Handling the Big Jets by D.P. Davies
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Handling the Big Jets by D.P. Davies
Hello
I was wondering if someone could offer their opinion on the book Handling the big jets by D.P. Davies.
This book seems to have been around for a while and from a couple of reviews I have read it appears to be somewhat of a classic for those going on to fly big jets. Please forgive me for asking, but how relevant would this book be for someone studying for the ATPL exams? Would it be a useful read or is it designed for a more experienced pilot? Apologies for asking this in the Tech Log forum but I figured I would get a more accurate view here than in the Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies) forum.
My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that it was written to help pilots making the transition from turboprop to jet aircraft (hopefully someday I will be in that position).I have had a read a few conflicting reviews. Some say that it is 'dated' while others say they continually refer to it and is regularly taken off the bookshelf. I see it referred to back and fore on posts in this forum.
Is it worth getting hold of a copy or should I look at getting something else (suggestions welcome)?
Thanks
Quarto
I was wondering if someone could offer their opinion on the book Handling the big jets by D.P. Davies.
This book seems to have been around for a while and from a couple of reviews I have read it appears to be somewhat of a classic for those going on to fly big jets. Please forgive me for asking, but how relevant would this book be for someone studying for the ATPL exams? Would it be a useful read or is it designed for a more experienced pilot? Apologies for asking this in the Tech Log forum but I figured I would get a more accurate view here than in the Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies) forum.
My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that it was written to help pilots making the transition from turboprop to jet aircraft (hopefully someday I will be in that position).I have had a read a few conflicting reviews. Some say that it is 'dated' while others say they continually refer to it and is regularly taken off the bookshelf. I see it referred to back and fore on posts in this forum.
Is it worth getting hold of a copy or should I look at getting something else (suggestions welcome)?
Thanks
Quarto
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Thanks happybiker.
I had already done a search and read these posts but some of them are a number of years old. I was just wondering if anyone had more recent views? Also if it was still a really worthwhile book to buy or would I be better buying something else that had been published more recently (perhaps since some of those posts were made)? I'm guessing that certain aspects of how a jet handles/flies has not changed since the book was first published but with the advent of modern technology I guess there may be parts of the book that are not so useful. Is this the case or is it all still applicable?
Thanks
Quarto
I had already done a search and read these posts but some of them are a number of years old. I was just wondering if anyone had more recent views? Also if it was still a really worthwhile book to buy or would I be better buying something else that had been published more recently (perhaps since some of those posts were made)? I'm guessing that certain aspects of how a jet handles/flies has not changed since the book was first published but with the advent of modern technology I guess there may be parts of the book that are not so useful. Is this the case or is it all still applicable?
Thanks
Quarto
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but how relevant would this book be for someone studying for the ATPL exams?
It's by now rather dated, both in content and style. If you are studying for your ATPLs right now, don't waste your time reading it. It will not help you pass a single exam.
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It won't help pass exams, but buy it, together with Rolls Royce: The Jet Engine are reference works well worth the outlay, and especially so DP Davies, imho.
Last edited by TopBunk; 9th Jan 2010 at 16:00.
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Not for your ATPs....
..but if you're going to transition to wide-bodies it's priceless!
Beg, borrow or steal a copy.. read every word and then start again!
Don't worry too much about the detailed schematics (eg hydraulics) but the other stuff is relevant and constructive.
Out of date? Some basics and principles never change...IMHO.
Cheers bm
Beg, borrow or steal a copy.. read every word and then start again!
Don't worry too much about the detailed schematics (eg hydraulics) but the other stuff is relevant and constructive.
Out of date? Some basics and principles never change...IMHO.
Cheers bm
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It has no relevance to passing atpl exams.
It is however full of gold dust regarding erm... Handling the Big Jets and should be required reading for any professional aviator.
It is however full of gold dust regarding erm... Handling the Big Jets and should be required reading for any professional aviator.
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This is an excellent tome - a classic in fact. I've been reading (and re-reading) it on and off since my first wide-body conversion in 1977.
I agree with the others in that it won't necessarily be a great help in passing ATPL exams but the general background information you will glean will be invaluable both now and when you have the licence - particularly if you convert on to a wide-body and, of course, especially if it's onto the 747.
Good luck with the exams ...
JD
I agree with the others in that it won't necessarily be a great help in passing ATPL exams but the general background information you will glean will be invaluable both now and when you have the licence - particularly if you convert on to a wide-body and, of course, especially if it's onto the 747.
Good luck with the exams ...
JD
Today's big jets may be more sophisticated in the cockpit but the aerodynamics remains unchanged. His information on swept wings, flight at close to the speed of sound and so on is good. It won't tell you how to operate an FMS, but it will tell you about Mach buffet, coffin corner, the theory behind swept wings, Mach trimmers, stalling, high speed upsets etc.
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Save your money. I bought that book on the advice of others during flight training, and was thoroughly disappointed. From page 1, it looks and feels very dated, and I didn't learn much from it. I actually used a highlighter on the useful paragraphs for later revision, and the total only amounted to a few pages. A book that has not been updated by its publishers since the 747-100 is seriously out of date.
If you want something really top-notch, I recommend Aerodynamics, Engines and Systems for the Professional Pilot and Avionics and Flight Management for the Professional Pilot at Airlife. Both written by an Aussie, David Robson - incidentally also an ETPS graduate, but without DP Davies' slightly arrogant tone. Unlike Handling the Big Jets, they are superbly illustrated and written in user-friendly language. The aircraft types and systems referred to are modern ones, and the second volume concentrates on the crucial role of modern avionics, something completely absent from Davies' book.
Cheers
If you want something really top-notch, I recommend Aerodynamics, Engines and Systems for the Professional Pilot and Avionics and Flight Management for the Professional Pilot at Airlife. Both written by an Aussie, David Robson - incidentally also an ETPS graduate, but without DP Davies' slightly arrogant tone. Unlike Handling the Big Jets, they are superbly illustrated and written in user-friendly language. The aircraft types and systems referred to are modern ones, and the second volume concentrates on the crucial role of modern avionics, something completely absent from Davies' book.
Cheers
Because Handling the Big Jets is well known for being pre-interview reading material, it can be fun just having a copy with you that you can casually leave lying around for management to see.
Mistrust in Management
As FE Hoopy says
It has no relevance to passing atpl exams.
Regards
Exeng
P.S. Did we meet in an earlier exeng life F.E. Hoppy?
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without DP Davies' slightly arrogant tone
In our PC obsessed world, mr Davies' clear-cut judgment occasionally comes across as quite harsh, which is entirely fault of our day and age, not his.
If only you knew the gentlemans background, and some of the battles he fought to improve the quality of the vehicles you fly.
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I have long stood in awe of the simple elegance of D P Davies' writing. With styles from his colloquial:
through incisive:
to his technically insightful:
If one of my New Year's resolutions could come true, it would be write even half as well as he did.
The piston engine needs a lot of beef in its carcass to provide the strength to cope with the high loads which are produced in the engine by the heavy reciprocating masses.
Do not indulge in a prolonged flare, because it wastes distance. As soon as you reasonably can put the aeroplane firmly on the ground and start the drills without delay. Wheel braking on the ground is much more effective than floating along just above the ground. A firm touch-down is necessary to bang through the water just in case aquaplaning conditions are absolutely critical when a really smooth touch-down might just be enough to induce aquaplaning. Once down, push the control column forward to get the incidence, and therefore the lift, off the wings and the weight on to the wheels. Pull full spoiler immediately to achieve the same result. Now pull full reverse thrust and hold it.
For propeller driven aircraft the Arbitrary Landing Distances have proved generally satisfactory and the large margin applied to the dry distances has taken care of wet runways.
With jet aircraft, however, the contribution of wheel braking compared with aerodynamic retardation has increased, so that circumstances can arise when the wet runway performance is unsatisfactory.
To meet this contingency the U.K. developed the Reference Landing Distance method, to which all jet aircraft have been certificated since the 1951 B.C.A.R. were applied, and the U.S. has recently introduced an operating rule imposing an extra 15% on the landing distance required on a wet surface.
With jet aircraft, however, the contribution of wheel braking compared with aerodynamic retardation has increased, so that circumstances can arise when the wet runway performance is unsatisfactory.
To meet this contingency the U.K. developed the Reference Landing Distance method, to which all jet aircraft have been certificated since the 1951 B.C.A.R. were applied, and the U.S. has recently introduced an operating rule imposing an extra 15% on the landing distance required on a wet surface.
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The book was never designed as a ATPL aid. There is no shortage of books for the ATPL and if you are simply interested in swotting for the various exams then Handling The Big Jets is not the book.
BUT - it is the finest book I have read that cuts to the chase and tells you how to fly a jet transport aeroplane. Most of today's pilots have been brought up on automatic pilots and automatic highly accurate navigation systems. Even when these pilots undertake their type ratings in the various simulators around, the accent from the time you take your seat is automatics - automatics - and again automatics. Only a tiny (less than 10 percent) percentage of your training (and line flying) will be by hand and raw data. In the end you will be brain-washed into thinking hand flying is potentially dangerous and the rot sets in - you become an automatics monkey.
Handling the Big Jets tells you how to actually fly the aeroplane. The principles of handling a jet transport have not changed since the early years of the Boeing 707 and 727. This is where Handling the Big Jets is a priceless addition to your library and a fascination to read. It will not help your monitoring skills and your reliance on automatics. It is a practical flying book for jet transports - not a Cessna 172.
Perhaps an review extract by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) best describes the value of this book:
"Handling The Big Jets can truly be described as the best of its kind in the world and not only for the fact that there is no other book on modern aircraft handling characteristics....we can recall no book which bears so directly on the pilots problem as does Handling The Big Jets. Written by a test pilot for airline pilots, the book is likely to become a standard textbook.....I would strongly recommend the book to all airline pilots who fly jets in the future. It will be particularly valuable to those pilots who are active in air safety work".
There will always be the knockers in society which includes those in aviation. Pprune has more than it's fair share of these people. Disregard them. This book probably won't help you to pass ATPL multi-choice questions.
But it will help you understand why experienced airline pilots still occasionally land long and fast and run off the end of wet runways.
BUT - it is the finest book I have read that cuts to the chase and tells you how to fly a jet transport aeroplane. Most of today's pilots have been brought up on automatic pilots and automatic highly accurate navigation systems. Even when these pilots undertake their type ratings in the various simulators around, the accent from the time you take your seat is automatics - automatics - and again automatics. Only a tiny (less than 10 percent) percentage of your training (and line flying) will be by hand and raw data. In the end you will be brain-washed into thinking hand flying is potentially dangerous and the rot sets in - you become an automatics monkey.
Handling the Big Jets tells you how to actually fly the aeroplane. The principles of handling a jet transport have not changed since the early years of the Boeing 707 and 727. This is where Handling the Big Jets is a priceless addition to your library and a fascination to read. It will not help your monitoring skills and your reliance on automatics. It is a practical flying book for jet transports - not a Cessna 172.
Perhaps an review extract by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) best describes the value of this book:
"Handling The Big Jets can truly be described as the best of its kind in the world and not only for the fact that there is no other book on modern aircraft handling characteristics....we can recall no book which bears so directly on the pilots problem as does Handling The Big Jets. Written by a test pilot for airline pilots, the book is likely to become a standard textbook.....I would strongly recommend the book to all airline pilots who fly jets in the future. It will be particularly valuable to those pilots who are active in air safety work".
There will always be the knockers in society which includes those in aviation. Pprune has more than it's fair share of these people. Disregard them. This book probably won't help you to pass ATPL multi-choice questions.
But it will help you understand why experienced airline pilots still occasionally land long and fast and run off the end of wet runways.