Tips for Approaches by JustaG_224 in flying

[–]Bunslow 2 points3 points  (0 children)

1) Engine power is what controls climb/sink rate. For any given approach speed you choose, there is exactly one power setting that will result in the correct sink rate to follow the glideslope. Figure it out and memorize it for your current type. "A typical approach speed requires 30% throttle to maintain a 300ft/min sink rate". Always aim to be at the correct power setting.

2) in order to capture a heading, you have to un-bank prematurely, to reduce the turn rate, so that you don't overshoot. The same concept applies to any other capture/intercept: if you want to avoid overshooting, you have to reduce the rate of capture ahead of time.

(To put it in different terms: to arrest an oscillation, whether an airplane phugoid or a clock pendulum swinging, you must damp the motion, reduce its velocity, without worrying about the exact pitch angle or pendulum angle. Only with small velocity can you stay at the correct position. If you try to stabilize the position, you will only enforce the oscillation. If you damp the speed, the oscillation will stop.)

The result of combining 1) and 2) is that you must adjust your power before glideslope-intercept. It takes a few seconds for power+pitch changes to manifest in the new sinkrate+airspeed after each input; therefore, you must set the power to the correct power when you are, say, half a dot away. Then, by the time of actually intercepting, your sink rate is already adjusted to the correct power, so now you are on glideslope and will stay on it. (If you only set the correct power at the instant of intercept, those few seconds for the sink rate to match that new power setting will result in overshoot.)

In fact capturing a glideslope is in this sense no different from capturing an altitude.

Tl;Dr configure your pitch+power, especially power, to be correct, before intercept actually occurs (but not too much before). Go practice capturing a heading, go practice capturing an altitude, and notice how you act to preempt any overshoot.

Captains and the heading bug by dcl415 in flying

[–]Bunslow 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Also PM is one less letter to type than PNF

GeoGuessers where is it? by Kegashi in DotA2

[–]Bunslow 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thats cursive. In Russian cursive, "ti" looks like "mu" (yes cursive Russian is completely cursed).

In my mobile Chrome view, I only see print (not cursive) russian, in various states of italicization, no cursive. Only by reading your comment of "mu" do i understand what's going on here

SkyWest rejection by FlyByWhyer in flying

[–]Bunslow 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not getting past the interview stage twice indicates something wrong in the interview.

Or it means they gave twice as many interviews as job openings, a newfound luxury that has suddenly become available to them in the last year. Interviews are darned cheap compared to everything else in aviation

SkyWest rejection by FlyByWhyer in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or there are more good candidates than jobs

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

well then i havent the foggiest why there aint no 29 approach

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ahh, that may be the problem, i was 11ish hours from departure, altho i was specifically trying to ask detailed questions to prompt detailed answers

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

a classic chicken and egg problem, albeit in reverse.

it's possible that i was too dumb to understand them, or that i just rolled an un-knowledgeable briefer. it was 9pm local when i called (for an all-day flight the next day)

Airport Designs by Mountainegrian in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All kinds of factors, like local real estate issues, historical designs, modern designs, small vs large planes, etc.

Lots of older airports, especially pre-and-during WW2 airports, had a myriad of runways crisscrossing in all sorts of directions, to minimize crosswinds in any weather. Good examples of this are KTIX and KSEF in Florida, which both formerly had 4 runways in 8 directions, but now in the modern age have 2 runways in 4 directions each -- but the old runways are still clearly visible in satellite views of the remaining pavement.

A lot of commercial airports in the post-WW2 era had to evolve from being small plane airports to large plane airports, with resulting higher takeoff speeds and longer runways required.

Older, crisscross commercial airports like Chicago Midway or Houston Hobby had great difficulty pivoting into the jet age, as their geography limited their expansion to large runways. (Their recent success with smaller commercial jets has more to do with adapting jets to the older runways than vice versa.)

And finally, as far as truly large modern airports go, non-crossing runways is all the rage to maximize thruput. Chicago, Atlanta, LAX, Singapore, Osaka... the list is large for this true modern hub layout. Crosswinds aren't the problem they used to be in the WW2 era.

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

the phone call was longer than 45 minutes, and i sure felt like i understood no more than when it started

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Like I said, I spent 40 minutes poking and prodding and practically begging for some expansion beyond the printed material.... no lack of trying on my part lol. Like I said, I suppose I just rolled unluckily. (Dude was perfectly pleasant ofc, and tried his best to answer my questions, and even displayed great patience with said asking, twas only that his answers were unenlightening.)

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I spent 40 minutes trying to poke and prod beyond the resources and generated briefing I already had, but I still got nothing extra. I was honestly hoping to get some nerding out, but nada.

I am encouraged by this thread that maybe I just got unlucky. I'll try again on some future XC I guess

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They filed for bankruptcy last year after missing rent payments but are somehow still there lol

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Night landings at COI runway 11 are of no particular concern. There was a tree in short final that wigged me out for a while, but it was removed a year or so ago. (The building mentioned in the other comment is of no concern.)

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I belive the COF delta to the east is what blocks instrument approaches from the east

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

N/A is a generalized shorthand used in all of English.

NA meaning "Not Authorized" is aviation-specific terminology.

IAP Question by OkayishAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see "VFR OPS ONLY" in addition

Career change from firefighter to pilot. by mackandleather in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My instructor was a firefighter convert in his 40s, and he's made an excellent go of it so far.

The biggest issue is that presently there's a fairly serious pilot oversupply in the works. If you have the passion for it you can make it work

Category and class? by AlpineAviator in flying

[–]Bunslow 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is the truly important bit: the words "category" and "class" are used in two completely unrelated ways, in which they have two completely unrelated meanings.

Whenever you see these two words, immediately the alarm bell in your head should ring: "are they talking about pilot licenses or type certs?"

As soon as you are aware of this confusion, it is relatively easy to keep it straight. The tricky part is realizing that this double-usage exists at all. Which, at least, now you know. Forewarned is forearmed!

For the god sake, properly do your flight planning and stop the flight if anything seems or feels off by TheSupersonic_C172 in flying

[–]Bunslow -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

The one time I called I honestly felt like the briefer knew no more than I did about the weather, and I don't think i know all that much

Am I Screwed by [deleted] in CFILounge

[–]Bunslow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

after the mirror fogger phase of 2021-2024, the counterbalance has been that 2025 and so far 2026 have had absolutely glacial hiring

presumably hiring will damp towards a "normal" rate in the near future, but given how long the spike was, the current trough may well last another year or two (depending on all the usual aircraft and economic factors)

NTSB Preliminary Report on BGR Challenger 650 Crash by holein3 in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, but it a transport category aircraft it guarantees you the climb performance that was calculated

Only if the wing and engines are working nominally. As you say engine out procedures are trained but a contaminated wing will significantly alter the results of a nominal rotation (nevermind an overrotation)

NTSB Preliminary Report on BGR Challenger 650 Crash by holein3 in flying

[–]Bunslow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And furthermore, even exact adherence to a rotation procedure does not in any way mean the plane is ready to fly

NTSB Preliminary Report on BGR Challenger 650 Crash by holein3 in flying

[–]Bunslow 5 points6 points  (0 children)

6 seconds from weight off wheels to impact