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The new airline thread


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1 hour ago, brickhistory said:

Not one, never gonna be one, but curious question:

Billy Bob is hired by airline X.  Who/how decides what his/her original equipment/domicile will be?

I understand that both equipment/seat/domicile can change, but who/how is the initial one set?

Not asking for a friend, just mildly curious.

Crew Resources decides where pilots are needed based on a myriad of reasons (marketing/fleeting/etc...).  Every so often the airline will have a bid for guys to move aircraft.  Anything that isn't bid by current pilots is left over and then can be offered to new hire classes.  After that, it's probably dolled out to newhire classes based mostly on sim availability.  Within the class, you get to pick based on class seniority which is decided differently at every airline.  At AAL it was based on age.  At DAL it was based on your last four...the higher the number, the better.

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Hey, does anyone have any insight on traveling to Russia/China while on airline duty and also holding a U.S. clearance?  Seems we would not be able to travel to those places on our own vacation, so flying there on an assigned trip with the airline would generate the same paperwork/clearance suspicions as a vacation visit, right?  Is there a process, or do guys just refuse to fly there with the airline?  New to international.  Thanks. 

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Along those lines, is there some kind of published list of do no go countries for U.S. military? A friend keeps telling me how great Ukraine is and how much they love American's.  Great exchange rate too apparently. 

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Any insights into jumpseating while on Mil leave? I’m at a regional and would like to take advantage of the ability to travel home while I’m TDY for several months. My company’s contract says my family and I can still use passes, but doesn’t address jumpseating. Do I still retain CASS access while on leave?


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17 minutes ago, HossHarris said:

You can travel almost anywhere, for business or pleasure, without any effect on your clearances ..., as long as you let the appropriate clearance folks know in advance. Sometimes WELL in advance. 

Honestly, I just go where I want and then list my travels during the reinvestigation process every 5 years. Nobody really seems to care. And I certainly don't give a shit if they threaten to yank my clearance.

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4 hours ago, JS said:

Along those lines, is there some kind of published list of do no go countries for U.S. military? A friend keeps telling me how great Ukraine is and how much they love American's.  Great exchange rate too apparently. 

Ask your security manager/GSSO. There are travel lists, but none are applicable to all personnel.  Just depends on what types of clearances you hold. Ukraine is probably good to go for you. 

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On 9/27/2019 at 8:13 PM, nunya said:

FedEx gives some weight to past aircraft experience.  Dunno the details about how that plays out.

With the exception of the MD-11, all initial aircraft and domicile assignments for newhires are based on the last 4 of SSN (9999 highest, 0000 lowest).  Newhires put in a dream sheet before day one of indoc, and available assignments are handed out in seniority order.

MD-11 assignments are selected separately, before day one of indoc by the company, and this is where previous experience is involved.  Because of the finicky landing performance of the airplane, and the accident record at FedEx, they are looking for specific experience to send newhires to the airplane.  For some reason they like Navy carrier guys, C-17 guys, and of course KC-10 guys, but that's not all inclusive.

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14 hours ago, brabus said:

They like guys who don’t know how to flare or put the gear down? Bold safety strategy cotton, let’s see if it pays off...

Ironically, they figured that out the hard way. C-17? Add power to flare. F-18? Hit the 3-wire with AB ready. Neither habit pattern translates well to managing the tight constraints of landing the MD. I've been told that FedEx has since gone away from those two backgrounds for the MD. But yeah, they were recruiting those specifically for a period. The KC-10 bubbas are obviously the best background for it.

That's not a knock on 17/18 dudes either. As an IP in a couple different heavy military aircraft, I'm very familiar with negative transfer myself. I've murdered a lot of penguins trying to break habit patterns and just be normal in a new airplane. Takes me a few reps before I can get it down...I'm no Chuck Yeager.

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10 minutes ago, ImNotARobot said:

Ironically, they figured that out the hard way. C-17? Add power to flare. F-18? Hit the 3-wire with AB ready. Neither habit pattern translates well to managing the tight constraints of landing the MD. I've been told that FedEx has since gone away from those two backgrounds for the MD. But yeah, they were recruiting those specifically for a period. The KC-10 bubbas are obviously the best background for it.

That's not a knock on 17/18 dudes either. As an IP in a couple different heavy military aircraft, I'm very familiar with negative transfer myself. I've murdered a lot of penguins trying to break habit patterns and just be normal in a new airplane. Takes me a few reps before I can get it down...I'm no Chuck Yeager.

Honestly curious, what makes the MD-11/KC-10 so finicky to land?

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Honestly curious, what makes the MD-11/KC-10 so finicky to land?
Found this with Google:

"The major issue with the MD11, difficult pitch control caused by a downsized horizontal stabilizer for fuel saving, was only partly compensated by an electronic longitudinal stabilzation augmentation system (LSAS) during flight , however during the last part of the landing this system was (gradualy) switched off to allow sufficient pitch handling during landing.

Despite many software upgrades (issued by Boeing as the new OEM) of this LSA system the pitch control of the MD11 during landing remains "questionable" , especially in adverse weather conditions.

The MD11 landing issues aggrevated with the introduction and/or conversion of more freighters with increased MLW, further increasing the landing speed and decreasing the pilots reaction time."
----------------------------

Having flown the KC-135 for almost 2 decades now, I can attest to the fact high approach speeds in a large transport aircraft do make landings challenging. The -135 has some pretty high approach speeds also and heavy flight controls (cables/pulleys without hydro assist for ailerons and elevator).
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The -135s PMCs also make the landing phase difficult. Each Power Mngment Control isn't fully active below 70% N1...also known as every approach ever flown. So each of the 4 throttles are commanding some goofy fuel flow/power setting. Tanker dudes get used to this abnormality by (usually) only adjusting two sym throttles at a time, allowing the resulting power change to take effect, and then fixing it again when it's all jacked up. Guys who try to keep the throttles aligned, or worse, keep adjusting all 4 throttles constantly, get unstable on final with PIO due to the the swept wing & underslung engines. The experienced tanker dude known the PMC hate him and hate each other below 70% N1...and waits to see what he gets. The known power setting is a place from which to deviate.

I agree with the above Google find on the MD. The MD-11's inception has some undertones of the 737 Max issues. The DC-10/MD-10 was the original design, so MD stretched the fuselage out 40', and then had to make the rudder smaller due to CG issues with the new longer moment arm. Then MD put more powerful engines on it. So the flying characteristics weren't the same as a -10, but wait, we'll just add some automation/bells/whistles (LSAS, parallelt rudder) to compensate for the pilots. The single MD-11 type rating allows pilots to fly the -11 and both flavors of MD-10 (MD-10-10, and MD-10-30, the -30 is the KC-10). Does this sound somewhat familiar?

MD-11 wing design is also an issue. I haven't flown the T-38, but I understand that short stubby wings like to go fast, don't like to go slow. MD-11 wings are similar in that respect. The Boeing wings are all kinda the same; big, fat cambered bars that can generate lift throughout a wide range of speeds (although this design does limit the top speed of the airplane). The MD's wings are closer in design to a fighter aircraft; thinner, swept back. This provides a higher top end speed, but also squirrelly characteristics down low on final...high deck angle, higher approach speeds than are normal to transport category aircraft. VVI=GS/2, so with approach speeds in the high 170s when heavy, the VVI is 800' down, vice 700' down. A comparatively small performance window.

Throw in some gusty winds, transitioning out of a low ceiling at max gross landing weight, and you get the picture. I'll say this...the MD has definitely earned its horrific accident history. It's not just 3rd world, barely trained pilots who have trouble processing the automation/landing characteristics on the MD either. Google FX80 @ Narita.

I speak only for myself...the MD is the most difficult plane I've learned to fly. It's overengineered, This airplane, as built, would not be certified by today's standards.

So FedEx trying to handpick guys to manage that monster right out of the gate doesn't seem crazy to me. But choosing C-17 background who fly on the backside of the power curve and add power to flare seems backward. And choosing USN 3-wire trap dudes seems equally incorrect. But they don't pay me to make those decisions.

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I have no idea about C-17s, but I wonder if the fact that Navy dudes flying an AOA approach vice just a specific airspeed have anything to do with it? That’s a random guess considering you said there’s such a pitch issue with the MD-11

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