FlyCRJ.com

Unless you are in some sort of flight training, there is really not much to do in between landing and takeoffs. If you are going through flight training, then from the moment you show up till the time you leave, you are probably busy learning something.

But once you get all your pilot certificates and pilot ratings though, it’s time to FINALLY enjoy flying.

As a professional pilot though, I find that from the time I arrive at the airplane till we get above 10,000 feet I’ve got a lot to do. After that everything slows down…a bit. Then, when I’m 30 minutes out from a destination, things start to get busy again and my brain goes on high alert.

In between these two events though, unless I’m dealing with weather, turbulence, or other nuisances, there is not much to do except to monitor your route, answer radio calls, and monitor the airplanes instruments.

So what can you do that will really pay you back when the time comes?

Review your emergency procedures.

OK, yeah, it’s not the most fun thing to do but then we don’t plan for emergencies and when they happen, unless you have been practicing, you may find that you are not performing as well as you should.

Here are two recommendations:

1. When everything is stabilized and you are at cruise, pull out your emergency procedures and see if you can remember your “memory items” and see if you can perform the steps listed in your emergency procedures.

2. Right before takeoff, take a moment to visualize what you would do if you had a engine failure at V1 or a blown tire. What if an animal darts onto the runway or you hit some birds. What about wind shear? What would you do? What actions would you take? What would you do if you had a engine failure or other emergency right after rotation. Read the rest of this entry »

A whole flight, no matter how perfect it is, seems to always comes down to whether is was a nice, smooth landing or a jumbled mess.

And it seems that pilots, for better or worse, seem more concerned about the landing than anything else. You could say that landing an airplane is the holy grail of flying because a good landing is what we strive for most. To sip from the cup of a sweet landing.

My view of a perfect landing for most general aviation aircraft and jet airplanes is one where the aircraft touches down smoothly on the center line at just above stall speed (general aviation) with the yoke nearly full aft or on center line at Vref within the first 3000 feet of the runway threshold (jet), respectively.

In a general aviation airplane, the pilot then holds the nose wheel off as long as possible, applies crosswind correction, and smoothly lowers the nose as elevator effectiveness is lost.

In a jet, upon touchdown, you smoothly lower the nose wheel, apply thrust reversers, input crosswind control and slow until you can safely make one of the high-speed exits.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And for the most part it is. But to do it consistently is the challenge.

We have all heard the saying that it is possible to make a bad landing from a good approach—which I do, often— but it is almost impossible to make a good landing from a bad approach. If you don’t make a stabilized approach, chances are you aren’t going to make a good landing.

Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was watching TV that was exploring what made some athletes great! Imagine being one of the world’s top athletes. I mean the “top!” You are truly gifted and currently operating at your very best. And then realizing that because you are the best, you are actually holding yourself back both personally and professionally from your true potential. Sounds kinda strange, doesn’t it? You are the best but you still holding yourself back.

There is an author, Malcolm Gladwell, who asked a group of panelist at the 2011 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference to consider this exact dilemma.

His goal was to guide a discussion that focused on the value of pure natural talent versus work ethic and the ability to accept coaching and instructions.

You see this all the time in the sport’s world. Great individual talent but poor judgement hence a short, uneventful, even embarrassing career. It happens to a lot of athletes. Think of all the No. 1 draft picks that disappeared into obscurity never to be heard from again.

Now think about how this might apply to your airline and flying career. You might be thinking, how does this apply to me? I’m not an elite athlete, I’m just a pilot.

So here is a question: Have some things come so easy for you that you took them for granted and never pushed yourself further?

I’m guilty of it.

Also, consider the huge number of obstacles a wannabe pilot has to overcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last couple weeks, Jason, from FlightDeck Consulting, has been giving out some GREAT information on how to prepare for your upcoming airline interview.

If you would like to catch up on what has been covered so far, here are the links to those articles:

• Airline Interview Series by Flightdeck Consulting – Part 1 of 5
• Airline Interview – Part 2 of 5 – Structuring Your Answers
• Airline Interview – Part 3 of 5 – The Big Airline Interview Secret

In this article, Jason covers something that is just as important as having the hours and skills to be an airline pilot and that is to know the airline company you are applying to and know how to tell that human resource rep that they have the best airline in the industry and that you REALLY want to work for them.

You see, if you don’t think that an airline interview is a “game,” then you are missing a big part of a picture. You have to be “over ready” for the interview when you walk into the interview leaving no area of the airline industry unexplored. You have essentially be an actor, have industry knowledge, and you have to know how to interview. You need to look better, answer questions better, and be a better prepared pilot than the pilot next to you. Being ready IS part of the “game.” Those that don’t get the job go home.

So read carefully what Jason has to say and work it into your airline interview skills.

Read the rest of this entry »

How many times do you get into an airplane and just…”GO”?

Well maybe this story will help.

We were starting a trip. Everything was going well. We had a good airplane with one minor deferred item, the weather was VFR, and it was the first leg of a four-day trip.

In preparing for the flight, I hadn’t done anything different than I do on every flight. I brief the crew, take my time, make sure all the checklists are done, provide a complete takeoff briefing, maintain a nice tempo, and maintain a “sterile” flight deck.

After pushing back from the gate, we taxied up to the hold line for the runway and waited for our clearance. At this point I take of few seconds to imagine the takeoff, especially a takeoff where something goes wrong. Usually I imagine an engine failure at V1. I think about my call outs and where we are going to go.

During this takeoff roll, right at V1 our nose wheel tire impacted something. I never saw it. Since we were at V1, there wasn’t much choice…we had to take it into the air. I could have done a rejected takeoff and our available stopping distance may or may not have been enough to stop the airplane safely, but it has been drilled into me that it is better to get airborne and deal with it than to risk running out of runway and possibly hurting the passengers and damaging the airplane further.

Read the rest of this entry »