From the Flight Deck

I flicked the annunciator test switch to show you all the pretty lights associated with the autobrake system.

Them’s the Brakes…

Cedarglan (Craig)

This post is for you! I commented in my previous post I received your letter and your book was sent Friday. Enjoy the read!

Yes, aircraft implement anti-skid and the idea spilled over to cars which you well know as ABS (anti-lock brake system). This topic got me into the books. Well I had to do something on the six hour flight to San Francisco. J

One thing I didn’t realize it did not activate below 20 knots so if I brake and skid a little on some ice, I may leave some rubber behind.

The anti-skid system compares the speed of each main gear wheel (tachometer) with the speed of the aircraft (reference speed). When the speed drops below .87 times the reference speed, the system orders brake release. The Airbus is like an onion, it has many layers of complexity. Maybe I should call it the Airbus Onion. (I also know a few people who have multiple layers)

The Airbus autobrake system has four simple settings: off, low, medium and maximum. It does not arm below 72 knots so in a reject we must be cognizant of this limitation and apply manual braking. We take off with the system in “max.” So with max reverse and max braking... “weez a stopping in a hurry.” Lol

“Lo” setting activates in 4 seconds after the main’s touch and the ground spoilers deploy. This “lag” is a little too slow if we are landing at airports with a “get on, get off” operation. Myself, I land using “low” and with idle reverse, but if need be, I will apply manual braking. I also use the system in crosswind landings. Again, it takes patience to wait for the autobrake to kick in and to determine if you will make the the appropriate turn off.

We tend to maximze brake use over reverse because our brakes are leased and it saves wear and tear on the engines. The glitch is... the brakes warm up in a hurry and carbon brakes work better with one or two smooth applications instead of multiple inputs.

"Medium" kicks in 2 seconds with a deceleration rate of 9.8 ft/sec squared versus 5.6 for low. We tend to use medium in places like USS La Guardia (USS because water stares at us on three of the four runways). J Also if the runways are contaminated (i.e slippery) or landing in low visibility we employ medium.

"Maximum" is NOT recommended for landing because anything not strapped down would end up in the front of the airplane. And that’s where we are!

The Decel (deceleration) lights activate when at 80 % of the selected rate.

Steering

The nose wheel steering disengages above 70 knots. The nosewheel rudder pedals disengage above 130 knots…after that you are steering with only rudder.

So what happens when we reject around 70 knots due to an engine failure? The autobrake is not armed, max reverse is less effective at low speeds and the nosewheel rudder pedals only allows a deflection of +/- 6 degrees. Translation, if you don’t get onto the nosewheel steering (hand wheel) and brakes…it’s off into the tulips you go. Yes, sometimes a low speed reject is much slippery than a high speed.

Rejects:

And how many rejects have I had after accumulating thousands of take offs?

Zero! Okay... I had a couple of very low speed rejects due to NON mechanical issues but that’s it!

The end of February will see Captains Doug in the simulator and rest assured I will be yelling “reject” as part of the ride.

It's Valentines Day and I hope all of your significant others don't say to you..."Them's the Breaks" in the romance department. :)

Can you say snowstorm? (Day 3 of 4)

A winter storm warning was talk of the town. The onset was just prior to our launch for Toronto. I could see it’s classic formation as it crawled northeastward. Cirrostratus dominated the Eastern sky. South from my hotel window classic middle cloud, altostratus, said snow was imminent. Calm waters prevailed in St. John’s harbour as the ridge of high pressure succumbed to one hell of a low pressure system. For those with barometers in St. John's, their barometer would be falling. Not off the wall, but indicating a significant pressure drop.

As we drove to the airport light snow began to fall confirming the weatherman’s accuracy and mother nature readiness to pounce.

As passengers boarded, visibility reduced from unlimited to ¾ mile in light snow and blowing snow. We would need a take off alternate if visibility went below ½ mile (standard take of visibility in Canada). CYQX (Gander) just miles north of Torbay would suffice.

Question: What's the difference between blowing snow and drifting snow?

Out comes the dreaded and now detested deicing checklist. It’s off to the deice facility we go. Type 1 and type 4 is the requisite. As we get sprayed I mentioned to the F/O, one either encounters nasty weather for take off or for landing in this meteorological armpit. (Sorry Chris but your province is the focal point of three tracks of low pressure systems with St. John’s probably hosting the nastiest weather in North America) It’s not for the faint of heart pilot. Funny, I’ve flown in and out of here with four different companies. You would think I would learn. :)

But it’s the people that make it difficult for me to bid around this place. I won’t mention about the “cougar” effect. No, I’m not talking about Cougar helicopters, which fly out of here taking personnel to off shore oil rigs. I’m talking about what is noticed in the local establishments while their hubbies work in places like Fort McMurray, Alberta. I’ll stop there. J

As we backtrack on runway 16 Mother Nature is lashing it’s fury with low visibility in snow and gusty winds. It’s serious because we delay the take off flap setting to reduce possible ice contamination. It will also include standing on the brakes and revving the engines up to 70 percent. As I diligently taxi to the button, the in charge calls asking whether were deiced. Huh? He mentions ice and snow were adhering to the windows. I said the wings and tail were done.

I remember a pep talk I received the day I went captain for a previous company. "Doug" he said, "you will encounter situations where it may be uncomfortable, but it's not unsafe." Let's just say no coffee was required as adrenaline kept us both perky. :)

The flaps are lowered, the APU is started as we need every bit of power from the engines. The APU will supply the air conditioning packs instead of bleeding air from the engines.

I turn the aircraft around into the wind staring down runway 16. The markings are barely noticeable in the snow. The sweepers did a run down the runway, but the wind already had it’s way.

It's time to set 70 percent power. The engines are like two chained ferocious pit bulls taunted by Captain Doug. They wanted to leap. In fact, the aircraft did lunge a little with the brakes set. I told my F/O….”okay, we are out of here!” We lunge forward. I counteract the gusty winds by quickly correcting on the pedals not allowing any deviation as we thrust down the white covered runway. I use peripheral vision to ensure we are centred between the runway lights. There's no centerline lights on this runway and the markings are buried in snow.

The F/O calls V1 and then “rotate.” I keep extra speed and rotate a little slower ensuring those deiced wings bite into the air. Plus airspeed is a pilot’s friend. Up she goes, and yes Julie, it climbed like a home sick angel. :)

Below us...the deep relentless frigid waters of the North Atlantic is obscured in cloud. Then light to moderate turbulence hits associated with a low level jet stream. St Almos fire flashes across our windscreen. A call comes from the back saying residual deice fluid has infiltrated the cabin. I turn the air flow to high to help dissipate the rather acrid smell.

We top the cloud at 30,000 feet indicating that was one hell of a weather system.

Now it’s day four. Just got a datalink. Crew sked wants to send us to EWR (Newark) and back instead of Montreal. Means we will be home earlier with draft pay. Better call home to give a heads up. LOL

The life of an airline pilot…