A380 landing KSFO (?) 28 R.....

[lemonadedrinker]

HI,
....this is a 10 minute video on Wimp.com, posted Dec 27th of a Lufthansa Airbus going smoothly through it's paces. As I am hopeless at landings I found it interesting


Andy.

 

[Rallymodeller]

I believe that's a shorter version of the Nerve Center (that's what it's called on Discovery Canada) episode about both the A380 and it's first KSFO visit. I am sure that whatever US network carries it has put it up online. There are some really good docs on Youtube, including the Megafactory episode about the Wichita Learjet facility.

 

[Sunny9850]

I am sure you meant to include a link somewhere around here

Not having seen the footage I'll simply try to take a guess. My friend Klaus being one of those Lufthansa captains currently in line for the 380 I am sure would agree. The reason why they make it look so easy is...... practice practice and a bit more practice.
Few airlines invest as much above the mandatory Sim-Checks into keeping their crews in top form as LH. Starting with the fact that once you are selected by LH for ab-initio flight training you get paid. Not like some of my friends here in the states who invested $40.000 or more to get all the required ratings and hours only to end up as underpaid FO's with the minors ($19000 or so to fly a CRJ for Continental Express....).
Should not have to work a second job as a FO or Captain just to put food on the table.

Stefan

 

[Tom Clayton]

This?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDMDuRczDI0

 

[fliger747]

Many carriers outside the US have had to resort to ab initio prpgrams due to a lack of a significant military or gen av presence. Military training is a form of ab initio. Somewhere the best ballance is probably a combination of training and experience. Diversity of experience is also a plus.

The abinitio system works where the crew had a diversity of experience and unusual and unexpected events are not of frequent occurence. I get to fly with a broad vareity of pilots and certainly some of the best started out as bush pilots or some such and fought their way up with a true love of aviation. I see evidence of a different attitude in Japan, where abinitio has been around for quite a while. The big decisiion is whether i have better prospects at the bank, Toyota or JAL....

It is not true that all situations can be anticipated or broken down into procedures and training events. Some folks keep their curosity and can react to new situations with more alacrity and learn more from their continuing experiences. They make the best pilots.

T

 

[lemonadedrinker]

Hi,

Sorry about no link....I don't know how to do that, so I just wrote the site's name, hoping that would be enough.....!

Let me try:

www.wimp.com

and see if that does it, but as has been posted on Youtube that is probably a better place to look for others.

Andy.

that worked.

 

[Sunny9850]

Many carriers outside the US have had to resort to ab initio prpgrams due to a lack of a significant military or gen av presence. Military training is a form of ab initio. Somewhere the best ballance is probably a combination of training and experience. Diversity of experience is also a plus.

The abinitio system works where the crew had a diversity of experience and unusual and unexpected events are not of frequent occurence. I get to fly with a broad vareity of pilots and certainly some of the best started out as bush pilots or some such and fought their way up with a true love of aviation. I see evidence of a different attitude in Japan, where abinitio has been around for quite a while. The big decisiion is whether i have better prospects at the bank, Toyota or JAL....

It is not true that all situations can be anticipated or broken down into procedures and training events. Some folks keep their curosity and can react to new situations with more alacrity and learn more from their continuing experiences. They make the best pilots.

T

Hi Tom,

the point about having less of a military or GA pool of pilots available is certainly valid. With user-fees and sky high fuel prices that is certainly on part of the reason. But at least with LH I know that it is simply their preference to train their crews from the start in the fashion they want them to be trained. Controlling the entire curricula and the schools in the same fashion the USAF does when they train a new pilot.
After all they need to work as a efficient and safe team in their careers no matter who sits in which seat later on.
I think their overall safety record does back their theory up quite nicely.

All but one of the guys I know is also a very active private pilot...with a variety of personal aircraft among them. Vintage, Acro, basic GA you name it...and a few gliders for good measure. Their training certainly does not limit them from being diverse and adding experience in different ways after they get their LH wings. Having a good salary and no anvil of debt over their heads (at least not for their professional training ) does help keeping their hearts in aviation though.

However I know for example that just passing a structured flight training program does not necessarily turn someone into a good aviator. I have flown with guys that trained at one of the US premier training programs supplying ATP candidates to the national carriers. They were 100% by the book, calling out V1 and V2 speeds for the Warrior and yanking the poor thing off the ground before she was really ready to fly that hot SoCal day. Some folks have that certain something and others don't I guess.

The main point was actually in response to Andy's comment:
As I am hopeless at landings I found it interesting

Practice...Practice and more Practice. And to me that means for most FS pilots flying the less sophisticated aircraft a bit more and at their slower pace figure out just how the basics work. And then get good at those basics by practicing before moving on to more advanced aircraft.

Cheers
Stefan

 

[fliger747]

A bit like the boy with a violin case asking a man on the street the way to Carnige Hall.... "Practice son, Practice....".

Cheers: T

 

[Tom Clayton]

Landings have always been my favorite phase of the flight.There's been many times when I just sarted a flight with minimum fuel, then took off and flew forward enough to get the gear and flaps retracted. At that point, I go into slew mode and pull backward three or four miles, then exit slew mode lined up for an approach. Doing that in all sorts of different weather conditions really helped me to hone my landing skills.

 

[Sunny9850]

That is actually one of the ways FS can be extremely beneficial to real world training, as long as you are mindful that certain things just don't quite translate....the feeling in your butt most importantly..., by being able to effectively repeat from a given position and by doing so learn immediately from the previous attempt.
By eliminating exterior influences such as wind for example you can narrow it down initially to just what matters and in much less time or many more repetitions in the same time you might get three or four in a real airplane.

I used that all the way through private and even more so during IFR training. Having a tweaked PA-28-181 which matched the real 8DC including instrument location and performance to a kt or two made that a time and money saver beyond any hopes I had initially.

And if 100LL is just too expensive, which is just about all the time , I use it today to add to the IFR proficiency beyond flying the requirements off in my Saratoga.

Cheers
Stefan

 

[Willy]

I agree on the practice & more practice although I'm not a r/l pilot. I started with CFS 1 and back then only a few of us would take off, fly the mission and then land back at base, most prefering to warp their way into the dogfight and stay there. More than a few times, I'd mess something up, but that's how you learn. I still screw up on occasion, but then I'm still learning too.

 

[Volker Böhme]

Many carriers outside the US have had to resort to ab initio prpgrams due to a lack of a significant military or gen av presence. Military training is a form of ab initio.
...

Hi,

several years (maybe 10?) ago Lufthansa reduced its maximum entry age to a point where former military pilots would not qualify any more. While there had been a number of ex-Luftwaffe pilots flying for LH, company policy apparently decided against this practice, for whatever the reason, but it would be available in the first place.

Best regards,
Volker

 

[Bjoern]

Back in '06, I had applied for a pilot career at LH.
Went to the assessment center, but didn't pass the multitasking tests.

So much for a safe and sound pilot career.


(Since ATPL training is very costly, it is understandable that LH tries to find the perfect candidates.)

 

[Sunny9850]

Hi,

several years (maybe 10?) ago Lufthansa reduced its maximum entry age to a point where former military pilots would not qualify any more. While there had been a number of ex-Luftwaffe pilots flying for LH, company policy apparently decided against this practice, for whatever the reason, but it would be available in the first place.

Best regards,
Volker

Some of my buddies that fly for LH joked that if they had failed to get on with LH because of one niggle or another they would have joined the Luftwaffe....they were not quite as strict with the flight physicals Though that is most likely a fib since I have seen LH pilots with reading glasses but don't know a single fighter or transport jock that needed that sort of crutch
I know when I applied back in the dark ages....LH did not accept anyone with less than 20/20 vision....need glasses you are out.

Stefan