(NOTICE: THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE FOR SIMULATION PURPOSES ONLY!!!)

After having a nice talk with my grandfather, who is a former flight engineer for DC-8s and 747-200s, as well as a Ground School instructor (for the now defunct Seaboard World cargo airline) and he has told me I have a considerable grasp on how these things work, so I'm thinking about starting a new series of topics, like Brett is performing PPL lessons, but for those who wish to learn more about what makes a commercial jet "tick." Anyone who has ever wondered how in the world these gigantic cigar tubes with wings stay up, and wish to understand the finer points of flying a jet, such as how the hydraulics systems work and such, leave a reply, and if I get enough, I will proceed.

Plans:

GROUND SCHOOL
Onboard aircraft systems and how they work:
    Primary flight instruments
    Electrics
    Hydraulics
    Pneumatics
    Navigation
    Engines
    Control Surfaces
    Other systems

Planning a flight
    Predicted Weather (Depart and Arrive)
    Winds Aloft
    Fuel Planning
    Departure
    SID
    Route of Flight
    STAR
    Approach
    Arrival
More coming...

The purpose of these topics will be to build knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes, to make those incredibly imposing cockpits and panels more digestable, and to show that in cruise, there is always (ALWAYS) something to do. Contrary to popular belief, a jet's cruise flight must me monitered constantly, and I am here to (hopefully) tell you why.

Sounds like a good idea.  It's a great idea to know what everything in your aircraft does, so when something goes wrong you can respond correctly instead of making it worse.  For instance, knowing that that grinding you hear is your turn-coordinator gyro grinding to an unexpected halt instead of thinking your engine is about to come off and you're about to fall out of the sky.  It constantly surprises me how many pilots don't know things like that.  Over-reacting to situations can often be just as dangerous as not doing enough.


There was also a thread HERE from a couple months ago where we explained parts of one type of an approach plate that could be used.

On that note.. I remember a several-thousand hour commercial pilot (for-hire, not airline), who had absolutely no idea of how the pitot/static system worked...  No idea what the vacuum pump did (other than make instruments work).. couldn't explain why the turn-coordinator was the only non-vacuum, gyroscopic instrument. There were other things too... just some serious shortcomings in basic airmanship, navigation, and situational awareness. I flew a long, multi-leg, x-country flight with him and then tried to tell him politely.. that he was a menace in the sky.

I'm sure he was never forced to drill the fundementals... That's why I like to focus on them..

ANYway.. I'm really looking forwrd to this new stuff...