Flying a Jet Airliner

Taking off, despite what you may think, is a very straightforward procedure.  Most anxious travelers believe that the plane is right on the edge of what it can do, but in fact, every take-off is well within a plane’s capability, and what’s more for, those who worry about the engines … they are NOT not straining. 
There is a complete description and four videos of taking off available our Premium membership Level. We do our take-off checks, line up on the runway and then press the thrust switch and the engines increase power until they reach the correct amount for taking off.  We, the pilots, keep the plane pointing along the runway by using the rudder and then when we’re going fast enough (Vr)  we raise the nose … and off she flies! No nail-biting drama, no hanging on to the controls, no Hollywood style ‘willing the old bird into the sky’, no squeezing the ‘last drop of power’ out of an unwilling engine. A simple, straightforward, well rehearsed, standard procedure.  There’s a detailed description of taking off and a commentary from the flight deck on our Fear of  Flying Audio CD set. (Also available on Premium Level Membership)

Landing is simply allowing the plane to lose speed as it gets closer to the runway. We trade speed for lift. A wing gets more lifting force when it goes faster. It also gets more lift when it’s flying with its nose up (but not going up). It gets more lifting force if the flaps are extended. So to land we slow down put the flaps down put the wheels down and when we’re a few feet above the runway reduce the power to nothing raise the nose to a set position and allow the plane to touch down. A simple, straightforward, well practiced, standard procedure. 

The first thing to say is that things rarely go wrong. In my airline career, I never suffered a serious malfunction. And as a young instructor, the only thing that happened to me was an intermittent engine problem … so I landed in a field. (My claim to fame is that the guest who arrived before I did, and I’m sure his arrival was much more dignified, was  Sir Yehudi Menuhin the violinist.  (I was invited to sign the farmer’s visitors book just below Mr. Menuen’s entry).

When malfunctions occur in a plane they are simple to deal with and the airline’s procedures determine who flies the plane and who carries out the checklist. Modern aircraft have electronically displayed checklists and until the actions are completed they stay visible on the navigation screens. Every system on a plane is duplicated or triplicated so most procedures involve turning the faulty system off and replacing it with a backup system. People who have flown the simulator with me are always amazed to find how simple it is to control the aircraft even with an engine not working.