Thank you very much sir.

I like stories from RW pilots, esepcially on an FS forums. I really like the stories; like the one posted above, that give some insight into the "gaps" that we cannot simulate in flight sim...you know the real lfe on the line kinda flying, makes me wish I wasn't color blind or I'd be in a right seat right now!

Ronan, they say in teaching, "don't smile until Christmas." Brings them into line you see. Sounds like you did fine to me

Well, I'm not actually a TRE/TRI so I don't really think that applies to me....I'll be sure to remember it down the line though if I do get a TRE/TRI position

If I'm moving down the taxiway at 20kts, then I had better hope the park brake was released, or those engines must be seriously over powered...

Now you say that but I have managed it in a C - 172 on a rather rushed departure in deepest darkest Africa! Its not an airline story - but a bit of an adventure none the less: I went back to South Africa in 2005 to do my hour building for my CPL and one of the flights we decided instead of just burning holes in the sky, why not go on a bit of an adventure to a place called Maun - its basically a pilot town really in the middle of the Okavango Delta, flying would be done over three legs, Lanseria - Gaborone - Francis Town - Maun, and since my friend was an instructor over there and IFR we decided it would be a good exercise to file a IFR plan and fly it that way. I had a great aircraft - one of the newest 172's in SA (sadly lost in 2006)The plan was to leave at sparrows fart (first thing) and fly the legs arriving in the early evening.The first leg was fine no problems, got to Gaborone - flew in on an NDB approach, also had a chat to some great guys parked up in their Learjet 35A, had a nose around their office too and I can tell you it was small in there! They had a whole bunch of spare food left over from their clients and we were invited to dig in whilst we waited for the fuel bowser to come over...in Africa you can do an awfull lot of waiting! Its funny but they were as jealous of us in our 172 as we were of them in their shiny jet!Anyway eventually got fuel and I paid on my card...no problem - off to Francis Town we go! I think touchdown was around 4 in the afternoon, time to take on more fuel and pay the landing fees...now firstly let me tell you Francis Town is like a tiny little town in the middle of the desert and as it turns out they dont take UK debit cards...who knew? No money - no fuel, no fuel - no way out of there, so while my mate stayed at the airfield I ventured onto the main road outside - and stood there - I was told that the Taxis had blue number plates...I was sure I was going to get shot, I was already getting looks from passers by, eventually I got a Taxi - the driver was a big guy - friendly enough - I asked to go to a bank, no problem he said, but he needed to pick some more people up on the way...oh dear I thought...anyway I survived the journey into town and we visited 4 banks all did not accept my card - even though they were Barclays banks! Again - who knew?So I returned to the airfield and explained to my mate that the last pennys we had we needed to hand over to the cab driver and we still had no money.Time to call in a favour...we new a company in Maun (well he did) and we managed to get them to let us buy the fuel on their account, now the decision had to be made - press on to Maun with night fast approaching, or turn tale and head back to Gaborone, quick calculations on flying time and we calculated we'd have 15 minutes to spare before Maun closed for the night at 20:00. Maun it was then! In our haste to take off quickly running through the checks as we taxied to the active and then an immediate take off - it was only in the after take off list I made the rather embarrassing discovery of the parking brake still being in the set position (luckily it was not really much of a brake). I remember watching the sun set over the Kalahari Desert and having to be relayed radio via the nice chaps above us from SA Airlink I think - they may even have been flying the J41...anyway we made it to Maun with 15 minutes to go and found the runway even though their lighting was er...lets say a little sparse! Then hit the pub, met up with a bunch of Ausies and Kiwis and an Ex of my mate that kindly let us stay around hers for two days whilst buzzing the Delta...good times! Oh and my card worked in Maun - YAY! Cheers,

Hi Rónán,Thanks for sharing your cockpit nightmare, well, you know what I mean. LOL! Anyway, my future son in law is an FO for USair/Air Wisconsin and has told me may stories about when he first started. It really takes someone with thick skin and a lot of confidence to get through that stage of newbeeness as I would call it. He was already very well experienced from CFI and such when he first got with a major carrier ( I believe most or all are) , yet anytime he was placed on a flight with veteran pilot like yourself, they would just want to go into the bathroom stall and sit on the toilet all day rather than tolerate the new FO. I am surprised that your FO was able to do anything correctly with how nervous he was. Did he handle any takeoff or landings while scheduled with you?I am assuming not, but thought I would ask. Thanks again for the great story. :) Best regards, Jeff Moss

Love the real world stories, I absorb as much as I can from real reports of cockpit operations and try to simulate accordingly in the sim. I tend to duplicate real routes from flight aware for the airline flights I'm simulating, from the flight number used down to the vectors used on takeoff/landing. It's amazing the details you can find from the map depiction and altitude/speed records in flightaware for each specific route. Rohan, I have a question regarding step climbs. I know you fly the Airbus, but I feel this is a universal question that can be applied to all types. When you are at the step climb point, do you use vnav, FLCH, or V/S to climb to the new cruise altitude? V/S at 500 fps seems to me to be the most comfortable for the passengers, but that prolongs the climb to the more efficient higher altitude. When I was flying long hauls in the 747, I always used v/s 500fps. But I would like to use FLCH or VNAV if that is the preferred method IRL. Thanks for sharing your experience with us lowly simmers!

Well I admit, I'll be glad to be back in my BIG shiny toy, but a few more days off wouldn't have gone astray, it is still work after all...

I was getting ready to say I know you get tired and all but your an a Airline Pilot, that's an awesome job lol.

DISCLAIMER Guys, Avsim IS NOT responsible in case of insomnias, personality disorders, precocious senility or F5-key mania for the next 72 hours.Visit this thread at your own risk!

Hey..we're not letting you off the hook that easy! If I get bags under my eyes and have to get a nip and tuck in order to keep my blazing good looks, who do you think I'm coming after?

damn, rob said its not going to release at mid night but I have to stay up all night that means, JST. Well atleast Im still jetlag since I arrived back last saturday so I hope PMDG releases it before my jetlag wheres off

And remember, if your cleared to line up for takeoff on the runway and the captain asks for the checklist, he is not talking about doing the taxi checklist again.... Rónán.

I can relate to this F/O. He sounds like me when I was around 24 yrs old. Once I got nervous, I would fumble everything I touched. That's the advantage of age (I'm talking about "middle-age" here, not "old-fart"). With it comes a lot of self-confidence and "devil-may-care" cockiness.

Hoping but not getting too up for release on the 4th. I am resigned to "ready when ready"

Well Ronan All I can say after reading your story is that I'm very gald I will never have to fly with you. Part of a senior captains role is also to mentor those with less experience, how else do you expect them to learn and become experienced like yourself. So what if he was nervous, sounds to me like your attitude that morning did nothing to help that. You asked him to "Do the checklist", but you don't state which checklist. It's the same thing as saying "Pick that up", pick what up?Yes from reading the story and not having all the distractions of a busy flightdeck it's pretty clear which checklist you mean, but I'm sure at the time in the environment you created that morning it wasn't clear at all. In fact it sounds like you wanted the poor guy to do something wrong so you could have a go at him. In any job effective communication leads to a better result. I'm sorry but just because you were having an off morning it's no reason to let everyone else know it and they must know what you are thinking and act appropriately so as not to upset your delicate ego. I would say that any tension over the course of the week was more your fault than the poor kid you got "stuck" with, could you be any more arrogant? Did you go through your flying career never making a mistake?Don't forget that this kid could well turn out to be a better pilot than you, give him a break next time you see him, coach him so that he can improve, and hopefully he will be able to enjoy his time in the cockpit.Would you rather fly with him again in silence, or be able to have a chat and relax a little? Niall

Well said, Niall. If someone has grown to hate his job and has become grumpy and cynical in the process he should at least try and act like a professional and not take it out on his subordinates. What makes me sad is that Ronan seems to be proud about his behavior.

Its funny but they were as jealous of us in our 172 as we were of them in their shiny jet!

Nice reading ,thanks for that. I mostly appreciated the quoted sentence. Human perception touch in a nice story. I would write stories as well but I am nor a pilot neither a english mothertoungue as you can see