HUD - HEAD UP DISPLAY: THE TOOL THAT GETS YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS

Welcome to the Dreamliner™ aircraft. As adult pilots with thousands of hours flying experience in probably several aircraft, you will hopefully find the sophistication of this airplane to make your flying duties less onerous.

One sophistication of this airplane is the HUD – Head Up Display. A HUD is probably new to many of you transitioning from one manufacturer to this manufacturer or from one of this manufacturer’s other models to the Dreamliner™.

To assist you in easily assimilating this new knowledge of a HUD, I will ask you to participate. It’s more than you need or want to know, but as your “teacher” I ascribe to the Constructivist Learning Theory. This theory’s foundational principle is that learners like yourself learn best when they actively participate in constructing their own knowledge on a subject with some diminishing assistance from their teacher. In my opinion and those of others, “… it is in the act of our becoming a creator that our relationship with content changes, and we become more engaged and more capable at the same time” (Hargadon, 2008). The best way to truly ascertain whether you understand something is to teach it to someone else. 

To accomplish this lesson we will use some of my favorite Web tools: this blog, Google Docs, and email. My other favorite tools – pod casts and instructional videos – are not well-suited for this particular lesson.

In this lesson, I will assign some research for you to do. Then I want you to teach someone else, through a Word™ document or a Power Point ™presentation, about the symbology of the HUD. I don’t expect you to become an expert in presentation design! I am more interested in seeing your understanding of the material. Remember, your presentation will be posted on my blog for other students to view and learn from. If you decide to use Power Point™ for your instruction, you can keep it simple – no fancy animations or even slide designs. Through the embedded link to Google Docs here, I’ve included a sample of a Power Point ™ presentation which instructs on another subject. 

(If you have trouble with the link, copy and paste https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ObnIbR00KqY0tTd2tmVDJ1MFU/edit?usp=sharing into your browser).

Below is a description of the lesson.

HUD – HEAD UP DISPLAY: THE TOOL THAT GETS YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS
 
Instructor: Captain Ronald Allyn 

          

About the Instructor:

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Science in 1971. Since then, I spent several months as a Certified Flight Instructor, 20 years in the U.S. Air Force both peace-time and war-time (most of it as an Instructor), and 26 years (concurrently with the USAF) as a pilot and Captain for United Airlines both domestically and internationally (much of that as an Instructor and FAA-designated Line Check Airman).

Since my early retirement from United in 2005, I have been working as a consulting Instructor Pilot for The Boeing Company. In that capacity I travel world-wide instructing crews on the technical systems and flying procedures in the Boeing 777 and 787.

I love what I do as an Instructor Pilot, and I am excited to be working with you! Let’s kick the tires and light the fires!

Instructor Contact Information:

Email: proipglobal@gmail.com
Phone: (+1) 707.322.1252

Course Description

Welcome to the sophistication “downgrade” of the Dreamliner™. Remember your early flying days when you flew the airplane by looking through the windscreen and used the earth’s horizon as your guide? When complex turbojet airplanes arrived on the aviation scene, their swept wing design required high airplane body angles and therefore a need to fly head down watching the instruments to control the flight.  The HUD will allow you to return to the “good old days” when you controlled the airplane by looking outside, but through the HUD. In that regard, it’s a “downgrade” if you will. With this device you can both look outside and use the control and performance instruments to control the airplane at the same time. This course will still require you to read the manual about the HUD. However, when you finish this lesson I believe you will understand the HUD’s symbology better and thereby be more comfortable with it as your new tool. Get ready to fling that silk scarf around your neck again!

Intended Learners

This course is intended for air crew who will be flying an aircraft using a Head Up Display. This course targets learners with prior turbojet experience in FAR Part 121 operations. The learners are adults, usually in their late 20s to early 30s or older.

Duration

This is a single lesson conducted while physically separated from the instructor (distance learning), in asynchronous time (no particular schedule but with due dates). 

Course Goals

This course teaches the symbology used within a HUD. At the end of this course, the learner will be well-prepared for their airline and regulator-specific additional training, either in a flight simulator or the airplane.

Learner Objectives

Upon completion of the HUD lesson, learners will be able to recognize the HUD’s symbology for:

·         A HUD-monitored takeoff.

·         A HUD-monitored low-visibility takeoff known as HUD Takeoff.

·         A HUD-monitored visual approach.

• A HUD monitored instrument approach.
• Unique symbols for unusual attitudes, wind shear, low speed situations, and ground deceleration.

Lesson Outline

	Objective	Assignment
Element 1	Learn the HUD symbology	Read Chapter 10, Section 12 of the Flight Crew Operations Manual (FCOM)
Element 2	Demonstrate understanding of the HUD symbology.	Teach the symbology to someone else through an instructor-like presentation. A Word™ document in Times Roman font, 12 pitch or a simple Power Point™ presentation will be used. The presentation should be mailed to the lesson instructor at proipglobal@gmail.com as an email attachment. If satisfactory it will be posted to this blog.

Assessment

TASK	EXPECTATIONS	BREAKDOWN
Element 1 completion	Complete required FCOM reading assignment.	50
Element 2 completion	Create a Word™ or Power Point™ presentation to teach the symbology to another pilot.	50
		100%

Grading

5 – EXCELLENT	Demonstrates mastery of all HUD symbology as demonstrated by a presentation that covers all 27 HUD symbols that may be seen throughout a flight. Presentation is unique, maintains attention, uses clear graphics, and is creative.
4 – STANDARD	Demonstrates a very good understanding of HUD symbols as demonstrated by a presentation that covers 18 to 26 HUD symbols that may be seen throughout a flight.
3 – SATISFACTORY	Demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of HUD symbols as demonstrated by a presentation that covers 9 to 17 HUD symbols that may be seen throughout a flight.
2 – BELOW STANDARD	Demonstrates a minimal understanding of HUD symbols as demonstrated by a presentation that covers less than 9 HUD symbols that may be seen throughout a flight.
1 – UNSATISFACTORY	Does not create an instructor-like presentation to teach the HUD symbols to another pilot.

Reference

Hargadon, S. (2008, March 04). Web 2.0 is the future of education. Retrieved from http://www.stevehargadon.com/2008/03/web-20-is-future-of-education.html

FIRE! Not Simply Procedure

Fire and/or smoke in flight. It's every pilot's worse nightmare. It is much more than memory items and checklists. 

We train and practice often for engine problems and engine-out flight and landings. Fire and smoke -- not so much, or certainly not enough. During a "hangar flying" session among Instructor Pilots a couple of years ago, an interesting statistic was unveiled. 

Engine problems these days are fairly rare -- and generally benign. However, smoke/fire issues average 1,000 incidents per year! That's almost 3 per day worldwide!

Every pilot I have trained or worked with has been taught the basic non-normal priorities of AVIATE - NAVIGATE - COMMUNICATE. But what do those mean? With this posting, I want to focus on the AVIATE part of a fire/smoke issue. 

AVIATE, as I teach it, means CONTROL AND CONTAIN. Control means, of course, get the airplane's path, speed and power under control. In other words, make sure that you are in a controlled situation as much as possible before the CONTAIN part.

CONTAIN means things like memory items, starting a driftdown, beginning a dual engine failure descent, etc. For a short podcast about the CONTAIN part of a fire/smoke issue click here for a Link to Podbean. Then click on the Play arrow.

     Blessings -- Ron Allyn

787 Cockpit Tour video: Perspective for Normal Procedures before FTD phase

Upon arrival for training, after the Indoctrination Class and before you begin the FTD phase, you will be immersed in CBT lessons and memorizing the 57 pages of Normal Procedures. Stay calm and keep on. 

In the Indoctrination Class I explained learning "compartments" of information, I pointed out the panels section in the Flight Crew Ops Manual (FCOM), I discussed the concept behind the flow patterns used, and I offered access to my blog posting regarding preparing for the Oral Exam.

The FTD does a great job in providing a forum for practicing and developing "muscle memory" of the normal procedures. Unfortunately, the FTD only includes the forward, overhead, and center aisle panels of the cockpit. Of course the Full Flight Simulator (FFS) is the actual cockpit on jacks to provide motion. So everything will gel when you get to that phase.

In this post I present a video of the cockpit -- albeit limited -- to help provide perspective of the location of items referred to in the preflight flows. Hopefully you will find it beneficial when you start studying the normal procedures. You can find it by clicking here.

Good luck! Remember, the more you prepare, the "luckier" you will be.

Reference: By the way, the cockpit snapshot is from a video found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ai-9pjfug created by Guitargamery Productions.

ORAL EXAM PREP

     You are all aware that an oral exam is required as part of your training. These oral evaluations are usually considered the most stressful part of the entire training process. They are required not only for Airline Transport Pilot ratings, but for type ratings as well. In addition, the FAA has mandated some oral questioning (usually aircraft limitations and non-normal memory items) even for proficiency evaluations.

     Stress is magnified by the "unknowns" in any situation. This posting is to help answer some of those unknowns in an attempt to alleviate some of the stress.

     The oral exam is administered by either an FAA examiner or an FAA-designated Training Center Evaluator (TCE). The evaluator conducts the exam in accordance with the FAA Practical Test Standards (PTS). The PTS requires that the applicant "Exhibits satisfactory knowledge appropriate to the airplane."

      Knowledge will be evaluated through five elements: aircraft limitations, non-normal memory items, systems questions, an exterior inspection of the aircraft (conducted via a Power Point presentation of photos), and a few performance problems. To accomplish this, the oral exams are typically scheduled for two hours each. The oral exams are administered individually, not as a crew concept. 

     As you have been told, the type rating course does not include an oral exam prep class. You, the student, are solely responsible to be prepared for this exam. All elements of the exam will have been covered through the CBT and the Systems Integration training (fixed base simulator) phases.

     To further help in your preparation, I have prepared a "Flash Cards" review presentation. It includes both the aircraft limitations and non-normal memory items -- approximately 25 items. Click on the oral preparation Flash Cards to view the presentation.

     Good luck! The more you prepare, the "luckier" you will get.

Crosswind Landings Lesson - Video Update

     Hello all. As I hope you know, my goal is to provide engaging instruction to help you learn the information you need to safely and efficiently fly the airplane. As part of my own continuing education, I am enrolled in a Master degree program in Education Technologies. 

     Through that course I recently discovered that videos, like so many things, come in different formats. ("Formats," for those who don't know, are like languages that different devices use to present the content).

     In my last blog, I introduced information about crosswind landing techniques. In the Power Point title page within the lesson, I inserted a short video. I also added the video to the Cool Places to "visit" gadget in the right column. 

     The included video is of the Boeing Tests of the B777 for crosswind landings. You will see at least two of the techniques discussed in the lesson Power Point being demonstrated. See if you can pick them out.

     So if you were frustrated with not being able to access the lesson's video on your device, try one of the new formats.

     Here are the videos in the different formats -- the first in .avi format:

 Here is the same video in .wmv format:

    

     Hope you enjoy the video as part of the learning experience. Let me know!

Crosswind Landings Lesson

INTRODUCTION: When the passengers disembark after landing, those meeting them will often ask, "How was the flight?" It may have been a beautiful 16 hour flight with restful sleep, interesting movies or other entertainment, tasty meals, and great service. But if the passengers thought the landing was not up to their expectations, the answer will be a simple, "The landing was terrible!"
     Of course, as pilots our goal is to make the landing safely. That means being stabilized on final approach, using good control to compensate for a crosswind, landing on the centerline, where we want it, and smoothly controlling the rollout and deceleration.

LESSON TASK: This lesson addresses techniques to accomplish a crosswind landing. We will be practicing these various techniques in the simulator with varying amounts of cross winds.

STANDARD:  The FAA Practical Test Standards (PTS) for seeking an airplane type rating or for proficiency evaluations.
Click here to view the entire FAA Practical Test Standards for ATP or Aircraft Type Ratings

PREPARATION: 

• Review the Flight Crew Training Manual, Chapter 6 for information about crosswind landing techniques.
•  Review the attached Power Point presentation. Several slides have additional NOTES below the slide to expand on the highlights.

 Click here to view Power Point presentation of crosswind landings highlights           

What the Power Point highlight only mentions is the importance of conducting a stabilized approach. Seven elements are typically considered to determine an approach's stability.

1. On the correct flight path -- not steep or shallow.
2. Only small changes in heading or pitch necessary to maintain path.
3. At approach speed +10 or -5 knots.
4. Airplane in landing configuration.
5. No greater than 1,000 fpm sink rate.
6. Thrust setting appropriate for configuration.
7. All briefings and checklists complete.

Remember, all of these are critical. You should be stabilized no later than 1,000' in IMC or 500' in VMC. Becoming unstable or a bounce should dictate a go-around! Remember, a rejected landing is any landing rejected below 50' AGL -- that includes on the runway. (However, once reversers are deployed, the landing is committed).

• You might also find some of the attached YouTube videos to be motivating. They can be found in the Cool Places to "Visit" widget on the right border.

GRADING: The grading rubric for the crosswind landing lesson is below. It is based on fulfilling the Practical Test Standard for this event.
Click here to view grading rubric for this lesson.

CONCLUSION: NO landing is routine. There are many variables in this dynamic and critical phase of flight. Crosswinds are a large element in this matrix of possibilities. I'll make sure you are ready to address crosswinds correctly in the real world.

 See you on April 3rd!