Legendary Captain

Chapter 163 Promotion to First Co-pilot

"Are you sure? There's no need for this. I feel the wind speed might be more than ten meters per second. We're too close to the weather station; the turbulence will be extremely strong. Are you sure you want to land here yourself?" The inspector had a fairly good impression of Xu Xian, and in his opinion, there was no need for Xu Xian to take such a risk: "It's not like I'm signing off on your inspection. If the inspection is postponed, we can schedule a new inspection as early as next week. Why rush things?"

The airport is currently only reporting stable winds, and there could be gusts. Furthermore, the weather is moving towards the airport, and the turbulence will only intensify. The weather report they have is from half an hour ago; who knows the actual wind direction and speed now? It's highly likely that it's already exceeded the wind volume report they currently have.

Therefore, out of caution and out of personal admiration for Xu Xian, the inspector genuinely advised Xu Xian to abandon this autonomous landing attempt. If a problem arose during the landing phase, he would have to intervene, and if he did, Xu Xian's flight path inspection would not be considered successful.

Failing the inspection would cause a lot of trouble later on; at least from the inspector's perspective, they wouldn't want someone like Xu Xian. After all, Xu Xian's performance before landing was practically perfect, and even the inspector had developed a fondness for his talent.

"Instructor, no need, I should be able to handle this crosswind." Xu Xian thanked the inspector for his kindness, but he still didn't want to wait any longer.

Theoretically, the inspection shouldn't have to be delayed for that long. However, this inspector is already at the highest level, a Class C instructor, and rarely flies to airports outside the province. Yet, Xu Xian's flight inspections can only be scheduled for flights to airports outside the province. In principle, scheduling doesn't proactively accommodate Xu Xian's flight inspections.

In other words, the planning office won't specially schedule an inter-provincial flight for the inspector next week just because Xu Xian needs to conduct an inspection. Instead, they'll first schedule the regular shifts and then see if there are any suitable flights that can be used for route inspections. If there are, they'll add a note indicating that it's for a route inspection; otherwise, it will be postponed to the following week.

Even without scheduling restrictions for route checks, under normal scheduling, it usually takes several weeks to get a flight that meets the route check requirements.

Of course, there's also the possibility of getting lucky and having the results come out next week. However, this possibility is extremely small.

However, in reality, if the flight route inspection cannot be scheduled next week, and we have to wait another week, the inspection date will be at the end of the month. In that case, this month's salary cannot be paid according to the standard for a third-level co-pilot.

There is a dividing line between Level 2 and Level 3 co-pilot positions.

Trainees, first-level co-pilots, and second-level co-pilots all fall under the category of second co-pilots. However, after reaching the third-level co-pilot level, one becomes the first co-pilot, also known as the first officer, and can form a two-person crew with the captain or instructor.

The salary difference between these two levels is very significant. If the average monthly flight hours are the same, and the airports and routes are roughly the same, a Level 3 first officer can earn about 10,000 yuan more per month than a Level 2 first officer. This is a very noticeable difference.

This salary difference only appears after the passenger in the right-hand seat is switched to the left-hand seat, which is why Xu Xian is particularly concerned about it, since he is still struggling to make ends meet.

The inspector was somewhat puzzled: "If you land on your own and make a major deviation, I'll have to take over. Once I do, the inspection will fail. At that point, I won't consider objective factors like the weather; I'll sign off on it. If the flight path inspection fails, it will affect your ranking in the quantitative assessment points, which could impact your performance-based pay and promotion. Are you really sure?"

The quantitative performance evaluation system for pilots is a very common standard for evaluating pilots. In fact, it's not just pilots who use this evaluation standard; many other companies and professions also use it.

Because performance-based pay is included in the salary structure. Performance-based pay is not fixed; it is primarily related to the number of days worked, and also to the number of times pilots cooperate with flight inspections. Additionally, the ranking of pilots based on quantitative assessment points also affects a portion of their performance-based pay. Pilots in the bottom 10% and bottom 5% of the quantitative assessment ranking receive varying degrees of penalties from the company.

Most pilots fly diligently and reliably, and only a minority encounter problems, so most pilots' points remain unchanged. However, even a slight deduction can cause their ranking to plummet. It's entirely possible for a pilot to fall into the bottom 10% simply because they failed a route inspection.

In addition, the bottom 5% of pilots in the points ranking will be placed on a watch list. Once on this list, the technical committee will subject any application for a technical upgrade to more rigorous scrutiny.

Of course, this is just the official statement. In plain terms, if you're on the list of people under close observation, you can basically forget about getting a promotion.

Moreover, what's even more crucial is that you can't make any mistakes if you're on this list. Remember! Any small mistake! Even the kind of small mistake that doesn't even warrant a reprimand will lead to an extended observation period, meaning you'll have to stay on that list for another three months.

There was once a guy who was penalized for exceeding the flap speed limit during a flight and was placed on a list of people under close observation. However, during this period, he also had the problem of being late for attendance, so his observation period was extended from three months to six months. Then, because he missed a training session without a valid reason, his observation period was extended from six months to a year.

Therefore, some pilots even take extended leave during the critical observation period, believing that as long as they don't work, they won't make mistakes. They then return to work after the critical observation period is over.

It was precisely because of these negative effects that the inspector was inclined to advise Xu Xian against taking any risks, which was already more than enough.

However, since the inspector had repeatedly reminded him, he had fulfilled his responsibility. Given this, Xu Xian's insistence on his own opinion meant he couldn't be blamed for any problems that arose later.

"If you want to fly, that's fine too. The turbulence is very strong during the fifth approach phase. If the aircraft's condition does not meet the stable approach criteria, I will take over the controls and perform the go-around maneuver," the inspector said.

Because of the strong turbulence, Xu Xian might not even reach the landing phase, and the aircraft would be unable to maintain stability during the approach phase.

The entire civil aviation industry now has very strict requirements for stable approaches; no one dares to land under unstable approach conditions. Therefore, if a situation arises during the final approach phase that does not meet the requirements for a stable approach, the crew must perform a go-around.

Go-around is touted as a last resort to ensure safety, but it involves a high angle of attack, high thrust, and low speed, making it highly unstable and prone to unsafe situations. Furthermore, the external communication and operational pressures, as well as the internal psychological pressures, are immense during a go-around, and a single mistake can lead to a procedural error.

Whether the landing gear retracts too late or is mistakenly retracted before the flaps, a warning will be triggered. This is not an uncommon occurrence in actual operation.

Even the captain cannot guarantee a 100% success rate during a go-around. If the first officer were to lead the go-around, wouldn't it be even more likely to encounter problems?

Therefore, for safety reasons, if an unstable approach situation necessitates a go-around, he cannot allow Xu Xian, the co-pilot, to perform the maneuver.

"Of course, I took over during the final approach phase, which also indicates that you are unable to maintain the aircraft's condition, so this inspection still fails. After I call for takeover, you must quickly relinquish control to avoid overlapping control," the inspector instructed.

In flight control, it is highly discouraged for two people to operate the aircraft simultaneously. Boeing aircraft may be slightly better, as their control system is hydraulically driven, allowing stronger individuals to take the lead in control. However, with Airbus's fly-by-wire system, the control input signals from both sides can even cancel each other out.

Xu Xian nodded: "I understand!"

"Since there are no problems, I'll handle the communications. You focus on operating the system. Connect the communication!"

Xu Xian didn't mince words at this point: "Transport communications!"

As the glide path moved, it was soon intercepted, and the inspector reported to the control tower: "Star Cruises 6443, No. 03, has completely blind-landed!"

Meanwhile, Xu Xian adjusted the go-around altitude.

"Star Trek 6443, surface wind 110/25, runway 03, cleared for landing, watch out for turbulence on the runway," the control tower announced. Normally, they wouldn't say "watch out for turbulence on the runway," but today the turbulence was indeed very strong, and there might even have been instances of previous aircraft going around.

The inspector replied, "Runway 03, clear for landing, Star Travel 6443!"

"We've got the landing permit!"

Seeing that the time was almost up, Xu Xian gave the order: "Speed ​​less than 270, release the wheels!"

"Speed ​​check, less than 270, release the wheel!" The inspector was focused on cooperating with Xu Xian at this time, and even the standard announcements were made by the inspector.

"The go-around trajectory still seems too close to the weather, doesn't it, Xu Xian?" The inspector kept his eyes on the weather radar while lowering the landing gear.

Xu Xian glanced at the weather radar screen, momentarily unsure of what to do.

The go-around trajectory for runway 03 is a right turn to the right three sides, followed by air traffic control instructions. However, the standard go-around trajectory was almost perfectly aligned with the weather, with only a very small difference between the two.

Xu Xian wasn't sure if the distance was sufficient, and the weather radar didn't show particularly strong weather conditions, so it was hard to say whether or not to maintain such a large safe distance.

Xu Xian temporarily put aside the go-around trajectory issue; he needed to first establish the landing configuration: "Speed ​​less than 195, flaps 15!"

The inspector checked the speed: "Speed ​​check, less than 195, flaps 15!"

Xu Xian simultaneously began to decelerate, and the inspector lowered the flaps to level 15, then verified again: "Landing gear down, three green lights; flaps at level 15, green light!"

The inspector glanced to the right and saw a thick cloud mass gathering at the three o'clock position. However, despite its proximity, there was no precipitation around it, no visible lightning, and the weather radar indicated that the cloud mass did not appear to be particularly dangerous.

The inspector tapped on the sunshade a few times, as if talking to himself, or perhaps seeking Xu Xian's opinion: "Shall we avoid going over there?"

Xu Xian did not answer, but instead gave the order again: "Speed ​​less than 170, flaps 25!"

This time it's a Type 700 aircraft. Before deploying the flaps to level 30, we need to deploy them to level 25 first.

The inspector scoffed, "You don't seem to care at all! Hurry up and check, flaps 25!"

Immediately after confirming that the wings were properly deployed to position 25, Xu Xian did not linger. After checking the speed, he instructed the flaps to be positioned at position 30.

After the flaps were finally positioned at 30, the inspector said, "Flaps at 30, green light, landing inspection form complete?"

As required, Xu Xian is now the PF (Field Processor), and should be the one to read the checklist. However, these are minor issues, so Xu Xian didn't pay much attention and simply said, "Landing Checklist!"

The inspector pulled out the inspection checklist card: "Engine pneumatic switch, continuous! Speed ​​brake pre-position green light! Landing gear down, three green lights! Flaps in 30% position, green light! Go-around heading, go-around altitude, verified! Landing checklist complete!"

After completing all this, the inspector thought for a moment and then asked the control tower, "Tower, is the preceding aircraft attempting a go-around?"

"Star Trek 6443, some of the aircraft ahead have aborted their approach and haven't gone around yet. Do you have a problem?" the tower controller said.

"My go-around path is too close to the weather. Do you think it's okay to go around and turn left?" the inspector asked.

Air traffic control: "Turn left, the terrain will affect it. How about you make consecutive right turns to fly towards the airfield, reaching an altitude of 3,600 meters before reaching the airfield?"

"No problem!" the inspector immediately agreed.

"Star Travel 6443, cancel the standard go-around procedure, turn right continuously over this airspace, altitude 3,600 meters!" The tower controller changed the go-around procedure.

"Continuously turn right and fly over this area, altitude 3,600 meters! Thank you, Star Travel 6443!"

As the plane descended, Xu Xian, after roughly sensing the intensity of the turbulence, disengaged the autopilot when passing through an altitude of 1,000 feet.

In situations with severe turbulence, the autopilot should not be disengaged too late. Manual flight and autopilot flight are two completely different concepts, and the pilot may lose control of the aircraft if they suddenly switch to manual flight.

If the autopilot is disengaged too late, there will not be enough time for it to adapt, which will lead to poor low-altitude landing conditions and thus prevent a successful landing.

Landings are not always completed in the final low-altitude environment. Without good conditions for entry into landing, the final landing becomes a correction landing, which is extremely difficult.

Only by creating sufficiently favorable landing conditions can a successful landing be achieved. The landing process actually begins in the final approach phase; if it is separated from the landing process, a superior landing cannot be accomplished.

After disengaging the autopilot, Xu Xian handled crosswinds exceeding ten meters with ease, which surprised the inspectors.

It's important to understand that this isn't a steady wind; there's turbulence involved. In other words, the wind direction and speed are constantly changing, although most of the time they remain at a constant 110/25.

"Great job, your hands are steady! This kind of weather doesn't seem to be a problem for you!" The inspector initially had his hands on the control wheel, ready to take over the controls at any moment. In his opinion, Xu Xian might not be able to handle the situation smoothly in these weather conditions.

Xu Xian seemed to still have energy left: "Fortunately, the wind is relatively stable, and the turbulence isn't too strong."

"Isn't this strong?" The first co-pilot, sitting in the observer's seat, clearly disagreed.

"If it were your turn to fly, could you handle it?" the inspector asked the first co-pilot.

The first co-pilot seemed a little uneasy: "It's hard to say, but it's probably not that stable."

"You're honest! Five hundred feet!" The inspector adjusted his seat slightly, preparing for the final landing.

However, Xu Xian's hands were really steady. The small squares on the PFD were perfectly aligned with the crosshairs, without the slightest deviation.

"Your guidance skills are truly impressive," the first co-pilot exclaimed in amazement.

Following instructions is a basic yet effective skill for pilots. However, although this skill is very fundamental, it is essential throughout one's entire flying career.

Of course, as technical skills improve, sometimes captains and instructors may exceed the instructions. This is because the instructions have a slight lag, and experienced captains and instructors can accurately identify the deviation without needing instructions.

They can correct deviations earlier and more accurately by relying on their eyesight, but for the co-pilot, this is really not necessary; being able to follow the instructions accurately and in a timely manner is already quite remarkable.

At least for now, Xu Xian has no intention of going beyond the guidelines.

Strictly speaking, you can follow the guide throughout the approach until you reach a radio altitude of fifty feet. However, as you descend, you usually switch to visual observation below the decision height.

However, Xu Xian did not follow the usual procedure. He did pay some attention to the outside, but a significant portion of his energy was still focused on the cockpit.

Xu Xian planned to descend to a sufficiently low altitude using the instrument landing signal.

This is a relatively opportunistic approach, but it's not a good thing in the long run. Over-reliance on instrument landing signals will gradually weaken one's visual judgment ability. This will be a significant disadvantage when performing visual approaches in future flights.

Of course, visual approaches during flights are relatively rare. However, in many non-precision approaches, after the minimum descent altitude, visual guidance is often required. At this point, there are no instrument landing signals for guidance. If pilots lack strong visual flight skills, problems can easily arise.

Therefore, in the long run, this over-reliance on blind landing signals is not a good idea. However, this is an inspection, and Xu Xian doesn't need to train his visual skills at this time; there will be plenty of opportunities to practice after the upgrade. At this moment, the most important thing is to maintain a normal entry trajectory. Obviously, referring to the blind landing signals is the most correct approach.

"One hundred decisions!" the inspector said.

Xu Xian tensed up slightly; he was also a little nervous.

"Decision High! Directly ahead of the track!"

Following his own plan, Xu Xian only glanced at the outside track, focusing more on the instruments.

The inspector did notice Xu Xian's actions; just by looking into Xu Xian's eyes, it was clear that he spent most of his time checking the instruments. However, the inspector didn't say anything.

With the guidance of the ILS signal, Xu Xian's approach trajectory was much easier to control. However, it was also thanks to Xu Xian's steady hands that his approach became so successful. At lower altitudes, the ILS signal becomes extremely sensitive; even a slight deviation can cause significant movement of the navigation stick and glide path, making it incredibly difficult to keep up with the signal. At low altitudes, many people, even if they wanted to, would likely fail to keep up with the signal, yet Xu Xian remained perfectly accurate.

"Fifty!"

As the radio altimeter began to report, Xu Xian finally focused all his attention on the outside world.

Fifty feet is also the standard altitude for entering the airspace above the runway!

Sure enough, when Xu Xian looked outside, the plane was already in the air above the runway.

At this moment, Xu Xian slightly reduced the throttle and then gently pulled the lever.

"Steady, steady!" The inspector remained calm and continued to remind Xu Xian to adjust the lever.

At this point, reducing the throttle and pulling back on the stick is to decrease the rate of descent and dissipate the aircraft's own energy. However, you can't pull back too much. At this point, the throttle hasn't been fully released, and the aircraft still has plenty of energy. Pulling back too much will make the aircraft more likely to enter a level float state.

In the landing standards for flight path inspection, if the drift distance is too long and exceeds a certain limit, the landing will still not pass.

Xu Xian's problem on land was due to natural fear, resulting in excessive stick pull. He had previously experienced an exaggerated drift distance when flying with Han Qi.

This time, Xu Xianqiang resisted the overwhelming urge to pull on the stick and gradually increased the amount of stick pull in coordination with the rhythm of reducing the throttle. Only in this way could he stably reduce the descent rate and the aircraft's energy.

The stick position cannot be increased indefinitely. Once a normal landing attitude has been established, the stick should no longer be engaged; instead, the stick should be stabilized to ensure a stable landing attitude.

Fortunately, in the low-altitude environment, the wind speed and direction are more stable and smaller than in the five-sided region, so Xu Xian was not greatly disturbed during the leveling process.

"Snapped!"

The moment the throttle lever struck the ground, the main wheel touched down perfectly, the timing was flawless.

Xu Xian pulled out the dual-engine counter-firing, simultaneously extending his left hand and pointing at the inspector: "Hand over control!"

"Take control!" The inspector took over the controls without hesitation and began to correct the aircraft's landing roll direction.

"Raise the speed bumps, use reverse jet to unlock!"

As the aircraft's speed decreased, Xu Xian continued to perform his PM duties: "Automatic brakes disengaged, sixty!"

When the speed was reduced to 60 knots, the inspector retracted the back jet and speed brakes.

"Star Travel 6443, F6 to disengage, turn right F, F9 forward!" the control tower commanded.

"F6 disengage, right turn F, F9 forward wait! Star Travel 6443!" After switching the transponder to ground mode, Xu Xian could calmly proceed with the post-landing procedures.

"Turn right onto F!" the inspector chuckled. "Get your notebook out. After you sign off and leave, you'll need another form, right? Don't forget!"

Each time a pilot is promoted, they must go to the flight registry to collect their promotion certificate and a flight line checklist. If the flight line checklist is passed, they must sign both the certificate and the checklist.

The inspector's statement means that Xu Xian passed the inspection this time.

Xu Xian was overjoyed: "Thank you, instructor!"

"Why thank me? You flew it yourself, and it meets the requirements, so I'll just sign it off for you, haha!" the inspector said.

It was clear that the inspector's tone was full of mockery, and he greatly admired Xu Xian's manipulation.

"No, no, actually I was a little nervous just now," Xu Xian said modestly. The moment when they leveled the score was when Xu Xian was most nervous.

The inspector laughed, "So you're nervous now! That's more like a co-pilot!"

The aircraft's parking position is very close; it can be directly accessed from F9 onto the apron. After the aircraft arrives at the port, the APU is connected, the engines are shut down, and the shutdown checklist is completed.

Having finished everything, Xu Xian happily went to his flight case to find his promotion certificate and flight checklist. Once the inspector signed off on these two documents, Xu Xian would be a third-level co-pilot.

At this moment, Xu Xian was filled with uncontrollable excitement!

However, just as Xu Xian handed over the notebook and the list, a loud bang suddenly rang in his ears!

(End of this chapter)