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"We are the protagonists of our stories called life, and there is no limit to how high we can fly."


PHD. MBA. MHS. Type rated on A350, A330, B777, B747-400, B747-200, B757, B767, B737, B727. International Airline Pilot / Author / Speaker. Dedicated to giving the gift of wings to anyone following their dreams. Supporting Aviation Safety through training, writing, and inspiration. Fighting for Aviation Safety and Airline Employee Advocacy. Safety Culture and SMS change agent.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A330 Pilots: How to Get out of Trouble

The Princess is all female with a will and strength of her own. But she will do what you ask her to do. But what happens when we ask her to do something we really didn't want her to do?

It's best to know ahead of time and be prepared because these moments will happen during a critical phase of flight where time is of the essence.

Situation: Initial altitude 5000 feet. Then, at 2000 feet, ATC clears you unrestricted to FL230.


Remember: Set the altitude, but do not pull for open climb until you are 'out of' SRS…but what if you forget and pull early?

Recovery: If you accidentally pull open climb while still in SRS….Select speed and roll back to V2 plus ‘a handful’. This will keep the nose up and protect you from busting your noise abatement procedure.


Situation: You’re being vectored into an intercept heading and the pilot monitoring accidentally deletes one too many points and you lose everything. You are looking at PPOS, route discontinuity and blank, blank, blank.

Recovery: Type in ABC over the route discontinuity. Select lateral revision (you can't make a lateral revision off a PPOS) Select New Destination. Insert approach, and delete ABC... and you’re good to go.


Situation: You forgot to activate the approach and selected managed speed on final, and your power surges forward.

Recovery:
Fifi is just an airplane. Pull the thrust levers back and ask your partner to activate the approach, then reengage.


Situation
: The airplane has already altitude acquired ALT* and you change your FCU altitude, she reverts to V/S.

Recovery: Pull open climb or descent so she continues to climb.


Any more ideas from Airbus Pilots would be very much appreciated!

Guys... how to get out of trouble if you tell your wife or girlfriend the wrong thing... be prepared and have a recovery plan. Chocolate, Red Wine and and a good back rub is a good place to start.

Enjoy the Journey!

~ Karlene

12 comments:

  1. Impressive! Wow, there's a lot to know. I can't add to the pilot list, but for the guys getting out of trouble list, how about a coffee date where you hold her hand and listen to what she says with your heart? Gets the ladies every time.

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  2. I don't know how pilots do it. Truly, it humbles me to learn just the tip of the iceberg that you peeps must know.

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  3. Ugh, I really dislike the Airbus FMC (or whatever they call it) and flight "laws", etc. They name their systems the same way Australians name their animals. Give me a Boeing any day.

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  4. Linda, I love your get out of trouble idea. And chocolate scones don't hurt either. :)

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  5. Thanks for your comment Heather. Yes... so much to learn so little time! But we're trying.

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  6. Hey Fred... MCDU (FMC... alias McDoo) Life is filled with too many laws, but on the bus they're really nothing more than levels of automation. She's a pretty smart plane... You really must know her to love her.

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  7. if you have more weight loaded on one side of the plane than on the other side, will you have to apply some rudder trim before takeoff?

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  8. Jet airliners... no rudder application. The planes can manage just fine with a weight difference.

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  9. on approach with the autopilot and the autothrust off, would you control airspeed using pitch and glidepath with power?

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  10. Jet Airliners, what a GREAT question! And, I'm going to write a post about this. Stand by... keep watching, it's coming!

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  11. Thank you for this information, Karlene. Remind me to have you sit in the Captain's seat when I do my next A330 operation ~ that is when you come to NY~JFK and visit :) Keep teaching/writing, J.

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  12. Hey Jeremy, Thank you so much for the great comment!!! I will be in New York a couple trips this time! Will let you know when.

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Thank you for your comment! If your comment doesn't appear immediately, it will after I land. Enjoy the journey!