Hey Rob!,thanks for the info on the cpflight issue,hopefully better luck with the new 737. Yes,it's been a while since Beech Craft East! After getting lured to BOS,and getting laid off again,I took a temp position with Siemens in East Boston on the new MBTA blue line rail car project.After we delivered the new trains, I never looked back,I took the written ,oral & practical tests (10% pass rate)for full time technician position at MBTA,and secured a great job working on subway cars. They are filthy,dangerous, (think 3rd rail 600V),And they are not airliners,but at least I have a Pension now.I am proud of what you have accomplished at PMDG,and with your life,and would be honored to buy you a lobster dinner when you get up here! I live in Winthrop,A great town with all the jet noise ,and scenery I love :( Now back to work :(

In the airline world, everything is done to the checklist. At least it should be.

Should be...but isn't.One night at a time and place that shall remain confidential, a crew taxied their CRJ to the gate where it was to Remain Over Night (RON). The APU was deferred, so they left the #2 engine running while they waited for a GPU. The pax were deplaned, chocks inserted, and the GPU was connected. The crew deplaned, headed for the crew van and went to the hotel. Notice anything missing?That's right, they never shutdown the engine. Had they actually performed a post-flight, they might have gotten away with it. Alas, they skipped that part too.It could be argued that this is the exception that proves the rule, except I've fielded more than a few phone calls from ######-off captains wanting to know who the last guy to sit in that seat was...

I know at Southwest they actually don't use autoland in CAT III conditions, use of the HGS is required for that and the captain must fly the approach. Not sure what the rules are at other airlines.

American Airlines CAT II/III approaches are hand flown by the Captain on the HUD. The autopilot must be off by 1000ft. Use of dual channel autopilot is prohibited.

A bit late with the reply as I have been away from a computer but thanks for the update Robert.The collimated HUD is going to add that extra dimension to our flying. Gary

Should be...but isn't.One night at a time and place that shall remain confidential, a crew taxied their CRJ to the gate where it was to Remain Over Night (RON). The APU was deferred, so they left the #2 engine running while they waited for a GPU. The pax were deplaned, chocks inserted, and the GPU was connected. The crew deplaned, headed for the crew van and went to the hotel. Notice anything missing?That's right, they never shutdown the engine. Had they actually performed a post-flight, they might have gotten away with it. Alas, they skipped that part too.It could be argued that this is the exception that proves the rule, except I've fielded more than a few phone calls from ######-off captains wanting to know who the last guy to sit in that seat was...

This is exactly why I exercise caution around RJ's (When I worked on the ramp, and flying) , and in perticular american RJ carriers. Very typically low paid, overworked, less experienced flight crews that often come from spoiled backrounds and graduates from accelerated aviation programs where they go from zero to hero in just a year or two. Not a knock on any pilots compentcy but, alot of RJ pilots I've seen have not been in the industry long enough to understand that everything, including the following of checklists EVERYTIME has been paid for in blood, 10x over.Ive heard and seen alot of stupid things in my time, but that takes the cake.

Well, considering there's only been 2 air carrier RJ crashes in the US in the 18 years since their introduction, I'd say there's not much to fear.I could easily cite similar gross buffoonery at the airline (or in the airframe) of your choice.I'm not saying your point in completely invalid - I was in the jumpseat when a new-hire CRJ FO very nearly drove the nose gear through the fuselage while landing (sans flare) in Memphis - but lapses of judgement happen at all levels of the spectrum.

I have had so many issues with the DLL's of the 747X... Will this NGX also take use of this, and if so do you think there also could be problems?

Anything, you say? *Anything*?I demand a failure that turns the 737NG into a Woodpigeon! :(

I can imagine it now"Mayday Mayday Mayday" Speedbird 11 we have been turned into a woodpigeon!.Tower "Speedbird 11 say again?Speedbird 11 "We have been turned into a Woodpigeon!.Tower "are you reporting a birdstrike?Speedbird 11 "Negative we are the bird. Request vectors to the nearest nest!. Andrew Simmons

Nick-You know... I had completely forgotten about that event... You just reminded me why I hate the telephone as much as I do... During my stint as a Chief, the CPOD duty day was averaging 4 phone calls / hour for a 24hour period. I wasn't the one who took that call about "our stupid pilots" but I do have a vague recollection about being in the room when the large ball of "stuff" rolling down hill finally hit our level...That was one of those times when you can't even come up with an excuse that sounds plausible to a reasonable person.Shane-Man, I hear you on the industry low-time stuff- but in all fairness I spent a career at two airlines and I do some consulting work to a handful of carriers currently. Buffoonery is not limited to small airplanes, low time pilots or regional airlines... The buffoonery is spread far and wide... In my career I've seen B727s stood on their tail... 727s clip terminal buildings losing 7+ feet of wingtip yet continue the taxi for takeoff... 747s slide off taxiways in snowstorms because the pilots tried to "help the ground crews" by leaving the reversers out to blow the snow from the highspeed turnoff... 777s need a full replacement of tires because neither crew member could read the "757 and smaller only" notes on their airport diagrams... a 744 nearly dropped into a neighborhood because the pilot flying forgot to use the rudder during an engine out event on takeoff... 737s with mysterious amounts of blue lav fluid on the ceiling after a repositioning flight with no reasonable explanation available from the pilots... 744s full of passengers return to gate after the crew misread the deice charts... crews miss completely that major damage had occurred to their airplane that was mysteriously missed on the walk-around, 727s with the nose gear retracted because someone thought it would be fun to pull the gear up handle while on the gate... Tires on CRJs flat-spotted because the crew wanted to do a max breaking test on a repo flight... 757s, 777s, CRJs, J41s and J32s landed at the wrong airport... Crews of J32s, J41s, Do328s, CRJs, 727, 737, 757 and 777 types boarding and departing with an airplane that wasn't assigned to their dispatch release... crews putting the airplane at risk by shutting down an engine when they shouldn't- and then other crews inexplicably failing to shut down an engine when the procedure clearly requires it...wow... and these are just the pilot related buffoonery events that come to mind in 90 seconds of thinking... I haven't even gotten to the ground crew circus yet. :( (And for the record: None of the above are mine. I have my own list of buffoonery events that I can sometimes be coaxed into sharing...)With all of that being said- as "insiders" I think you and I probably zero in on the fact that we need more rigid training standardization at the US regionals. My old line was well known for exceptionally good training, but some of the regionals I have interacted with don't even rate as marginally shoddy on their training. At-home study, incomplete procedures training, poor cockpit standardization and absolutely no safety reporting protocol. Needless to say I make a habit of avoiding the regionals that operate "on the cheap" because it is only a matter of time until they kill someone.But there is some of the going on at the big carriers too...Glad to see you around the forum- it's nice having fellow professionals to help us keep things in perspective!

I can imagine it now"Mayday Mayday Mayday" Speedbird 11 we have been turned into a woodpigeon!.Tower "Speedbird 11 say again?Speedbird 11 "We have been turned into a Woodpigeon!.Tower "are you reporting a birdstrike?Speedbird 11 "Negative we are the bird. Request vectors to the nearest nest!. Andrew Simmons

Was the Speed'Bird' intended?? :DI'll always laugh whenever I use the radio at work now - thanks for that :( hehehe

737s with mysterious amounts of blue lav fluid on the ceiling after a repositioning flight with no reasonable explanation available from the pilots

That one made me laugh.

I assume by ground crew you mean the line personnel and maintenance. Is certaintly interesting to hear stories from the other side of the coin. Me being in maintenance I usually see the things that are done, but they try to make it look like maintenance mal-practice or that the bird was turned around improperly.. Obviously they have ORM/CRM for a reason along with the checklists. I can agree with Robert though that you see complacency across the whole range of the spectrum (from junior to senior maintenance personnel, and from junior pilots to HAC's).. I know I have my share of mess up stories too. Being in Quality Assurance, and doing reports/debriefs on such incidents. Then generating the messages to let everyone else who operates your type model series "This is what we did so you can avoid it" is never a good situation. From all the ones I have done the junior guys mess up due to lack of experience, and sometimes that is due to inappropriate training (which RSR stated above). On the upper end of the spectrum complacency sets in, and senior crew members wind up letting their guard down, or "bending" procedures. We had a command slam a H-60 into the ground doing auto-rotation practice one time by simply not following SOP (did an auto with full fuel tanks).. On my own side of the house I think in my career I have done just about every screw up possible in my job field. Not something I am proud of, but part of the learning process. As far as playing FSX to "prepare" for some real life scenario I think anyone that thinks that is ludicrous. I am APU turn qualified for both type models I work on, and granted that is a walk in the park. I have fully started the aircraft (with qualified HAC's mind you) on a hand full of occassions, and that in itself is enough to make anyone suck the seat cushion up out of the chair. I by no means think any amount of FSX flying could prepare you for walking onto a flight deck, and taking over for an incapacitated crew. There are a lot of factors that go into aircraft operation. I deal with it everyday, and still probably do not even have a fraction of the knowledge it would take to operate a bird in the air safely. I personally look at MSFS as a learning tool to be able to get an experience of what it might be like to fly a given aircraft. A lot of people excell at this (goes without saying). It certaintly gets hectic on approach sometimes with the MD-11 with all of its automation. Couldn't imagine in real life, fighting a cross wind, trying to watch the gauges, and actuate everything that needs to be. Not to mention being illegal in accordance with FAA standards (which is why the FS2Crew products are good). Can't wait to take my BBJ across the globe. It is looking to be a better and better everyday with the little driblets of info.

737s with mysterious amounts of blue lav fluid on the ceiling after a repositioning flight with no reasonable explanation available from the pilots... (

Repositioning indeed I am glad I was not on that toilet!! :( Regards,Wijnand (EHBK)

747s slide off taxiways in snowstorms because the pilots tried to "help the ground crews" by leaving the reversers out to blow the snow from the highspeed turnoff...

:( :(

737s with mysterious amounts of blue lav fluid on the ceiling after a repositioning flight with no reasonable explanation available from the pilots...

This one deserves classic status!

I can imagine it now"Mayday Mayday Mayday" Speedbird 11 we have been turned into a woodpigeon!.Tower "Speedbird 11 say again?Speedbird 11 "We have been turned into a Woodpigeon!.Tower "are you reporting a birdstrike?Speedbird 11 "Negative we are the bird. Request vectors to the nearest nest!. Andrew Simmons

Classic stuff. very funny :( , I got a good laugh from that.