I've logged about 700 hours as captain on the B737 by now. I've come to feel very comfortable with the aircraft - the flight hours have brought more confidence to predict what the airplane will do and what it won't.
It is particularly in the approach phase where the feel of the aircraft is important. This is because we try to descend with idle power as much as possible to save fuel. In such situation you need to have a good understanding of how fast the airplane will eventually decelerate to reach the maximum flap and landing gear speed at just the right time and distance.
If you come in too fast, you will have to make a go-around. If you come in too slow or low initially, you need to add power at some stage. While that is a safe way to approach, it is not very time and fuel efficient. So we try to balance and feel the situation ourselves to make a nice and efficient, safe approach for landing. We have just witnessed two unfortunate accidents (Moscow, Miami) that both seem to have a lot to do with too much speed/energy at landing. RIP.
Looking at the requirements that many airlines set for their pilots, captains at least - they seem very high for some airlines, even to the point of unreasonable. Yet the airlines are struggling to find pilots. Some airlines (or maybe it is the insurance companies) seem to think that flight hours are the only things that make you a safe pilot. Unfortunately this is sometimes far from the truth. I've seen pilots with 10000 flight hours but still with poor skills. And vice versa.
It is not only the hours that count, it is your personal aptitude, training, number of flights and kind of flying you have done. Take Ryanair, for instance, they require 2000 hours on an aircraft weighing 30 tons. This rules out most turboprop pilots from applying to Ryanair. However, having been a turboprop pilot, I can safely say that those are the guys that can actually fly an airplane: 4-5 sectors per day, demanding conditions and less automation. So why does Ryanair not like these pilots?? Particularly, as the manual flying skills have become more highly regarded lately - using automation is not the only thing you need to master as an airline pilot. And even so, do you really need 2000 hours to master a sophisticated FMS that is only found on bigger airplanes?
Imagine a long haul pilot collecting 40 flight hours on a tour and maybe never even touching the controls during the 40 hours because of being a relief pilot. Still, this pilot soon has that 2000 hours of heavy ac time. But is he/she really a better pilot after all that when it comes to actually controlling the airplane? Compared with the guy who takes off and lands a turboprop at the controls twice a day, still logging only less than 5 hours of flight time?
It is particularly in the approach phase where the feel of the aircraft is important. This is because we try to descend with idle power as much as possible to save fuel. In such situation you need to have a good understanding of how fast the airplane will eventually decelerate to reach the maximum flap and landing gear speed at just the right time and distance.
If you come in too fast, you will have to make a go-around. If you come in too slow or low initially, you need to add power at some stage. While that is a safe way to approach, it is not very time and fuel efficient. So we try to balance and feel the situation ourselves to make a nice and efficient, safe approach for landing. We have just witnessed two unfortunate accidents (Moscow, Miami) that both seem to have a lot to do with too much speed/energy at landing. RIP.
Looking at the requirements that many airlines set for their pilots, captains at least - they seem very high for some airlines, even to the point of unreasonable. Yet the airlines are struggling to find pilots. Some airlines (or maybe it is the insurance companies) seem to think that flight hours are the only things that make you a safe pilot. Unfortunately this is sometimes far from the truth. I've seen pilots with 10000 flight hours but still with poor skills. And vice versa.
It is not only the hours that count, it is your personal aptitude, training, number of flights and kind of flying you have done. Take Ryanair, for instance, they require 2000 hours on an aircraft weighing 30 tons. This rules out most turboprop pilots from applying to Ryanair. However, having been a turboprop pilot, I can safely say that those are the guys that can actually fly an airplane: 4-5 sectors per day, demanding conditions and less automation. So why does Ryanair not like these pilots?? Particularly, as the manual flying skills have become more highly regarded lately - using automation is not the only thing you need to master as an airline pilot. And even so, do you really need 2000 hours to master a sophisticated FMS that is only found on bigger airplanes?
Imagine a long haul pilot collecting 40 flight hours on a tour and maybe never even touching the controls during the 40 hours because of being a relief pilot. Still, this pilot soon has that 2000 hours of heavy ac time. But is he/she really a better pilot after all that when it comes to actually controlling the airplane? Compared with the guy who takes off and lands a turboprop at the controls twice a day, still logging only less than 5 hours of flight time?
