'm Active guard now until I leave for flight school... so I think I'm just not going to go to drill now haha. Hit me up man.

6/1/2009 7:39:07 AM

Air France flight.
Talk about it.

6/1/2009 9:03:29 AM

^

"I would not think it was possible that lightning could lead to a short-circuit and disrupt all of the plane's electrical systems. Test planes have resisted some 30 lightning strikes and nothing ever happened," the pilot said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL1719357


Your guess is as good as mine. They say they probably had an electrical power failure, and I don't know enough about the particular aircraft's systems to comment on how likely it would be to lose all electrical power. My guess would be that it's rare. So far it looks like a really strange occurrence.

6/1/2009 4:07:30 PM

Have you even seen a cockroach or a rat on board?

6/1/2009 4:37:46 PM

^ No but it's annoying as shit to have a fly. I had a captain who said he's had a bird once. He said it just perched on top of the thrust levers and chilled.

6/1/2009 4:46:27 PM

Ever done any aerobatic training?

6/1/2009 8:20:43 PM

I was on my commute this morning to EWR and the pilot landed on Taxiway Z instead of Runway 11.

I wasn't paying attention at first, but then I thought it was strange when he stopped really quickly... and then he busted a u-turn right there!

It was a nice day, so my guess is that he came in visual and forgot to check ILS. I don't know if he was caught for it or not, but his actions seemed to suggest he was trying to avoid it.

Hope all is well, and your days are safer than this.

6/1/2009 11:09:53 PM

Quote :

"Ever done any aerobatic training?"

Not yet, but it's on my list of things to do at some point.

Quote :

"I was on my commute this morning to EWR and the pilot landed on Taxiway Z instead of Runway 11."

Yeahhhhhh, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on this. Not because it's not possible. More so because it happened in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Airlines_Flight_1883_taxiway_landing_incident

Quote :

"I don't know if he was caught for it or not, but his actions seemed to suggest he was trying to avoid it."

If it happened, in VFR conditions like you said, I'm pretty sure someone would notice it at one of the busiest airports in the US.

6/2/2009 2:00:39 AM

Did you ever say what planes you are checked out in?

6/2/2009 2:21:43 AM

I've only flown four planes, in actuality. Wish I had the opportunity to fly more.

CE-172 (Skyhawk), PA-44 (Seminole). CE-525 (Citation CJ1), and a CL-65 (CR9).

6/2/2009 2:49:55 AM

I was gonna say you've only flown littluns, but the Bombardier ain't so little.

6/2/2009 2:55:24 AM

Compared to a Skyhawk, not so little

Compared to a Galaxy, pretty little

It's all relative.

Quality over quantity anyway. You'd hear no complaints from me if i was zooming around in a Gulfstream V and it's got the same max weights of my CR9.

6/2/2009 3:10:56 AM

And a Galaxy is small compared to the Anotonov AN-225.

Me...I just want a Gooney. Simple needs...and old radials give me a hardon.

6/2/2009 3:16:36 AM

There's a guy at RIC who's trying to recondition a Lodestar and fly it around the country on ethanol. It has two Pratt and Whitney Hornets, 9 cylinder radials. Pretty bad ass looking engines.

6/2/2009 3:27:25 AM

That'd be sweet as hell. There is a guy at the Troy, Alabama airport who's got a DC-3, a P-51, a B-25, a Skyraider, a Texan and a few other aircraft, but he barely flies them.

6/2/2009 8:11:14 AM

Quote :

"Yeahhhhhh, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on this."

Bullshit because you think I'm wrong, or because you think I'm lying?

If you think I'm lying, I can't help you. Feel free to check other posts to confirm I'm not a bullshit artist.

If you just think I'm wrong, I can only tell you the following in support my claim - there were blue taxiway lights on both sides and he would have busted a u-turn on an active runway at a major airport.

We're not talking about a huge aircraft like the one you in the incident you linked (and I was unaware of that incident). We were on a Dash 8.

6/2/2009 8:55:47 AM

^ I thought you were joking using a past event as a premise.

Anyway, if you are serious, here's some evidence to consider.

"Taxiway Z at Newark has the green center lights but not the blue lights on
its borders, according to the FAA's Peters, but that does not constitute a
violation of federal regulations. Taxiways are allowed to have either type
of lights, said Port Authority spokesman Marc La Vorgna."

-regarding the 2006 incident.

You said you saw blue lights. And didn't you say this was during a morning commute? Now it is possible that they've since put them in, but I'd doubt it since the FAA doesn't mandate it and it would be up to the Port Authority to put them in and that costs cash. Anyone who's lived in NY knows that the Port Authority has tons of cash but they prefer to use it for their own salaries rather than projects.

And I didn't follow what you meant by "would've busted a u-turn onto an active runway." Can you confirm you saw the runway edge lights? Is it possible he turned onto 4L/R? And if he did a u-turn onto an active, wouldn't he be heading the opposite way that he was landing? I assume you meant he was trying to cover his ass by doing it.

As far as the stopping quickly, it is probable that LAHSO (land and hold short) operations were in effect due to the fact that Runway 11 intersects the two main runways that were most likely also in operation. This would reduce the usable runway length, most likely requiring him to get on the brakes harder than normal.

Now I'm not saying it didn't happen, because you were the one there, not me. Just trying to highlight some things that would make it improbable.

Quote :

"That'd be sweet as hell. There is a guy at the Troy, Alabama airport who's got a DC-3, a P-51, a B-25, a Skyraider, a Texan and a few other aircraft, but he barely flies them."

Yeah. I'd be surprised if it ever gets done, neither the guy nor the plane are getting any younger.





[Edited on June 2, 2009 at 4:19 PM. Reason : moar]

[Edited on June 2, 2009 at 4:20 PM. Reason : fix]

6/2/2009 4:00:22 PM

Quote :

"And I didn't follow what you meant by "would've busted a u-turn onto an active runway." Can you confirm you saw the runway edge lights? Is it possible he turned onto 4L/R? And if he did a u-turn onto an active, wouldn't he be heading the opposite way that he was landing? I assume you meant he was trying to cover his ass by doing it. As far as the stopping quickly, it is probable that LAHSO (land and hold short) operations were in effect due to the fact that Runway 11 intersects the two main runways that were most likely also in operation. This would reduce the usable runway length, most likely requiring him to get on the brakes harder than normal."

I could have worded that better. We landed, stopped, and then he u-turned.

I can't speak to LAHSO ops, but I'm sure you're correct.

6/2/2009 5:13:05 PM

Tyler Hansborough's on my flight to Detroit. What should I do?

[Edited on June 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM. Reason : Stupid iPhone.]

6/7/2009 4:02:08 PM

can allah interest you in 71 virgins?

6/7/2009 4:03:19 PM

Haha I'm not flying, but good one.

6/7/2009 4:08:17 PM

^^^ lol, traveling is what he does best.

6/7/2009 4:12:52 PM

What happens when people are caught fucking in the bathroom? Is it a serious punishment?

I will try doing this before I die

6/7/2009 4:51:28 PM

^^lol

^never heard of anyone getting caught. If you do get caught you're probably awarded a medal.

6/7/2009 6:14:08 PM

Quote :

""why the hell does it matter if I have my seat leaned back when we take off or land? i mean, it's not like they lay down far enough to put me at some kind of angle where i'm going to fly out of the seat from the force.." "

i've heard two things:
1) knowing that there is already a very small chance of any kind of emergency, those changes are higher on take-off and landing (although still miniscule). Therefore, if they need to evacuate the plane in an emergency, having the seatbacks up (and everything stowed under the seats or overhead) just makes the rows a bit easier to get out of.

2) simply for housecleaning, and before descending is the last time that the whole plane will listen to what the flight attendants have to say. They want you to raise the window shades and put the seat backs up before you get off the plane, so it will be a little neater for the next people who get on. i.e. it's a hell of a lot easier to get 300 people to each raise their own seat back than to get a couple plane cleaners to go through the whole cabin doing it later. And before descending they can get you to do it, because as soon as the plane lands, people stop listening to whatever the attendants are saying.

6/7/2009 6:15:50 PM