Flying the Boeing 777

[Sunroof]

I had a chance to sp nd several hours in the cockpit of a Boeing 777 long range simulator here in Atlanta recently. My daughter was in the left seat. I have about 65 hours logged over the years in single engine planes so flying a 14 million dollar simulator had to be a challenge. Or so I thought!

The instructor first set us up for take-off (Hartsfield L27) and although we did not work the radios, nav or engine management systems, achieving rotation speed with flaps at 1 at 150 mph was just too easy!! Climb out was fantastic. Too damn real!!!! He added turbulence and the vertigo set in!

She landed the plane with me on the flaps, gear, speed brakes and wheel brakes. A novice having never flown actually landed this monster!

Alright my turn. I requested a take off from Midway Airport in Chicago (easterly) with a run over Lake Michigan and a final into O'Hare Field. The 777 was amazingly responsive and I managed to land it and taxi off the runway. Too easy.

So, in reality...................are these planes that easy to handle? The old analog instrumentation is gone and the new display systems make it easy to follow everything. I know it even has auto land systems. So are these large modern airliners truely that simple to fly, even land?

[motion]

Wow! Very cool experience!

[onewhippedpuppy]

That sounds like a lot of fun.

[Sunroof]

They use google earth for ground affect. Downtown Chicago on left after high climb out from Midway airport in Chicago. It was an incredible experience indeed.

I can scratch this off my bucket list now!!

Bob

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

So, in reality...................are these planes that easy to handle? The old analog instrumentation is gone and the new display systems make it easy to follow everything. I know it even has auto land systems. So are these large modern airliners truely that simple to fly, even land?

I bet Asiana Airlines is wondering the same thing...

[Sunroof]

Well Tom, as this 777 came down sinking closer to the runway it started yelling out over the speaker in the cockpit, "40 feet", 30 feet", 20"feet". I always wondered what the crew was doing since the attitude of the plane just before landing was nose up. Sure simplifed things! Your a story off the ground sitting in the cockpit.

Did'nt the Asiana pilots turn off the auto land system and throttle down too much?

Bob

[Nate2046]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

Did'nt the Asiana pilots turn off the auto land system and throttle down too much?

Bob

They disconnected the autopilot to descend more quickly to get back on the glidepath. They left the autothrottles connected which were in 'hold' mode at idle thrust. Normally they would provide speed protection in FLCH or VNAV modes and 'wake up' to keep the airplane from getting slow. When you disconnect the autopilot you lose that protection even though the autothrottle is still active. I just completed my annual sim training and we demoed this exact scenario so we could make sure we understood how that works. The way the autopilot and autothrottles interact isn't always obvious.

[1990C4S]

Didn't Mythbusters try to land a 727? I can't find it on youtube...

[Sunroof]

Those visual approach slope indicators on the side of the runway make it kind of easy on approach. Two reds and two whites and keep it on that pattern. In the simulator the instuctor let me do a night landing with a long final and I managed to put it down on the ground, reverse throttle, hard on the pedals and I made it! I do not know how many heart attacks occured in the back of the plane..........but I made it!

What really blew me away on this thing was that once on the ground I steered the plane to the closest concourse and to an open gate where a figure comes out with yellow guidance flashlights and brings me to a full stop!! Steering with that right side rotating handle was very sensitive. The realism here is unbelievable.

If I indeed managed to land a Boeing 777 several times without assistance then YES, I think its possible one can be talked through it.

[Sunroof]

Photds of some of the B-777 Engine, Communication, Management, etc. panels.

[Don Plumley]

So cool!

[widgeon13]

Sunroof, Does your daughter fly for Delta? Our son is actually training at Flight Safety right now for transition to the Agusta 139 and also is captain in a Falcon 2000EX for his employer. He leaves next week for Italy for two weeks of sim and flight time in the Agusta. I'd kill to get in the sim with him. What a great experience. Never flown in corp aircraft with my son but have flown with him in single engine aircraft. Love spending time with him in the cockpit. He makes it all seem so easy. I'd be happy if I could just observe for an hour or so from the back seat. Lucky guy.

[Sunroof]

My daughter is an employee of Delta (not a pilot) and I bugged her for a long time if and when I could get into a simulator. They have about six lined up in a huge training facility starting with the MD-88 and working up in size to the 777-LR (long range). When Delta is not using the simulators for actual pilot training, if someone has time they will allow you to get into the simulators and fly. I am not if this is common practice, so I consider myself very lucky. Our instructor was actually an IT person sitting in the observers seat setting up every possible scenario one can imagine. I doubt they can simulate both wings falling off though!

[rattlsnak]

Bob, on most days, yes, it is "easy". But try it with an engine on fire and a nasty crosswind, hydraulic failure, etc.. and well, you get the point!

Anytime you guys are in ATL let me know and I can get you into a sim if its open.

PS.., How did someone so cute come from your loins??

[Sunroof]

LOL...............actually she's my stepdaughter. Senior Statistician to boot!!!!!!

She tried to loop the 777 but it stalled. I am trying to get into the MD-88 next. They have an older MD-88 with analog instrumentation that I went aboard for a brief time that will be retired to the museum.

Tons of fun Marc.............

_/)

[BE911SC]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

So are these large modern airliners truely that simple to fly, even land?

Go back and have your daughter put you in rough weather over the Pacific with an engine fire and controllability issues, flight attendants calling constantly asking how soon until landing, company dispatcher asking what your plan is, air traffic control asking what your intentions are, your copilot looking at you hoping you really do know your stuff and can handle the barrage of requests from all those people while you assess your options. (Add your corporate responsibility--the millions of lawsuit settlement dollars at stake if you screw it up.) Then have the sim instructor nag you for your plan too, which is what they do during annual training. Just when you think you have a good plan the instructor, if he/she is a sadistic SOB, will add another little "Easter egg" (as I like to call such surprises) to your list of STD (S hit To Do). Oh, and add to that the relentless cost pressure to do more for less ("productivity") and then come back and ask that question.

Yes, day to day these airplanes are a cinch to get around*. Sunshine, calm winds, great crew, no traffic, no nothing but the joy of a day aloft, and the job seems too good to be true. Those are the kind of days where you wonder why anyone would pay a pilot to do the job. Bump back up to the scenario above and then you see why pilots get paid. Airplanes have gotten "easier" to fly over the years and much more reliable but just ask Captain Sullenberger how reliable they are when there's goose meat clogging both engines at low altitude over central New York City.

Have your daughter make you sweat for your life and then come back and tell us what you think!

Airline pilots are their own worst enemy in that many of us love to strut around arrogantly, making it look like we have the easiest job in the world. Just because we want you to think it's so easy doesn't mean it is.

And don't eat crew meals. They are full of awful chemicals and other crap that is supposed to shorten your life.

*Factor in the decade(s) of flight training and experience required before anyone gets into the good paying airline pilot jobs.

[BE911SC]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

LOL...............actually she's my stepdaughter. Senior Statistician to boot!!!!!!

She tried to loop the 777 but it stalled. I am trying to get into the MD-88 next. They have an older MD-88 with analog instrumentation that I went aboard for a brief time that will be retired to the museum.

Tons of fun Marc.............

_/)

Missed this post. So does she think the 777 isn't that easy to land?

Have the MD instructor set you up with my scenario. You'll want out of there after five minutes!

[widgeon13]

Our son was returning from a trip recently in the Falcon, San Diego to home base, flying into a snowstorm on the east coast and getting back late at night. I sent him a IM saying drive carefully on the way home. His reply to me was, You don't say anything about landing a 35 million dollar jet in snow though.... I felt sort of bad but told him I know he is good at his job, it's the other idiots on the road I worry about. Parents worry no matter how old their kids are, it's just natural.

He spends a week every six months at Flight Safety for both aircraft that he flies and they throw every possible scenario at them. I'm damn glad they do. As I said, I don't worry about him in the aircraft.

[Sunroof]

My daughter is a statistician for the airline not a pilot! Family members can take a ride in these simulators so I consider myself very lucky. The IT guy in the third seat asked us what we wanted to do and for me it was take off and landings. For her it was loops, dives and stuff that acute vertigo brings. We managed to get in all.

So, indeed as requested I was provided the best scenarios with calm winds, unlimited visibility, no traffic, no problem, no sweat! He did throw me an unannounced ringer one time when I was on another approach to O'hare and that was a big crosswind. As I started to crab in I realized instantly that this plane did not react like a Cessna 150. Despite my immediate response the wind blew me far off the runway; however, I had enough speed and managed to get around hanging on. Reality? End result probably would have been massive death and destruction.

The hardest and most challenging part of my experience when on final approach was alignment. My feet were all over those rudder pedals.

I have great respect for all aviators and I know how tough things can be in a single engine plane. It must be crazy in a multi-million dollar jumbo airliner. BUT, I must say that under perfect conditions for me the 777 was easy to land and take off strictly by using the controls and watching the instruments without benefit of anything that really matters (engine management, communication, navigation, etc). I just did it! While sitting in a 14 million dollar simulator safe on the ground I did not have to worry about the realities of what airline pilots face each day. All it amounted to was a few fantastic hours of kick-ass fun. Best arcade game I ever played. It has kept re-igniting my love of flying (little planes that is).

If I have a chance to get into an MD-88, maybe I should ask the instructor to provide more riskier conditions as you suggest. But, for a civilian I have to keep in mind that I am actually moving around in a big box on four hydraulic metal posts and I will live another day. You brave men and women are presented with these risks everyday so more power to you and thank you for flying safely.

Bob

[john70t]

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