Boeing 757 Flight Deck

Landing A Boeing 767 In A Tailwind

Today was a little bit of a challenge going into Chicago O'Hare airport. The wind was out of the NW at 15 knots gusting to 25 knots. For some unexplained reason they changed runway configurations to land to the East on runways 10 and 4R (I think the forcast had the wind continuing to shift around to the East). This gave us a tail wind right up against the limit of ten knots. We had to watch the gust component so as to not exceed that limit. The approach to runway 10 was uneventful until we were passing through 500 feet. There was a shear in the wind and we had an airspeed increase of ten knots followed immediately by a loss of ten knots. I adjusted the power and slipped slightly under the glidepath in anticipation of touchdown with a higher than normal ground speed. The tailwind was less of a factor than the crosswind as I pulled into the flare just before touchdown. As I slowed the rate of descent with back pressure on the yoke, a large input on the right rudder was required to pull the nose around to align with the runway and remove the crab. Nice touchdown. Whew, had to work for that one. But that is just one of the reasons this job is so rewarding-the challenge. Every flight has something to make it different, something new in store...

Who Do I Think I Am!

Just who am I? Thinking I can be an authority on matters aviation related? Well here goes the disclaimer. I don't. I will however give an honest account and be as factually correct as I possibly can be. So let's start with my qualifications.

I always wanted to be a pilot as far back as I can remember (nothing different here, as almost every pilot I know starts his tale this way). So here's the quick and dirty: I attended the University of Southern California; was in the Navy ROTC program; got a degree in Aerospace Engineering; went to Naval Flight Training and was "winged" a year later; flew the P-3C Orion and was a Naval Flight Instructor in the T-34C; got out of the Navy and was hired by a major airline where I've been now for ten years. While here I've flown the B737-300/500 series, A319/320 series, and the B757/767 type aircraft (the B stands for Boeing and the A for Airbus).

My job is what as known in the industry as the "line pilot". I fly regular "lines" as in trips or flights that carry passengers. I just completed a "check ride" last week which is more involved than the term suggests. It is a three day event with a four hour simulator ride each day as well as hours of ground school review to include subjects from security to operations to aircraft systems. The sim itself is chock full of procedure checks, maneuvers, emergency procedures and aircrew coordination drills. The beauty of having a check ride in a simulator is of course that they can throw everything at you (engine failures, fires, system malfunctions, etc). Oh what fun! Some pilots call this annual event the "You bet your license" check since it's given by the FAA or their designate and can and has resulted in suspended licences for a "bust" or failure.

I hope this gives a better picture of "who I think I am" and I welcome any and all thoughts and comments. Let's leave it at that for now and I'll save some of the details such as "what in the world is a P-3C?" for another time. And as they say, Keep the shiny side up.

Up Up and Away!

I guess I should start this first post with why I created this weblog to begin with. As I was surfing the Internet one day, I came across a website where anyone could post a question about any subject- then, anyone looking at the same site could post an answer. Well, I read a question that that said, "How does an airplane get off of the ground when it reaches the end of the runway?" There were five answers posted at that point and all but one were wrong! One wrong answer was actually signed "A Professional Pilot."!!

I started thinking about this and decided to set the record straight as it were by creating a blog where I could answer aviation related questions from a pilots perspective, give a front row seat to anyone interested in the daily ins and outs of commercial aviation, and to have an outlet for my thoughts and feelings of daily life as an airline pilot. I hope to make it enjoyable and informative. I hope to make this an interactive discussion. Questions and comments are what will make this blog run. so let's get this thing in the air!

Oh by the way, the answer to the question is: As takeoff speed is reached, pulling back on the yoke will move the elevators up. This causes a downward force on the tail pushing the nose up. The change in the angle of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and subsequently the wing as it pitches up increases the lift force of the wing causing the aircraft to lift off of the ground- up, up, and away!