Dynamite Dean: Vfd/Mfd etc?? Do people in your country need to understand this to be a test pilot, or a regular line pilot? Was the author trying to over-impress his readers with such terms and does the Commercial or ATP over there require such knowledge? If for line flying, what kind of goobers (to be polite) are in charge of the licensing programs? Whether before or during 17 years on 100 to 194-seat fanjets (whether as Captain or FO), we have never been expected to tackle or even read up on such trivia. Do many countries out there want to produce pilots or flight test engineers?
If your book says to climb out at about 290/310 knots until .72/.74 Mach, how many types of airspeed/mach indicators do those planes have? Our book also says to 'pad' our approach speed by a maximum of 5 knots in gusty conditions, but tonight landing north with a wind of 060/20 knots in fairly heavy rain, we used an extra ten-fifteen knots or so (tower reported a gain/loss of ten), as most pilots would (and on a very long runway with a 'light' (82,000 #) airplane-so much for book theory. I've never heard our widebody pilots use those other terms either.
Note-I mean no disrespect by questioning other country's unusual methods, however there is plenty of valuable info to study and review each year without trying to memorize such deep theory (for example, we no longer need to be concerned about 4 vs 20 Joule ignition from AC bus or DC Transfer Bus, as in past years) which would require more time than most people have available, even without young kids around. Worrying about too many hidden details might distract one from remembering to read a checklist, look up limitations/procedures in the MEL book, or wonder whether we should accept the plane with an inop APU.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 25th December 2002 at 04:28.