tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.comments2023-11-03T08:23:23.760-05:00This Is Your Captain SpeakingThe Captainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comBlogger215125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-59801195011368086542021-02-01T12:01:46.527-06:002021-02-01T12:01:46.527-06:00Hey Drew...Thanks...and I agree that most folks ha...Hey Drew...Thanks...and I agree that most folks have a pretty short memory. I thought they might change the name as well, but that might be a bit much "on the nose". My guess is they'll just let the story sink back into the background noiseThe Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-431708453707850852021-01-17T08:22:38.319-06:002021-01-17T08:22:38.319-06:00Hey Rob, nice writeup. It will also help customers...Hey Rob, nice writeup. It will also help customers know a little more about our training and help dispel the image of 'kick the tires and light the fires.'<br /><br />But the MAX still has a PR problem and my guess is that they downplay or even change the name....and in 2 years no one will remember (re: 787 lithium battery fires).<br /><br />Hope you and S. are doing well. Adios. DrewAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359957803183215227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-89049173958586517182020-03-20T11:58:29.442-05:002020-03-20T11:58:29.442-05:00Thanks Charlie!Thanks Charlie!The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-34476802502128028762020-03-19T21:05:10.871-05:002020-03-19T21:05:10.871-05:00This was one of your best.This was one of your best.ccgraves100https://www.blogger.com/profile/15247182256159367615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-85055562874656014392019-10-28T13:39:02.209-05:002019-10-28T13:39:02.209-05:00Thanks Anne! I'm fascinated by the whole pheno...Thanks Anne! I'm fascinated by the whole phenomenon. I recently heard one possible explanation for the uptick in magical thinking. It suggested that as more recent modes of thought such as the Enlightenment or Democracy come under increasing skepticism, people will tend to revert to earlier thought modes such as superstitions and conspiracies. It sounds plausible. It's been said that technology that is advanced enough becomes indistinguishable from magic to untrained populations. Take care!The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-61937260090786726892019-10-21T19:39:10.344-05:002019-10-21T19:39:10.344-05:00You handled Rob gracefully. I myself was an anonym...You handled Rob gracefully. I myself was an anonymous star in raging conspiracy theories on YouTube back in December 2017 - the day of the Atlanta Hartsfield blackout. Even controllers gave me grief for being "special" when indeed I got permission to fly into the airport and then fly out during the blackout. Just an ordinary business jet with an ordinary executive. No nukes, no special forces. It was eerie taxing to the FBO, not connected to the terminal, as the only moving aircraft on the massive airport. I can assure you that the only power outage was in the commercial terminal, not the private terminal, and that the FBO, airport lights, tower, ground, and all ATC was functioning normally from a pilot's viewpoint. For laughs, I was going to link to the wildest YouTube theorist , but his account has been "terminated for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines." I guess there is a way to block the crazies after all.Anne Martin Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06538154932484343686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-19362555695339708252019-10-20T15:39:39.402-05:002019-10-20T15:39:39.402-05:00Wonderful post! Thank you.Wonderful post! Thank you.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00802132147092819656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-31952505947305357952019-04-02T15:30:36.509-05:002019-04-02T15:30:36.509-05:00The overarching question I have relates to the Sea...The overarching question I have relates to the Seattle Times reporting about how MACS was proposed to the FAA with 0.6 degrees of movement in the stabilizer trim in each cycle versus the 2.5 degrees in 10 seconds MACS actually rolls in? If true, why report one thing then deploy something dramatically different. If a stall is so unlikely, why have such an aggressive remedy? Thanks for being an informed voice in this world.<br />Robert Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00926491216411101828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-74693393750321064252019-04-01T22:06:18.722-05:002019-04-01T22:06:18.722-05:00Let us hope not, Bob. The pros up front train for ...Let us hope not, Bob. The pros up front train for this relentlessly.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-11731514537550931512019-04-01T21:45:17.081-05:002019-04-01T21:45:17.081-05:00Agree. There will be some blowback from this one.Agree. There will be some blowback from this one.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-90730317121226954612019-04-01T13:56:49.391-05:002019-04-01T13:56:49.391-05:00Great synopsis of the issues facing the crew Rob. ...Great synopsis of the issues facing the crew Rob. I think Boeing recognized that there was a deficiency in the system after Lion Air. They started working on a solid fix while disseminating the bulletin betting that there wouldn't be another incident before issuing the software fix. Odds should have been in their favour, but they lost on this one. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06868464919058070904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-87730095502502246462019-03-29T10:45:23.543-05:002019-03-29T10:45:23.543-05:00The system can be completely deactivated using two...The system can be completely deactivated using two switches. The question is why would the pilots not do this. Airplanes occasionally crash for many different reasons. The Lion pilots had no knowledge of the MCAS system, but presumably the ET302 pilots did. It now appears as though the MCAS system is implicated in the ET302 crash, and all operators now are aware of the potential problem. Boeing is also offering software fixes to the system, so I believe the aircraft will be flying again soon.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-56779207893344474742019-03-29T10:32:36.532-05:002019-03-29T10:32:36.532-05:00Agree completely...it would not present as a "...Agree completely...it would not present as a "classic" runaway trim. That plus the distraction of the stick shaker and other warnings would make this a very difficult situation.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-65194634406329731512019-03-29T10:29:37.630-05:002019-03-29T10:29:37.630-05:00It was not included in the flight manual for the M...It was not included in the flight manual for the MAX. Boeing chose to not include documentation. That has since been rectified.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-17237040785547398682019-03-29T10:26:06.348-05:002019-03-29T10:26:06.348-05:00Thank you Philip!Thank you Philip!The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-38782393499250389032019-03-29T10:25:06.640-05:002019-03-29T10:25:06.640-05:00I think this is correct.I think this is correct.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-87417408255501420762019-03-29T10:24:08.178-05:002019-03-29T10:24:08.178-05:00The MCAS system is designed to offset the greater ...The MCAS system is designed to offset the greater thrust of the LEAP engines installed on the MAX. The reason for this is due to the positioning of all below wing pod mounted engines. During a stall recovery, full thrust is applied. With the engines below the wing, this results in a nose-up moment. This nose-up moment may subsequently exceed the elevator authority available resulting in an undesirable nose up attitude and entry into a secondary stall. You can push full forward on the yoke in such a situation and the nose keeps rising. The MCAS system was designed to automatically feed in nose-down trim which increases elevator authority.The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-85761271330139179462019-03-16T13:06:52.387-05:002019-03-16T13:06:52.387-05:00Hi Capt Rob. I followed your blog and find it extr...Hi Capt Rob. I followed your blog and find it extremely educational and valuable. Thus far, it appears that MCAS remains, in fact, an essential safety asset, but for that fact that it lacks AoA input redundancy which leaves it vulnerable to erroneous activation in critical phases of fight. That shouldn't be hard to fix so I expect the grounding might be over by April. <br /><br />With regard to the erroneous MCAS activation that bought down Lion Air Flt 610, while I realize the crew CAN use the cutout switches to disengage the pitch anomaly, do you think this alone (while still awaiting a promised software fix) makes it sufficiently safe? What I mean is, a trim runaway has a certain 'fingerprint' to it that pilots can quickly identify, whereas the sequence of alerts observed on the Lion Air flight are markedly different. The AD issued in the wake of the crash describes a new 'fingerprint' to recognize, involving loss of air data and the failure of a system not typically associated to a trim runaway event. I'm speaking about situational awareness, and it seems that when this unfamiliar system fails, pilot SA can become confused and become subject to tunnelling and false assessments of the situation, possibly even to the point of missing the trim wheel movements. For some of the same reasons you listed in your recent post about the dangers of go-arounds (low altitude, workload, distractions, pitch vector changes), and the added factors of startle, stress and confusion, the MAX would seem currently vulnerable to a condition where correct pilot situational awareness and actions are the ONLY redundancy. Could you possibly post your opinion on this aspect from a veteran pilot point-of-view? Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07746281565665482022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-31171305889393162472019-03-16T01:13:40.032-05:002019-03-16T01:13:40.032-05:00Its really unfortunate that the 737 Max was ground...Its really unfortunate that the 737 Max was grounded. But the question would be, knowing that investigations take months or even years it would be really premature to conclude that the pilots did not try to disable MCAS. And if they actually did that as you claim since its a prety straightforward ptocedure, if another one crashed before conclusion of the investigations would you still be this confident in the Max Mugaggahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398413947369910168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-56779223137397135582019-03-15T21:30:10.680-05:002019-03-15T21:30:10.680-05:00I agree with The Captain - I have flown the Max 8 ...I agree with The Captain - I have flown the Max 8 several times, and wouldn't hesitate to fly it again today. It was grossly premature to ground them with what little data we have on the crashes, and with data for tens of thousands of uneventful flights showing no problems. I'd much sooner question the pilots' training than the aircraft. I also support Boeing in not adding MCAS to their manual. It functions almost identically (though for different reasons) to the speed trim system, which has been in use for decades. If either system we're causing uncommanded trim, I doubt a pilot could discern which system was causing the erroneous trim, but the solution is the same - "runaway stabilizer" checklist, which has the pilot turn off the two switches already mentioned. A properly trained pilot would have no issues coming to the proper conclusion to disable the trim motor. Grounding an entire fleet over this is absurd.anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04429767766021898908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-13425749242788264462019-03-15T13:48:59.749-05:002019-03-15T13:48:59.749-05:00That is actually correct. It is not so much of a ...That is actually correct. It is not so much of a pitch down as it is the ability to get the nose down in a (approach to)stall situation. It is the reason MCAS was added.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853136136178405180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-25286649404614751302019-03-15T13:47:18.845-05:002019-03-15T13:47:18.845-05:00I just read something on the internet....not sure ...I just read something on the internet....not sure of the truth. But it was on one of our company 737 facebook pages.<br /><br />New MCAS software should come out end of this month (FCC P12.1).<br /><br />The software changes will include:<br />👉 Limit stab trim MCAS commands<br />👉 AOA comparison monitor (AOA>5.5deg = MCAS disabled)<br />👉 Slower stab trim MCAS command speed<br />👉 AOA Disagree will become standard (now is an option)<br /><br />QRH for Speed Trim Fail will be revised but memory items will remain the same.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853136136178405180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-75164117681881035562019-03-15T13:17:21.888-05:002019-03-15T13:17:21.888-05:00What's this about the 737 Max having "lar...What's this about the 737 Max having "larger engines" that causes the "nose to dip down." That seems like an odd remark and design characteristic.<br /><br />Reference half way thru the article:<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/opinion/business-economics/boeing-737-max.html<br /><br />ccgraves100https://www.blogger.com/profile/15247182256159367615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-2283474012217286232019-03-15T10:11:48.050-05:002019-03-15T10:11:48.050-05:00Well presented and stated Capt Rob! Public percept...Well presented and stated Capt Rob! Public perception, the result of ignorance / media hype / self proclaimed aviation authorities / etc, can gain a life of its own and it takes a rational objective mind to separate fact from fiction. Congrats.PThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08534562504762033065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023417.post-60948927545742374072019-03-15T09:47:15.975-05:002019-03-15T09:47:15.975-05:00Ahh...the steely eyed rationalist abandons air tra...Ahh...the steely eyed rationalist abandons air travel for the safety of the highway. Damn the statistics, full speed ahead!The Captainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919928014165571837noreply@blogger.com