Do the airline pilots fly? or just watch and set their instruments?

Question

Do the airline pilots fly? or just watch and set their instruments?

Answer 1

Of course they do.  They just use cruise control when on a path that is predictable.   Take offs and landings are perfomed by hand as well as any unpredictable variable (storms, turbulance, etc...)

Answer 2

Yes they do, because if it wasn't for them the aircraft wont be set to autopilot and such.

Answer 3

Yes. Of course they do.

Now, during cruise, they DO just sit and watch their instruments.

However, this is still requires the pilot to be in the cockpit, because the autopilot is only a machine, it can only do what it's told to do. If there's no one to watch it, it will not be able to do much.

The autopilot is just a tool so the pilots don't have to constantly maintain the aircraft in a line. Just like cruise control- it allows you to take your foot off the pedal.

Think about it, you do the same thing driving a car on a long road trip. You need to watch your spedmeter to make sure you're driving the legal limit, but you can just push cruise control so you don't need to worry about your speed. But if you were just to simply fall asleep, you'll eventually end up having to turn, and the car will just keep driving and crash.

It's like that in aircraft. What if there's a mountain ahead and the autopilot wants to go straight? Obviously you would turn it off or adjust it so you don't crash.

During landings and takeoffs, the autopilot is usually shut off, or is at least shut off the last 50 feet to landing, because this is the most likely place for an accident.

Answer 4

Some airline aircraft don't have automatic pilots installed.

Some airline aircraft don't have fully functioning automatic pilots.

The minimum altitude for engagement of the autopilot during climbout is well above the altitude where the gear is raised.

Any airline aircraft can be hand-flown.

Automatic pilots often fly well in turbulence.

These are still the days of airspeed indicators, attitude indicators, and stall warnings.

Answer 5

Both, during takeoff and landing they are the ones flying but after a few thousand feet they engage the Auto pilot to monitor the Airspeed, Altitude, and heading.

Answer 6

haha yes of course they do.

they are a crucial part of take off and landings

in fact, they are solely responsible for taking off and landing the plane, in addition to the co pilots that is.

they also deal with the airplanes in times of emergency.

they set their instruments when there is a long time of just going straight.

would you really want to just sit there and hold the yolk/stick...?

it wouldnt make logical sense..

if you want to be an airline pilot and fly hands on all the time.

just try to fly an airplane without heavy computer equipment

Answer 7

Yes, they take of the plane and then set instruments but they also have to fly in some cases... they also must land the plane

Answer 8

they taxi, takoff, set the auto pilot, and handle commonications. it isnt just laying around.

Answer 9

There are some very strong misconceptions about autopilots and the use of autopilots.  An autopilot cannot fly an airplane, but only provides enhanced stability to reduce the pilot workload in cruise flight.  The crew are still responsible for the airplane's attitude, altitude, and adherence to the intended path of flight.

The crew remain responsible for compliance with flight plan and aviation regulations, for passenger comfort and safety, for separation from other aircraft, and for communications tasks.

There are several levels of autoland, and most of them do not manage power; thus, the airplane doesn't come anywhere near "landing itself."  The pilot in command flies and lands the airplane.

I expect to write all of this again, as these are pretty pervasive misconceptions.  But it would be nice if people learned a little something about aviation.

Answer 10

It depends on the pilot  and the company procedures. Primarily the company's procedures. Some airlines require that the autopilot cant be turn on before a certain point. While so pilots enjoy hands on flying and others think the auto pilot is a better "relief".

Answer 11

Both...

Primarily they monitor, but they almost always land and takeoff and they also have the stick in turbulence.

Little does book know, modern commercial jumbo jets are perfectly capable of landing themselves INCLUDING flying a holding pattern, position based on airport inner and outer markers;  lining up with the runway and stopping the aircraft after it has touched down.

These are not the days of airspeed indicators, attitude indicators and stall warnings anymore, Book.  Planes have computers that actually do the flying.  In fact fly-by-wire aircraft use forced feedback to make it feel to the pilots like they are actually flying the plane and not just giving the computer instructions as to which way to go.

Answer 12

Depends on the pilot. I got into flying because i like to fly. So when I am flying i turn the autopilot on when we are above 10,000ft and turn it off at the same. I have seen people want it on as soon as the gear is up and turn if off shortly before landing

Answer 13

Yes they do fly. They are responsible for controlling the landing and taking off of the plane. They also have to monitor many instruments to make sure that all the required settings are correct before flight and during the flight. When the plane is steady in the air, one pilot may take a rest, but the other have to be awake to monitor the progress of the flight at all times. Just like a patient in the hospital. If the patent's vital signs are ok, then no doctor is needed to do anything, but a nurse is always close by just in case the patent's heart stops or go below a certain rate. The hospital has a machine that monitors the patent's heart-rate and if the heart-rate falls too low, it starts beeping and the nurse has to do something to make it steady again. Same in the plane, if the air is too strong for the airplane and things are getting out of hand, the pilot will fly the plane a little higher to avoid things like clouds so that the plane will fly smoothly at all times.

Answer 14

This is really not much of a question.

Have you ever heard of turbulence?  Do you think the aircraft adjusts itself to turbulence?

Do you think the Airplane talks to the control tower?

Does the airplane know to automatically circle the airport when it's congested.

Instruments are Tools that help the pilot control the aircraft.

There will Never be a day when an aircraft will fly without a pilot.