What to record on a flight?

[RRTrentSymphony]

I'm looking forward to flying for an airline soon so I want to get used to a day (or night) at the office for a pilot.

First question:
What stuff would the pilot need to record for the company (not the officials & airport who need flight plans...). Do they need to note block times too? (because there usually done by ACARS) Do they note liftoff & touchdown times. Do they note weather changes like actual conditions on the runway & airborne data (and do they send live info to other A/C and ground too, if so how?). Do the pilots have to note down actual fuel quantities on block off, liftoff, touchdown and block on? Do pilots record aircraft actual weight (actual TOW, actual LDW at touchdown, ZFW...) Do pilots record engine start times and shut downs for the techs to calc engine hours or is there a counter in the engine doing it automatically, does the ACARS transmit these times? I've also heard somewhere they note TOC & TOD times, do the ACARS also record this?

Second question:
Do pilots record takeoff derate used, flap settings, autobrake settings and other performance based factors like Vspeed which could be found in the FCOM? Since these could be calculated from weight, do pilot just note the weight or do they note actual values used for log reasons and for investigation if stuff goes wrong.

Third question:
What does the ACARS record and send back to save time from pilots having to log and send in these other factors by hand. Some examples of the A/C types that can do it would also be useful because I know the widebodies (747, 777, 330, 340) have ACARS access (view the log times and send messages..) through the EFB, FMC or FMCG and theres the older (maybe not older but I guessed so) gen ACARS on the early (maybe all, unless retrofitted) 757/767 that automatically sends information and I don't think you can view info from it on the FMC. Theres also the 737NG ACARS that sends the info but also not accessable/viewable (and can't send text messages) on the FMC. What variables do these ACARS usually send, and if so, do the pilots have to log some of these variables to on paper to submit after flight?

Fourth Question:
Do pilot note down takeoff/landing runways and SID/STARs flown so they can be kept in log for calculating other stuff.

I know it's a lot of questions lol. I'm just so curious about these stuff as I already found out all other stuff about flying the plane by reading manuals and stuff.

[MarkerInbound]

First question:
What stuff would the pilot need to record for the company (not the officials & airport who need flight plans...). Do they need to note block times too? (because there usually done by ACARS) Do they note liftoff & touchdown times.

My plane (744) notes all that for us. We have to record the times in the aircraft log but normally we just read the times off the ACARS FLT LOG page. There can be times when the logic fails to record the block out time correctly so we may have to override the ACARS nurmber, maybe once a year. Old job on 727 the F/E recorded the times.

Do they note weather changes like actual conditions on the runway & airborne data (and do they send live info to other A/C and ground too, if so how?).

The plane sends winds aloft and temperature information automatically. Crews on older, non-ACARS planes would include MET reports on position reports if required.

Do the pilots have to note down actual fuel quantities on block off, liftoff, touchdown and block on?

We do record and report the takeoff fuel. The fuel sloshes around so much during the takeoff the ACARS TO fuel is often more than the block out fuel. Again, pre-ACARS the F/E entered the data in the aircraft logbook.

Do pilots record aircraft actual weight (actual TOW, actual LDW at touchdown, ZFW...)

The TOW and ZFW are on the Weight and Balance sheet prepared by ground staff. There is also a planned LDW but we calculate a number before the approach to figure approach speeds. It's normally with a few tonnes of the planned number. We don't record the number but it gets spoken so it would be on the voice recorder tapes if someone wanted to find the number we used.

Do pilots record engine start times and shut downs for the techs to calc engine hours or is there a counter in the engine doing it automatically, does the ACARS transmit these times?

No, most maintenance is based on OFF-ON times, taxiing doesn't count.

I've also heard somewhere they note TOC & TOD times, do the ACARS also record this?

I see a message go out at TOD, I have no idea what it's saying. By the time we get off the plane, we couldn't care less when TOC and TOD were.

Second question:
Do pilots record takeoff derate used, flap settings, autobrake settings and other performance based factors like Vspeed which could be found in the FCOM? Since these could be calculated from weight, do pilot just note the weight or do they note actual values used for log reasons and for investigation if stuff goes wrong.

No, if someone needs it they can pull that from the FDR and CVR.

Third question:
What does the ACARS record and send back to save time from pilots having to log and send in these other factors by hand. ... What variables do these ACARS usually send, and if so, do the pilots have to log some of these variables to on paper to submit after flight?

See the above. We just report the TO fuel. At the old job the FE would record engine readings once during the flight for trend monitoring. OAT, altitude, speed, EPR, N1, N2, EGT, F/F, oil pressure and temp. Maintenance would graph all the data to monitor the engine's health. ACARS does something like that now but I have no idea what.

A friend was flying from the US to Germany in a 767 years ago. When they blocked in they noticed a larger than normal tech crew and a spare engine sitting on the ramp. One of the techies came up and asked if they noticed anything abnormal on one of the engines. He said no and asked why he asked. The techie replied the engine sent a message over the North Atlantic that it "wanted to be changed."

Fourth Question:
Do pilot note down takeoff/landing runways and SID/STARs flown so they can be kept in log for calculating other stuff.

What would you calculate? Some pilots make a mental note that at a given airport the company files a flight plan for ABC but we're cleared XYZ so we need a few extra tonnes fuel. What they really need to do is tell the company, "You keep planning ABC but we get XYZ, you need to plan XYZ." We write down the ATIS and airways clearance so we know what we're going to do. That goes with the other paperwork and is filed for 90 days. I know some airlines where the crew trashs all the paper in the cockpit at the of the flight. Everything that matters was generated by a company computer and if anyone needs the information it's in a computer file for that flight.

You're really trying to make this harder than it is.

[Dct_Mopas]

Originally Posted by RRTrentSymphony

I'm just so curious about these stuff as I already found out all other stuff about flying the plane by reading manuals and stuff.

I'd reiterate the comment saying that your over complicating things. But all the operational items will be covered in detail once things start to come together on line training. So no need for in depth descriptions in advance as every company and aircraft is different.

Have to add though that you don't know all about the other 'stuff' about flying the plane. Flying the plane is generally the easy bit and things will only start to come together after a number of years with the whole operation. Just trying to say that don't turn up with the attitude that you know the aircraft inside out perfectly, as you don't and probably never will just like the rest of us. Always keep learning!

[RRTrentSymphony]

Thanks everyone, I've got the idea of it now. I'll keep my eyes & ears open to learn more everyday.

Marker inbound, for the what do you calculate, I was just had this idea that the bean counters are going to be very interested in every bit of profit they make and want the SID/STARs for exact distance traveled to calculate how much fuel they're burning per pax&kg of cargo for a certain distance/plane.

[MarkerInbound]

While bean counters do drive most of what happens in aviation, in 32 years no one has ever asked why I blocked in with more or less fuel than what the flight plan said. There are too many uncontrollable variables. The flight plan is prepared a couple hours before departure and things change. You may get a different runway than planned or there can be traffic on the ramp. My record is being number 87 for takeoff. By the time you get to your destination everything could have changed over 12 or more hours. Hong Kong used to have a standing NOTAM, if you're arriving during certain hours we're going to be busy. Put on more gas than flight plan miniums.

I Used to do ACMI flights and the customer wanted to know the fuel onboard when we came into the system and when we left to adjust payment. On the other hand, used to also do LogAir (US Air Force contract) and we'd always come into the system on fumes and and top off when we were done, no one cared.