Right Engine Start

[vc10man 732]

Ronan, just one question that I've been meaning to ask for quite some time but have never been brave enough to ask. How on earth with your cramped schedule as an airline pilot in the real world do you find time, not only to provide us with answers from the 'inside lane' but also indulge in your hobby? Your 24-hours in a day to most of us desk-bound 'jocks' must seem like 48 hours. You must have plenty of stamina to combine the two, although one is R/W taxing, and the other is virtual world relaxing. Intrigued and hats off to you.

[Steven_Caffey 23]

Wait, you can go back and forth between the 320 and 330? I knew they were designed to be similar, but are they the same type rating?

[Airbus Commander 563]

Ronan, just one question that I've been meaning to ask for quite some time but have never been brave enough to ask. How on earth with your cramped schedule as an airline pilot in the real world do you find time, not only to provide us with answers from the 'inside lane' but also indulge in your hobby? Your 24-hours in a day to most of us desk-bound 'jocks' must seem like 48 hours. You must have plenty of stamina to combine the two, although one is R/W taxing, and the other is virtual world relaxing. Intrigued and hats off to you.

Well, TBH, as a long haul pilot my shedual ain't actually that cramped. Surprisingly my "24 hr" days can feel like anything between 16hrs and 36hrs, it all just depends on roster, route and the crew you're flying with, that can make all the difference...And FS ain't my only hobby either like, I'm also a scout leader for my local troop, on the boards of management of two local schools, on the tidy towns commitee and have a relatively young family and I seem manage it all with relative ease, pilots have to be good multi-taskers, it's what we're paid for. Thing is, as a pilot, although I may be away from home for 48hrs, I get alot of time off following that, and alot of time off in general. Now this time off may not always be the most convienient [like getting the middle of the week off, but having to work weekends] but it's time off that I can spend doing what I like. And when on short haul there's a 5,3,5,4 roster and on long haul I've a 2,2,2,4 roster, so that helps too. Keep in mind though that I don't always play FS, depending on work, I could easily go a month without even touching FS.

Wait, you can go back and forth between the 320 and 330? I knew they were designed to be similar, but are they the same type rating?

No two seperate type ratings but you can transit between the two if you're rated on both, it's called Mixed Fleet Flying [or MFF], with the Airbus design philosophy it's fairly easy to transit from one type to the other with ease. It's similar to what B757/767 pilots do. Hope this helps,Rónán.

[vc10man 732]

Thank you ,Ronan(apologies for not having the correct Gaelic typescript)for that frank and detailed reply.The admiration barometer climbs up even more. BTW, does your roster ever have you flying into EGCC, where I see a lot of A320s but sadly no A330s?

[Airbus Commander 563]

Thank you ,Ronan(apologies for not having the correct Gaelic typescript)for that frank and detailed reply.The admiration barometer climbs up even more. BTW, does your roster ever have you flying into EGCC, where I see a lot of A320s but sadly no A330s?

No, I'm usually on long-haul on the 330, the short haul on the 320 is very rare [although I seem to be getting a load of it this year for some reason ] EGCC is always served by the 320, the 321 is the largest equiptment you're likely to see there possibly, 330 just don't make economical sense. My roster sees a lot of KORD and KBOS. I do get rostered for KJFK but I switch those flights around with another pilot as I just avoid JFK like the plague whenever I can....Sorry to disappoint,Rónán.

[badderjet 181]

I just avoid JFK like the plague whenever I can....

Again, out of curiosity - why (if it has to do with the airport)?

[sarahguiney 0]

You people have hijacked my topic! . Joking of course, very interesting to hear Mr. O'Cadhains "a day in the life" kind of stories.

[vc10man 732]

No, I'm usually on long-haul on the 330, the short haul on the 320 is very rare [although I seem to be getting a load of it this year for some reason ] EGCC is always served by the 320, the 321 is the largest equiptment you're likely to see there possibly, 330 just don't make economical sense. My roster sees a lot of KORD and KBOS. I do get rostered for KJFK but I switch those flights around with another pilot as I just avoid JFK like the plague whenever I can....Sorry to disappoint,Rónán.

No sweat, Ronan. I appreciate the explanations. I kind of figured out that flying a A330 into EGCC on a EIDW-EGCC sector would be uneconomical but was hoping maybe I'd be lucky enough to see a Dublin-divert into Manchester.

[Airbus Commander 563]

Again, out of curiosity - why (if it has to do with the airport)?

The controllers accent and rate of speech is NOT to my taste at all, it's as if they have competitions as to how many words they can fit in in one second. And I'm a native English speaker, it's my second language that I grew up with. I'm just imagining some poor fella who doesn't have English as his native language. Add to that crowded airspace ect and it's just a lot less hassle to fly to KORD and KBOS...

You people have hijacked my topic! . Joking of course, very interesting to hear Mr. O'Cadhains "a day in the life" kind of stories.

Well to get back on topic then I'll give yee some food for thought for today, if we start the No. 2 engine first in the A320 as it powers the yellow system which powers the Alternate brakes, why wouldn't we start the No. 1 engine first which powers the green hydraulic system which powers the normal brakes?Lets see what yee come up with....

No sweat, Ronan. I appreciate the explanations. I kind of figured out that flying a A330 into EGCC on a EIDW-EGCC sector would be uneconomical but was hoping maybe I'd be lucky enough to see a Dublin-divert into Manchester.

Nah, diversions are to SHN as it's in the same country, sorry to shoot down your last little hope there....

[Steven_Caffey 23]

No two seperate type ratings but you can transit between the two if you're rated on both, it's called Mixed Fleet Flying [or MFF], with the Airbus design philosophy it's fairly easy to transit from one type to the other with ease. It's similar to what B757/767 pilots do. Hope this helps,Rónán.

I did not know that, thanks! I wonder if that is true in the US as well. Not sure why it wouldn't be, of course the only US airlines I can think of off the top of my head that have both are US Airways and Delta.