Flying the Heavies
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Flying the Heavies

Special thanks to Siegfried Gohlke

Attitude FLYING

Introduction

The aim of this session is for you, the novice virtual airline pilot, to get a modern jet airliner airborne, which will be a great achievement! Before you can take off, however, you must prepare the aircraft for flight and this takes some time (but with practice, you will get faster). Your first jet training session will be in RIO (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). We will be using a technique known as ATTITUDE FLYING, which means controlling the aircraft in airspeed, pitch attitude and roll attitude - using the thrust levers and the joystick.

  • The thrust levers may be used to control speed.

  • The control column (i.e.. joystick or yoke) is used to control pitch attitude (i.e.. nose-up or nose-down) and roll attitude (i.e.. banking the wings to turn the aircraft when airborne).

This flying technique (which is used by most airline pilots) is summarized by: THRUST + ATTITUDE = PERFORMANCE (i.e.. airspeed, altitude and heading).

Preparing for Takeoff

Once your flight simulator is working, the flying principles are the same for you and I - even if your flight simulator program and jet-aircraft type are different from mine. You can use the lessons taught here in the simulator of choice and in the heavy aircraft of your choice. I am using the Fly! II program with a joystick and throttle, rudder pedals and a mouse to activate button-selections by clicking on them. To activate my flight simulator:

  1. Click on the Flight Sim icon. The Flight Sim screen then appears.

  2. Now, click on "Flight Planner": a new display appears on the monitor screen.

  3. As "DEPARTING FROM ..." and search for "Rio" or "SBGL". From the list which appears, select "Rio de Janeiro International, SBGL, elevation 30 ft above mean sea level, Brazil" and then click on "OK".

  4. Find "ARRIVING AT ...": accept RIO already there, since we will be returning to the same airport, RIO (SBGL).

  5. Now click on "SETUP AIRCRAFT": Choose the Boeing 757-200 (e.g. TWA option or whatever you prefer).

  6.  "CONTINUE" to revert to the previous screen. In later sessions, we will examine the "Fuel" and "Weight".

  7. Now, select "ENVIRONMENT or Weather": A number of options appear on the new display, but no changes are required for this session, i.e. our environment is:

    • no cloud,

    • no wind,

    • standard atmospheric pressure - which is 29.92" (inches of mercury, abbreviated as in.Hg, which is the unit of pressure used in the USA) and 1013 hPa (hectoPascals, used in most other parts of the world).

    • Visibility is 10 miles and ambient air temperature outside the aircraft is 70°F (degrees Fahrenheit, the US standard) which equals 21°C (degrees Celsius, in most other parts of the world).

  8. Now you are ready to fly. Put the aircraft on runway (RWY) 28 in RIO, but with the engines not running. If you wish, you can change between day and night. Decide if you want to be in RIO at night or day - dap is probably better.

  9. To scan the various flight and engine instruments, make sure the Main Panel is fully visible. With no electrical power on the aircraft yet, the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) - pronounced "ee-fiss"  - displayed in front of the captain (left seat) and copilot (right seat) will have no indications and are dark. Similarly the displays for the Engine Indication + Crew Alerting System (EICAS) - "eye-cass" - in the middle of the Main Panel are also dark!

  1. You can have a look at the Overhead Panel (showing IRSs, yaw dampers, hydraulics, battery/APU/electrics, engine start, fuel, anti-ice, window heat, passenger signs, cabin altitude control, bleed air and air-conditioning packs - you will learn about these in later sessions).

  1. You can view the Control Stand (also known as the Throttle Console) between the two pilots (with the two thrust levers, the two fuel controls, flap lever, stabilizer trim, park-brake lock, etc).

  2. Or have a look at the Aft Aisle Stand (the lowest panel, also known as the Center Pedestal,, with some of the radios - VHF, ADF, ATC transponder, ILS with its frequency and front course - which you will lean about in later sessions.

  3. When you are back on the Main Panel, you can see left or right out of the cockpit windows.

Always return to the Main Panel.

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