When do you use autopilots?

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Judah writes:

8500 is not an IFR altitude, so unless you will be changing to
VFR on top, you'll probably either be at 8000 or 10000 in real life.

I've never been assigned an en route altitude that isn't an even
thousand by the simulated ATC, but I don't know if that's true in real
life as well. I'm sometimes assigned to the nearest hundred feet for
final descents and interception of localizers and what not.

No, that does not accurately reflect the standards for altitude
assignment/selection. Unless you only fly West in your sim.

The best I could hope for would be an occasional book. Even books are
costly.

I believe you can find free resources on line for flight training. Google is
a great place to start.

The Visitor wrote in news:V24%g.172855
:



Steve Foley wrote:

Please cite a source for this comment.

Perhaps you want to shoot the messenger, but it is true.

Transport catagory aircraft are safer than GA aircraft.

The disturbing comment from Manix is that GA aircraft are less safe because
of "their questionable maintenance records."

I believe the comment to be innacurate, biased, and inflammatory.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Judah writes:

If you're that afraid of flying, you should at least go to a
Ground School course.

I'm not afraid of flying per se, but I'm extremely wary of GA aircraft
and their questionable maintenance records.

Can you provide any examples of GA Aircraft that have questionable
maintenance records? I'm not familiar with any. The ones I fly all have had
their due maintenance performed at the proper intervals and with the proper
signatures from IAs and A&Ps.

What makes a maintenance record questionable? What standard do you hold
aircraft maintenance records to - the same as your automobile? Does your
automobile maintenance records include an entry signed, dated, and certified
by an A&P for its annual tune up? Or are you afraid to drive in your own car
because of its questionable maintenance records?

Judah writes:

No, that does not accurately reflect the standards for altitude
assignment/selection. Unless you only fly West in your sim.

Only westbound traffic is assigned thousands? I thought it was odd
thousands for 0-179 and even for 180-359, or something like that.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Judah writes:

Or are you afraid to drive in your own car
because of its questionable maintenance records?

If the engine fails in my car, it rolls to a stop. If the engine
fails in my aircraft, I risk hitting the ground at high speed. In any
case, it will not simply roll to a stop in midair.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote:
If the engine fails in my car, it rolls to a stop. If the engine
fails in my aircraft, I risk hitting the ground at high speed. In any
case, it will not simply roll to a stop in midair.

If the engine(s) fail, a plane turns into a glider, whether it's a tiny
GA plane or a huge jetliner. And the higher you are, the more likely
you are to be within gliding distance of an airport. So in a funny
sort of way, being a jetliner without engines is probably safer, since
they fly so high and can glide over two miles for each thousand feet of
altitude. OTOH, a light plane is, well much lighter, and does pretty
well at making safe off-airport landings.

Kev

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Judah writes:

No, that does not accurately reflect the standards for altitude
assignment/selection. Unless you only fly West in your sim.

Only westbound traffic is assigned thousands? I thought it was odd
thousands for 0-179 and even for 180-359, or something like that.


Only westbound traffic is assigned even thousands. But if you already know
the rules, why are you asking about them?

Kev writes:

If the engine(s) fail, a plane turns into a glider, whether it's a tiny
GA plane or a huge jetliner.

In a true glider, you can stay up indefinitely by taking advantage of
things like thermals. Does that work for a powered aircraft when the
engine fails?

And the higher you are, the more likely you are to be within gliding
distance of an airport.

Yes, but it depends a lot on your region. In Iowa, there are lots of
places to land. Over the Rocky Mountains, much less so. And if you
are in IMC and you lose your instruments, your flight may be cut very
short.

So in a funny
sort of way, being a jetliner without engines is probably safer, since
they fly so high and can glide over two miles for each thousand feet of
altitude. OTOH, a light plane is, well much lighter, and does pretty
well at making safe off-airport landings.

The ideal is not to have engines that fail. One of the handicaps of
GA is the use of piston engines, which are far less reliable than
turbines. The list of accidents and incidents associated with "engine
trouble" in GA seems endless, but the same is not true for jets, which
rarely have engine issues.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Judah writes:

Or are you afraid to drive in your own car
because of its questionable maintenance records?

If the engine fails in my car, it rolls to a stop. If the engine
fails in my aircraft, I risk hitting the ground at high speed. In any
case, it will not simply roll to a stop in midair.

If the engine fails in your aircraft, the aircraft essentially becomes a
glider. You still have lift, and directional control, as well as speed
control. Depending on the type of aircraft, you might eventually roll to a
safe stop on a runway, golf course, or even a state highway. But you
needn't hit the ground at any speed higher than normal landing speed.

Dealing with such a scenario is all part of pilot training.

By the same token, if you have a blowout in your tire on the highway, you
risk hitting a guardrail, or another vehicle at high speed. If you are
driving too fast on a highway, you risk hitting the car in front of you, or
flipping during a turn. If you drive too slowly, you risk being hit by a
car behind you or beside you. Even if you drive at normal, legal speeds,
lacking proper spacing, you risk hitting the car in front of you if he is
forced to stop aggressively. Typically, if you are in a traffic situation
that leaves you too close to the car in front of you, the traffic is heavy
enough that you can't switch lanes either. And unless you are on a 3 lane
highway, you may not even have 2 options for diversion.

On the other hand, you're rarely, if ever, only 2 seconds away from the
plane in front of you... And if you find yourself in such a situation, you
have twice as many options for diversion.

Most (admittedly not all) public airports are maintained better than most
(admittedly not all) public roads. And of course there is no physical
maintenance requirements for airways. They pretty much keep themselves
clean most of the time (although I've managed to see the occassional mylar
baloon or bird fly through).

You are comfortable dealing with the day-to-day dangers of driving, so you
don't really worry about them. But that doesn't mean they are not there.

You don't check your oil levels every time you get in, and you don't do a
fuel check to make sure that your gas guage is reading accurately. If the
tread on your tires is getting a little worn, you schedule an appointment
to get them changed eventually - when the money comes in. If you know you
are going to drive at night, you don't turn on all your lights and do a
walk-around to make sure all your markers are working. You just trust it.
You trust your car, even though it is very dangerous.

When will you learn to trust airplanes?

Judah writes:

Only westbound traffic is assigned even thousands. But if you already know
the rules, why are you asking about them?

If you don't want to answer my questions, don't bother.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.