Gadling

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Richard asks a technical question:

I have seen several photos of what I believe are later model 737s with what appears to be a small drogue chute trailing off the top back of the vertical stabilizer. I have done a few searches on the internet about it but have never found anything explaining what this item is.

I had to check with my friend Tom, who is a Boeing test pilot. He explained that this drogue chute is actually a "Trailing Cone," which is often used in flight testing to accurately sense pressure experienced during various flight test conditions or maneuvers.

The cone stabilizes a plastic tube, which in turn conveys the sensed pressure information to the flight test instrumentation system. The pressure information must be taken at a significant distance away from the aircraft, so as to not have the pressure probe immersed in a disturbed flow field, which can occur if pressures are sensed too near the aircraft.

Usually the cone and tube are "reeled out" after takeoff, and reeled back in before landing. When being used in flight to provide accurate pressure information, the cone and tube are typically trailed behind the aircraft at distances of approximately 100 to 125 feet.


Wes asks:

My pilot on a 737 said on departure from Las Vegas that we were taking off in the opposite direction than normal. He said this was due to the following issues: it was hot and jet engines perform lower in high heat; the runway had a slight incline to it; and the plane was full. I was wondering if these were valid reasons to reverse the departure route on a runway. Thanks.

Flickr user sgoralnick submitted this amazing shot of a few of his friends enjoying the sunrise at a New York beach on Long Island.

Those who live by the rule that says you can't shoot into the sun would be missing out on these kind of shots. Then again, they also wouldn't be the type out skinny dipping on a cool New York fall morning.

Way to go sgoralnick!

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

I couldn't believe my timing. A four-day trip to the Caribbean with Hurricanes Hanna and Ike scheduled to be right in our way for almost every leg.

Would some of the flights get canceled? And if not, how far out of the way would we be flight planned to stay away from these storms?

This job tends to stay interesting if only because no two trips are alike, even if they take you to the same destinations. Some might think there's a lot of monotony in flying a plane, but even if the destinations remain the same, there are always new challenges such as adverse weather, different ATC requests, or small mechanical issues to contend with. Not to mention the variety of pilots and flight attendants you might be working with.

I pulled up the satellite weather before leaving for the airport, knowing that it would be impossible to see the big picture of this storm once we're inflight. While our airborne radar can keep us away from the bumps, it can't give us an idea of the actual conditions until we're within a few hundred miles or less of the storm.

The first leg, from Boston to Miami wouldn't be a problem at all. It was the second leg, from Miami to Caracas that might be interesting. Before departing, my guess was that we'd be flight planned south over Cuba and then Jamaica before turning toward Venezuela.

Sure enough, as you can see from this satellite view below, we were sent around the west side of Hanna. The ride from Miami to Caracas turned out to be rather smooth, with almost all of the clouds associated with the outer edge of the storm well below us.

Welcome to Gadling's Friday feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Lee asks:

How is it that the plane stays straight as it's accelerating down the runway? Is there an actual "steering wheel" of sorts that one of the pilots steers? If so, is it an "art" or talent of such to keep the airplane straight?

On the captain's side of the airplane, next to his left knee is a 'tiller' that helps him steer the airplane at slow speeds-anything less than 40 knots or so. The captain will steer the airplane onto the runway and once it's aligned he'll take his hand off the tiller. Either he or the co-pilot will then make the takeoff using their rudder pedals.

Unlike the pedals found in your car a car, the rudder pedals on an airplane do three things. They allow a pilot to steer on the ground left and right, turning the nosewheel up to six degrees either way at full deflection. They also control the rudder, which is most essential when flying on one engine when pilots need to counter the yaw associated with an engine failure, or when landing in a crosswind when pilots will use the rudder to align the airplane with the runway just before touching down.

Today's photo of the day comes from Flickr user pirano who captured this picture, titled Fist and Rose in Oslo, Norway. You might think the sculptor was trying to make a political statement, but from the accounts in the comments of this site, he apparently never intended for it to be political.

Pirano did a nice job of using the sun to highlight the sculpture, giving it a fantastic glowing cast. Nice job, pirano!

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Michael asks:

How are customs and immigration inspections handled for air crew? Is there a separate set of rules, since you won't (usually) be staying for long. And if you do vacation perhaps, then what?

Some countries require a work visa for crew members, since part of the job involves working in their country.

There are usually separate lines for crew members, but other than that, there aren't many differences during the customs inspection. There may be more restrictions for tax free imports for crew members than someone vacationing.

And when a crew member goes on vacation, they're just like everyone else.

Guillermo asked:

On flights between North and South America, how are your flight plans affected by the presence of a hurricane in the Caribbean or Gulf? Do you fly over or around them?

It's been a rough September so far, with Hurricanes Hanna and Ike dropping by for an uninvited visit to the Caribbean and the U.S. This shot by Rubys Host captures a scene in Brooklyn when Hanna passed overhead.

I got home yesterday after six days of avoiding these storms, taking off from Philadelphia on the day this picture was taken in New York. We also flew to Port-au-Prince Haiti, Miami, San Juan and Caracas, Venezuela. Each leg of the trip had issues relating to either Hanna or Ike.

So I thought this picture was an appropriate Photo of the Day. Here's hoping Ike will lose some steam by the time it reaches Texas.

Nice job, Rubys Host!

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

When we first started the Plane Answers column at Gadling, the very first question that came in had to do with pilots and divorces.

I thought about it for a few months, did some research and so far I've only been able to come up with an opinion based entirely on anecdotal evidence. There's surprisingly little online about the divorce rate among certain professions, so I had to rely on the 'statistics' I've gained from the pilots I fly with.

Here's that question:

I've struggled with it for months, and As a divorced wife of a major airline captain I would sincerely appreciate it if you could explain why most pilots are divorced.

I have been divorced for 20 years and my ex has been divorced two times after me. I also knew 11 couples that were in the Navy with us who all went on to airlines of which 9 are divorced.

In my case we became two separate people; being apart so much we had nothing in common. Is cheating just too tempting to refuse? Every time I hear that pilots have so much down time to spend with family I have to laugh because our children and those of our friends really don't have truly close relationships with their fathers because of moving and commuting.

When you live somewhere different (moving around to improve your seniority) and commute to work, it really takes a toll one everyone. If you had to explain from your point of view: where does being a pilot have its pit falls. A lot of women would be grateful to know and maybe understand. Thank you.

This picture taken by jrodmanjr of a fireworks display in San Francisco really caught my eye. Notice how the bright lights coming from the Bay Bridge create a bit of a vignette around the picture.

The low light makes it tough to get a super crisp shot in these situations, but jrodmanjr did a nice job with this one.

Every picture in his photostream could qualify for a Photo of the Day!

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit them to Gadling's Flickr group right now!

We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

As a pilot, every now and then you'll have a chance to catch a sight that just burns into your memory. The spire of the Empire State Building piercing a setting sun while approaching New York's JFK airport, or watching a satellite pass overhead while holding above a thick cloud layer of fog over Anchorage.

But nothing can top the scene witnessed by every airplane crossing the North Atlantic on July 22nd, at around 3 a.m. in whatever time zone we were crossing.

At first, we thought we noticed a faint glow of the northern lights. Pretty soon, the colors became so spectacular that we began calling the flight attendants up to the cockpit to check out the light show.

But these aurora borealis weren't moving or changing colors. And the colors that were starting to appear, didn't match the usual green glow I was used to.

It didn't take long for pilots on 123.45, a VHF channel that's normally used to report ride conditions and any weather deviations, to start a discussion about what we were seeing.