When last she left, she was flying a Lockheed Electra. I am wishing, wishing, wishing I had one in my home office right about now. That and a Boeing 727. Because Amelia is going to get a tour of the cockpit, she has a way of convincing people to let her do what she needs to do. What she needs is to see inside and understand some of the differences, which have to be vast. So if you're out there and you know what they are, please help me. I know that there's a lot of talk about flying by the numbers, or that planes fly themselves these days. I know that Amelia's didn't. I'd like her to wonder at that difference and to get it, but to be able to do see means I have to get it. I'm sure that those who pilot for a living don't fly by the numbers at all, but they do have loads of electronic help. When these fail, then they have to fly by the seat of their pants, as in Captain Sully Sullenberger and his magnificent crew.
What I think is she would be overwhelmed, and curious, and a little appalled. But she'd also be amazed by the power that propels a jet engine. She'd want to know more, but she'd recognize some things all the same. Details, it's all in the details, right? So what would she notice for starters? And after she noticed it, would she still want to fly that plane? I'm thinking she'd be more inclined to want to fly something smaller, where she could be more in touch with the act of flying again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What year is she touring the cockpit? 1980? Thirty years ago some of the present-day technology didn't exist.
ReplyDeleteI am sadly aware of that. I have been reading up on the cockpit of a 727 Boeing circa 1980. Pilots say that it was the last big jet you actually had to fly, but of course not being a pilot I don't know what that means. I was thinking of springing for simulators of both that cockpit and the cockpit of her Electra to see the difference.
ReplyDeleteAch!
"Actually having to fly it" means that the pilots worked the the control yoke and rudder pedals and throttles with their own hands and feet instead of having automated systems to fly the plane.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1980 jet cockpit Amelia would still recognize the control yoke and throttles, and items on the instrument panel giving info for basic control: airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator, heading indicator. She wouldn't recognize the navigational systems. I'm not sure which specific nav tech was in use in the 727, but perhaps I can do a bit of research tonight.
By the way, "flying by the numbers" isn't some new hi-tech concept. It's a concept almost as old as aviation, and Amelia flew by numbers as did most experienced old-timers. It just means knowing what power setting, airspeed, etc. to use to achieve a specific outcome. If for example you know that in order to get a 500 feet per minute descent rate you must set the power at 1800 rpm and maintain 90 knots airspeed, it saves you a lot of experimental twiddling with pitch and power.
I think you're totally right that Amelia would want to fly something smaller. Partly because, as you say, smaller planes keep you more in touch with the act of flying, and partly because flying a Boeing 727 wouldn't even be an available option. To fly a big jet would require years of horribly expensive training and licenses beyond the private license, and even once qualified she'd have no access to such planes unless she got hired as an airline transport pilot(it's not like she could afford to buy one for herself!). I think all this will be pretty clear to her before she tours the cockpit; one look at the size of the plane and a few chats with 727 pilots will make it pretty obvious. But I'm sure she'd still want a tour of the 727 cockpit just for fun.
ReplyDeleteYou are invaluable. Absolutely invaluable.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
ReplyDeleteLast night I found some semi-usable 727 cockpit photos to reference for commentary. I'll post a reasonably short cockpit tour this weekend when I have more time to sit at the computer. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteI most definitely will. I'm right up to this part, having I think finally solved the last plot point to my satisfaction. Your timing is impeccable.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a multi-part cockpit tour. Go to www.dreamfleet2000.com/Previous/727/preview_2D.html, which is a site for a 727 simulator, for the most readable closeups of various parts of the cockpit.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Amelia will readily recognize the control yokes and rudder pedals. On the console between the pilot seats, she'll recognize the throttle quadrant, flaps, and trim wheels. Ditto for the landing gear selector (big handle sticking out of the panel in front of the right pilot seat). Ditto for the magnetic compass on the center post of the windscreen.
She'll recognize the radios for what they are, though she'll need an explanation of which knobs do what. Weather radar will be a complete mystery to her, as radar didn't exist in 1937. The autopilot will be partially intelligible by analogy with the one in her Electra, but its instrument approach features will puzzle her; she flew approaches utilizing completely different tech. (An instrument approach is a series of electronically-guided directions and altitude changes to be flown when coming in for landing at an airport). The machmeter will be pretty interesting since it registers speeds multiple times as fast as she's used to.
On the overhead panel are mostly self-explanatory (by reading labels) switches for cockpit lighting, exterior lighting, intercom, cabin address speaker, windshield wipers, etc. She won't be interested in this stuff.
To be continued.
Tour Part 2:
ReplyDeleteOn the panel directly in front of the left-seat pilot is an airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, pitch trim indicator, vertical speed indicator, and 2 altimeters, all of which she'll recognize. There's also a radio magnetic indicator and a horizontal situation indicator, both of which she'll recognize as navigation devices but will be otherwise puzzling. More comment on these 2 items later.
On the panel directly in front of the right seat pilot is a duplicate set of the indicators found on the left side.
On the center panel are 15 engine monitoring guages. She'll recognize them as such though she won't know how to interpret the readings for jet engines.
On the flight engineer's panel (behind the right pilot seat) there's mostly boring housekeeping stuff on the upper portion: circuit breakers, cabin lights, air temp, oxygen, cabin pressurization, etc. She won't linger long here. On the lower portion is a group of fuel monitoring guages and boost pumps; she'll get the overall purpose of this group by reading labels though she doesn't know the particulars of jet fuel management.
I think she'll be especially interested in the tech that didn't exist in 1937: weather radar, radar altimeter, VOR navigation, some features of the autopilot, to name a few. And of course the principles of jet engine operation.
To be continued.
Tour Part 3:
ReplyDeleteBack to those panels directly in front of the pilots: I think she'll linger over the radio magnetic indicator and the horizontal situation indicator. The rmi has needles that point toward ground-based transmitters. One of its functions is called ADF (automatic direction finder), and it won't take much explanation for her to realize that that ADF is a direct technological descendant of the radio direction finder in her Electra.
The horizontal situation indicator is used for navigating instrument approaches utilizing several kinds of ground transmitters that weren't invented until the 1950's. I think she'll need a lengthy explanation but she'll be fascinated at how this type of navigation had become so much more functional and user-friendly.
I don't know ALL the gizmos in a 727, so this is not a comprehensive tour (I can see you wiping your brow in relief). In particular, I haven't been able to determine which system was in use in 1980 for enroute navigation. But this should give you a good idea of how Amelia sees the cockpit.
I'm cutting and pasting all. Here she goes now.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope you know, y\You're going to have to get me your real name if I sell this so I can thank you in the acknowledgements.
Can do. Just send an email to mkendrick24@hotmail.com sometime when you're ready, and I'll reply.
ReplyDelete