Anybody have questions about flying?
By docflyer
@docflyer (10)
United States
3 responses
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
28 Mar 09
What a great thread! And welcome to Mylot.
I've always wanted to know is it truly "auto pilot"? And how do you do navigate? I know it's all mechanical but how exactly does it work? And how many hours do you need before you can be a commercial pilot? How much rest do you get between flights? Was there ever a flight that was scary for you?
Namaste-Anora
@docflyer (10)
• United States
28 Mar 09
Most aircraft these days have an autopilot. Depending on the complexity of the aircraft, the autopilot can handle many tasks for the pilot. Commercial aircraft have very advanced autopilot systems that can even land the plane! Many pilots will use the autopilot for much of the flight so that they can monitor the aircraft systems more closely instead of worrying about flying the plane. This significantly decreases pilot fatigue. Most navigating these days is done by GPS and satellites. We used to navigate using ground based radio beacons. Instruments in the airplane can "home in" on the radio beacons and tell the pilot his location. To be a commercial pilot you need a total of 250 hours of flight time. These 250 are broken down by night flying, instrument flying (flying in the clouds), cross country flying, and a few other categories that need to be accomplished.
Rest between flights really depends on who you work for. As a corporate pilot, I sometimes don't get any rest between flights. However, during every 24 hour period, I am required to get at least 10 hours of rest. I have had a few flights that made me nervous and I can think of my first solo flight when I was both really scared and really excited at the same time.
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
28 Mar 09
It is definately something I want to do before I die. I remember when John Travolta was on Oprah and showing off his jet, and I was like wow-I'd love to fly that thing, well and own one. I traveled for a time when little and I always enjoyed the flights. I think I'd like to be able to take day trips with my family and just enjoy the freedom flying gives us. Maybe I'm romanticizing a bit, but I really do want to learn one day. Maybe after the kids are done with school.
Namaste-Anora
@jshekhar (1562)
• India
28 Mar 09
Hello friend,
thanks for making yourself available to the questions. I always wanted to fly an aircraft myself but I could not get into the air force and I did not have enough resources to fund my pilot training school fee thus I went into engineering.
The question I want to ask is, how do you change the direction during flight? is it using a lever?? I have seen people use something like that on television when they have to change the height.
@docflyer (10)
• United States
28 Mar 09
Hello, to change direction of the aircraft in flight we use what is called a yoke or a stick. If you want to descend (go down) you push the yoke forward. If you want to climb (go up) you pull the stick back. To turn left or right, you turn the yoke just like the steering wheel on a car. The lever you might have seen could have been the throttles. We use the throttle to control how much power the engine is producing, just like the gas peddle in your car.
