Need Help from FReeper Pilots and Aviators

Recode ^ | Aug 5 2016 | Dan Frommer

[Redwood71]

Sorry I didn’t get back with you. My parents were both pilots, so here you go:

When you first arrive in the cockpit take the left seat if possible; this is generally where the Captain or Aircraft Commander sits and often has easier access to some of the instruments you’ll need to fly.

As soon as you sit down take a deep breath and look outside to see if the aircraft is in a dive (you see more ground in the windscreen than sky), climb, turn, etc. If it appears to be straight and level then don’t touch the flight controls, the autopilot is most likely on and there’s no need to interfere. If, however, the airplane is racing towards the ground or in a steep turn, then you need to use the stick or yoke (pilot speak for steering wheel) to bring it back to wings-level flight. Just like in the video games, you pull back on the yoke to make the airplane climb, push forward to make it descend, and turn it right or left to turn.

If you are in the clouds and can’t tell the attitude of the aircraft (that is, its relation to the horizon), then it will be necessary to use the attitude indicator, also referred to as the artificial horizon. This is an instrument that gives a representation of the aircraft in relation to the ground and sky. If you’re on a jet of some sort, chances are high that it will be displayed on the screen directly in front of you. The “w” shape in the middle represents the wings of the aircraft, the brown represents ground, and the blue represents sky. So if you see half brown, half blue it means you are in level flight which is what you want. If you see anything else, then make corrections with the stick as necessary to line up the wings of the aircraft with the horizon line.
Since the radio is gone, you won’t be able to get help that way.

The reality is that many of today’s jets are fully-automated and have the capability to land themselves or at least get you lined up on the runway center line, or road in this case4, on a proper glide path so that you can take over at 50-100 feet off the ground. All you will have to manually do is:
Flare (pull up slightly on the stick just prior to touchdown so the main gear hit first)
Fly the nosewheel to the ground (push the stick forward until the front touches down)
Pull the throttles all the way back
Step on the brakes, which are located on the tops of the rudder pedals down by your feet.
If you find yourself veering off the road, lightly step on the rudder pedals to steer yourself back to centerline

Additional information to consider:

In order to slow the aircraft to land you must employ various drag devices such as slats (normally only in very large aircraft) and flaps. These allow the airplane to maintain lift at slower air speeds and allow you to keep the attitude level during a descent. These are generally found right next to the throttles.

Slats, flaps, and landing gear all have a max speed at which they can be deployed. It’s not the end of the world if you over speed them in an emergency situation, but it should be avoided. If you aren’t in communication with someone that can help, look on the dash for a placard with the speeds, or a card with TOLD (takeoff and landing data).

If you can find the airspeed indicator make sure that you keep it within the green arc while flying. Just like anything in life, green is good, yellow means caution and red means dead. If you get too slow you will lose lift and stall the aircraft (trust me, this is bad and if you’re not a pilot, you probably won’t make it).

If you’re flying a commercial jet like a 767, a good rule of thumb is to keep it flying at about 200 knots if you don’t have flaps or gear extended, and 130 knots once you do and are making the approach to land. A smaller plane like a Cessna is stable on approach at speeds closer to 70 knots. Of course, if you’re talking to ATC ask them how fast you should go and they’ll hopefully be able to tell you.

As you can see, this is not an easy task. Another thing to remember is that it takes a minimum of around 9000 feet of road at a 200 foot width to land a 767. Pick a big mountain road. Lake is easier and generally more accessible. Read Sully, it might help. He sat one down in the river and was very good at explanations.

red

[Springfield Reformer]

Redwood, thanks for the info. Very helpful. What folks here need to know about fiction writing is that it is art, not reality. Reality is boring, most of the time. We use art to condense reality into something with a tremendous capacity to convey meaning in a short period of time. So what I need is just enough reality to give shape to my art, but if I bear down too hard on reality, the audience won’t be interested in the story, because it is too real. There is a place for documentary, but Raiders of the Lost Ark didn’t work because of it’s commitment to reality. Just sayin ...

Having said all that, I don’t want my crash landing scene to turn up someday on mythbusters as a busted myth. So everyone’s input here, even the naysayers, has been very helpful. My thanks to you Redwood, and to everyone who participated.

Peace,

SR