Is there a pilot onboard?
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 662
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From: UAE
A very loaded question, especially as you have just registered & it's your first ever post?
If you do have a PPL, you will recall how difficult it was to master the small aircraft you learnt in, then think of the flight deck on any jet; finally, draw your own conclusions...
If you do have a PPL, you will recall how difficult it was to master the small aircraft you learnt in, then think of the flight deck on any jet; finally, draw your own conclusions...
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 41
From: UK
Dear Aunt Mabel,
This forum is called "Rumours & News",. there is another forum called Questions ]
If you are a PPL and you have difficulty finding the correct location to post your query then I don't give you much of a chance of landing an airliner.
YS
In an emergency could a PPL land an airliner?
If you are a PPL and you have difficulty finding the correct location to post your query then I don't give you much of a chance of landing an airliner.
YS
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 768
Likes: 52
From: TBC
This one was done to death on JetBlast. The answer seems to be a simple 'no'. Yes, I will agree that the basic flight controls do the same job in all fixed-wing aircraft (with the possible exception of a harrier), but consider the docile way in which an airliner will respond to your commands and then add to that the fact that the airliner will land faster than Vmax for most training aircraft. This makes the whole process a very delicate balancing act that ATPLs make their living from. Jet engines also have delayed reaction times, and will probably produce unexpected pitching moments if you are flying manually. I don't know personally, but i've heard that autopilot systems are not straight-forward pieces of kit to the uninitiated. Neither are the radios.
All things considered, it's a nice idea and one that i've thought of many times, but probably a bit beyond us PPLs in practice.
Ginger
All things considered, it's a nice idea and one that i've thought of many times, but probably a bit beyond us PPLs in practice.
Ginger
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: London
Nothing wrong with the question,who hasen't wondered if they could land an airliner.The problem is the answer. Dear auntie go and hire a simulator at gatwick or luton for £250 for 20 mins and then you can tell us the answer.It's something i plan to do.
Last edited by fly mayday airlines; 11th September 2005 at 19:08.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Did it a few years ago. After about 10 hours, I could land the sim okay.
But....
- no weather
- no stress (you can't die)
- I had a world class instructor
... and it was a sim.
Even then, I wouldn't have liked to try for real, certainly not now.
But....
- no weather
- no stress (you can't die)
- I had a world class instructor
... and it was a sim.
Even then, I wouldn't have liked to try for real, certainly not now.
Official PPRuNe Chaplain
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,498
Likes: 0
From: Witnesham, Suffolk
I tried it once in a sim. The answer to the question is "No, but the crash might be a bit less disastrous than a non-pilot attempting the same thing."
I suspect (with tongue in cheek) that a 12 year old with a few hundred hours of time on MSFS might have a better chance.
I suspect (with tongue in cheek) that a 12 year old with a few hundred hours of time on MSFS might have a better chance.
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: London
On two different occassions two different B737 pilots have told me that if you can land the add on for flight sim PMDG 737NG then you would have no problem landing the real thing however ive also been told that the Airbus are more difficult to land.